9 63. For its part, the UN Working Group on Enforced or Involuntary Disappearances has said, 3 “The majority of the 2,661 reported cases of disappearance occurred between 1980 and 1983, in the context of the armed conflict between the Government of El Salvador and the Farabundo Martí National Liberation Front (FMLN). Many people disappeared following arrest by uniformed soldiers or police, or were abducted in death-squad style operations carried out by armed men in civilian clothing, reportedly linked to the army or to the security forces. Abductions of this kind were, in some cases, subsequently 4 recognized as detentions, thus giving rise to allegations of links with the security forces” . 64. The Working Group added, “During the period under review, concern was expressed by non-governmental organizations about the alleged failure of the authorities to investigate disappearances that occurred during the internal conflict which took place between 1980 and 1991, to identify those responsible and bring them to justice, or to compensate families of victims. Allegedly, the AttorneyGeneral’s Office had not acted on decisions of the Constitutional Division of the Supreme Court in relation to writs of habeas corpus filed by families of disappeared children. The Court had urged the Office to take the necessary measures, in line with its constitutional powers, to fully establish the condition and whereabouts of the person concerned with the aim of safeguarding his/her fundamental right to physical 5 freedom.” 65. At the domestic level and in the framework of the Peace Agreements that brought an end to the internal armed conflict in El Salvador, on January 16, 1992, a Truth Commission was set up with a mandate to investigate the serious acts of violence that occurred from January 1980 to July 1991. The report of the Commission, issued in 1993, divided its study into four periods: 1980 to 1983; 1983 to 1987; 1987 to 1989, and 1989 to 1991. The first period, which frames the events in this case, was titled “The Institutionalization of Violence” and was described as a period in which “violence became systematic and terror and distrust reigned among the civilian population. The fragmentation of any opposition or dissident movement by means of arbitrary arrests, murders and selective and indiscriminate disappearances of 6 leaders became common practice . 66. The Truth Commission described the patterns of violence of both agents of the State and 7 members of the FMLN . In it general overview, the CVR “registered more than 22,000 complaints of serious acts of violence that occurred in El Salvador […] Over 60 per cent of all complaints concerned extrajudicial executions, over 25 per cent concerned enforced disappearances, and over 20 per cent included complaints of torture. Those giving testimony attributed almost 85 per cent of cases to agents of the State, paramilitary groups allied to them, and the death squads. Armed forces personnel were accused in almost 60 per cent of complaints, members of the security forces in approximately 25 per cent 8 [...] The complaints registered accused FMLN in approximately 5 per cent of cases.” . 67. Among the patterns of violence by agents of the State and their collaborators the Truth Commission found that “[a]ll the complaints indicate that this violence originated in a political mind-set that viewed political opponents as subversives and enemies [...] This situation is epitomized by the extrajudicial executions, enforced disappearances and murders of political opponents [...] Counter3 The Working Group says that these figures continue to be reviewed for accuracy. 4 Report of the Working Group on Enforced or Involuntary Disappearances, United Nations Distr.GENERAL E/CN.4/2004/58, 21 January 2004, Original: English, par. 109. 5 Idem, pars. 110,111, 113. 6 Report of the Commission on the Truth for El Salvador, From Madness to Hope (The 12-year War in El Salvador), p. 19. 7 The Truth Commission registered more than 800 complaints of serious acts of violence attributed to the FMLN. It found that this violence occurred mainly in conflict zones and that nearly half the complaints concerned deaths, mostly extrajudicial executions. The rest concern enforced disappearances and forcible recruitment. 8 Report of the Commission on the Truth for El Salvador, From Madness to Hope (The 12-year War in El Salvador), p. 41. The Commission points out that these complaints do not cover every act of violence, as it was able to receive only a significant sample in its three months of gathering testimony.