8 mechanism to discourage the population from maintaining its sympathy toward, tolerance of, or 13 coexistence with the subversive groups.” 39. The CVR concluded that the main objectives of the forced disappearances were: (i) to obtain information about subversives and people under suspicion; (b) to eliminate subversives and their sympathizers with impunity; and (c) to intimidate the populace and force them to side with the security 14 forces. The periods when the greatest number of such incidents took place were the two years from 1983 to 1984 and the five-year period from 1989 to 1993. According to the CVR, although the second period “did not match the levels reached during 1983 and 1984, the use of forced disappearances as a way of eliminating members or suspected members of subversive organizations was much more 15 systematic.” 40. The CVR reported that the modus operandi of the state agents was: the selection of the victim, arrest of the person, detention in a holding facility, subsequent transfer to another detention center, interrogation, torture, processing the information obtained, the decision to eliminate, physical elimination, disappearance of the victim’s remains, use of state resources. The common denominator throughout the process was the denial of the initial arrest and a refusal 16 to provide any information about what had happened to the detainee. 41. With reference to the investigations into complaints of forced disappearances committed during the internal armed conflict, the CVR concluded that “most of the cases were followed by a lack of action or timid and ineffective actions on the part of the judiciary and the Public Prosecution Service.”17 According to the CVR, this context of impunity surrounding crimes committed by members of the security forces worsened after President Alberto Fujimori’s coup d’état of April 5, 1992, on account of “clear interference in the judiciary through massive dismissals of judges, temporary appointments, the creation of administrative agencies that were unconnected to the structure of the judicial system, and the lack of 18 action on the part of the Constitutional Court.” 42. In a January 1998 report, the United Nations Working Group on Enforced or Involuntary Disappearances noted that: The vast majority of the 3,004 cases of disappearances reported in Peru occurred between 1983 and 1992, in the context of the Government’s struggle against terrorist organizations, particularly Shining Path. In late 1982, the armed forces and the police embarked on a counterinsurgency campaign and the armed forces received a broad margin of discretion in combating Shining Path and restoring law and order. Although most of the reported disappearances took place in areas of the country that were in a state of emergency and under military control, particularly the regions of Ayacucho, Huancavelica, San Martín, and Apurímac, disappearances also occurred in other parts 19 of Peru (...). 13 of the CVR, Vol. VI, 1.2. Forced Disappearances, p. 85, available at 14 Annex 12: Final Report www.cverdad.org.pe/ifinal/index.php. of the CVR, Vol. VI, 1.2. Forced disappearances, p. 70, available at 15 Annex 12: Final Report www.cverdad.org.pe/ifinal/index.php. of the CVR, Vol. VI, 1.2. Forced Disappearances, p. 78, available at 16 Annex 12: Final Report www.cverdad.org.pe/ifinal/index.php. of the CVR, Vol. VI, 1.2. Forced Disappearances, p. 84, available at 17 Annex 12: Final Report www.cverdad.org.pe/ifinal/index.php. of the CVR, Vol. 110, available at Annex 12: Final Report www.cverdad.org.pe/ifinal/index.php. VI, 18 Annex 13: Final Report of the CVR, Vol. VIII, www.cverdad.org.pe/ifinal/index.php. 1.2. Forced Disappearances, p. General Conclusions, paras. 123-131, available at 19 Annex 14. Report of the Working Group on Enforced or Involuntary Disappearances, Document UN E/CN.4/1998/43, January 12, 1998, para. 297, available at www2.ohchr.org/spanish/issues/disappear/annual.htm.