E/CN.4/1995/111 page 10 this strategy is to deprive the guerrillas of their basis. In the words of one non-governmental observer, it consists in "fighting the insurgents by fighting the civilian population". 27. This concern is shared by the Procuraduría General de la Nación in its third report on human rights, according to which the doctrine of "national security" applied in several Central American States with the effect of converting the civilian society, which should be the principal ally of their defence and security organs, into their most powerful enemy was not an effective strategy and by no means an example to be imitated. 11/ For the Procuraduría, the methods applied by each party to the armed conflict, and particularly the extent to which these methods respect individual and collective human rights, constitute an important element with regard to the legitimacy of their actions. 28. In this strategy, torture appears to be used with two principal aims: to obtain information on guerrilla groups and to spread terror among the population. Torture, inflicted at the place of detention, in remote places in rural areas or on military and police premises, reportedly precedes the taking of a decision as to whether the detainee is released or put at the disposal of the competent judicial authority. According to the Code of Criminal Procedure, detentions can only be carried out when the person is caught in flagrante or with a written legal order issued and signed by a competent judicial authority and motivated by a previously defined legal offence. The detainees have to be brought before the judicial authorities within 36 hours following the arrest (arts. 370-372). It seems to be a common practice, however, that members of the armed and security forces arrest persons without a warrant, subject them to interrogation and take them to the judge only a few days later, after forcing them to sign a record of good treatment. All these circumstances, together with the fact that the detainees are kept incommunicado, increase the risk of torture. It is also frequent that the date of arrest appearing in the military or police records does not coincide with the date on which the person was actually arrested. In addition, the detainees are usually not examined by a doctor when taken to the detention centre; as a result, once they are released or put at the disposal of the judicial authorities those responsible for the arrest allege that the marks on their bodies are previous to the arrest. 29. On the other hand, torture and ill-treatment often take place in the context of other human rights violations, in particular summary executions or disappearances, and therefore they are very often not even registered as torture cases. In many cases also, the victims, once released, prefer not to file complaints or inform the competent authorities for fear of reprisals (they are often warned not to denounce the abuses they were subjected to) or simply because they consider themselves fortunate to be alive and free. If they are formally charged, confessions obtained under torture are very often considered as evidence by judicial organs. 30. A report prepared by several non-governmental organizations based on the study of 183 cases of detention that occurred in the Barrancabermeja area indicates that 93 per cent of the individuals concerned (i.e. 170) were subjected to physical and/or psychological torture. It says that 143 were subjected to physical torture; all were severely beaten and a significant