28 explains that, during the interviews, the family “generally expresses itself in a confused manner when talking about what happened. They don’t know what happened; they accept other people’s versions, without asking questions, without constructing their own version; we don’t know what happened. First, they said that she had been killed; then they said that she had been run over.” Some of them said “they did not know she had been murdered until the exhumation.”78 114. Second, an effort was made to assign a defamatory character to the deaths and this affected the next of kin: for example, a sign left beside one of the bodies; the suspicion of being “terrorists” that the next of kin felt weighed on their loved ones and themselves, or that Saúl Cantoral-Huamaní was damaging the country’s economy with his trade union activities, among other matters. In this regard, the psychologist’s expert opinion and the testimonial statements prove that the next of kin of Saúl Cantoral-Huamaní and Consuelo García-Santa Cruz were isolated by their friends and other relatives under the suspicion that they could be “terrorists.” One of Mr. Cantoral-Huamaní’s daughters recalls that “a great deal was said when my father died; not only about the sign, but also about Consuelo, that she was a terrorist; so many things were said; before my father died there was propaganda on the television saying that the mining strikes were led by terrorists; that the country was losing many millions of dollars […].”79 115. Third, it is important to underscore the threats suffered by the next of kin and their fears in the context of the investigation into the death of Saúl Cantoral, which reached the extreme of the family isolating itself as a measure of protection. In his testimony, one of Saúl Cantoral-Huamaní’s siblings related that: “[…] our life changed totally and radically. We could not even go to the police station, because we were frightened that something could suddenly happen to us. This was how we felt at the time. Furthermore, my sister, Victoria, was beaten up in her own home […] In the same way, when my mother died in 1989, my brother who arrived from Brazil was almost abducted in the airport […]”; and a daughter declared: “we began to feel guilty about wanting to seek justice. My uncle Ulises took charge of all this; to advise us about the situation; although he did not communicate with us much, because he was afraid that if he was seen close to us this would, in some way, cause something to happen to us.”80 116. The attitude of the State must be added to the said circumstances; in addition to failing to make any progress in the investigations or to resolve any of the hypotheses of how the facts occurred for 18 years, it mislaid important elements of the investigation, such as the original autopsy reports, causing frustration and impotence, as well as the need to conduct an exhumation, which caused profound anxiety and feelings of anguish.81 78 Cf. Expert psychological report provided by Roberto Alfonso Gushiken-Miyagui on January 11, 2007 (file of preliminary exception, merits, reparations and costs, page 429). 79 Cf. Expert psychological report provided by Roberto Alfonso Gushiken Miyagui on January 11, 2007 (file of preliminary exception, merits, reparations and costs, page 434); and sworn written statement made by Vanessa Cantoral-Contreras on December 14, 2006 (file of preliminary exception, merits and possible reparations and costs, page 383). 80 Cf. testimony given by Ulises Cantoral-Huamaní during the public hearing held before the Inter-American Court on January 23 and 24, 2007; expert psychological report provided by Roberto Alfonso Gushiken-Miyagui on January 11, 2007 (file of preliminary exception, merits, reparations and costs, page 434); and sworn written statement made by Vanessa Cantoral-Contreras on December 14, 2006 (file of preliminary exception, merits, reparations and costs, page 384). 81 Cf. testimony given by Ulises Cantoral-Huamaní during the public hearing held before the Inter-American Court on January 23 and 24, 2007; interview with Pelagia Mélida Contreras-Montoya de Cantoral included in the expert psychological report provided by Roberto Alfonso Gushiken-Miyagui on January 11, 2007 (file of preliminary exception, merits, reparations and costs, pages 426 and 429).