certificates that “did not comply with any standard, much less with the Istanbul Protocol.” The Commission and the representatives pointed out that the statements made by Messrs. Cabrera and Montiel were consistent, similar and do not contradict each other. 109. The State argued that the various medical certificates and expert opinions “are appropriate and sufficient to discredit the petitioners’ claims.” It added that the domestic judicial authorities had completely disproved the victims’ allegations, and that their statements contain inconsistencies which are “substantial and not due to the mere use of language.” The State added that “fifteen medical certificates” were issued “at the appropriate time to determine, in each case, the existence of an irregularity.” The State also emphasized that “perhaps […] due to the conditions in which [t]he test [of Messrs. Tramsen and Tidball-Binz] was carried out, [their] opinion […] does not meet the basic scientific standards and [does not] question the medical evaluations presented,” adding that those doctors lacked impartiality. 110. The Court will refer, first of all, to some proven facts in relation to: i) the statements made by the alleged victims, ii) the medical certificates included in the case file, and iii) the expert opinions in the domestic proceeding and before the Court which considered whether torture was committed in this case. Secondly, it will analyze the compliance with the obligation to investigate such facts and finally, it will determine the legal classification of the facts in this case. 1. Proven Facts 1.1 Statements rendered by the victims 111. Throughout the domestic criminal proceedings, before the Inter-American Commission and before the Court, Messrs. Cabrera and Montiel rendered statements regarding the alleged acts of torture committed against them. The following statements were rendered: i) before the Agent of the Public Prosecutor’s Office in Arcelia, Guerrero; 142 ii) before the Agent of the Federal Public Prosecutor’s Office in Coyuca de Catalán, Guerrero; 143 iii) a preliminary statement made before the first instance Court in Mina, Guerrero; 144 iv) first amplification of the 142 Cf. Statements of Messrs. Cabrera and Montiel before the Public Prosecutor's Office of Arcelia of May 4, 1999 (Preliminary Inquiry 33/CC/999) (File of attachments to the application, volume XI, pages 4232 to 4236). 143 In the statement rendered before the Public Prosecutor’s Office of Coyuca de Catalán, on May 6, 1999, Mr. Cabrera reported that: “when I was at the military base, I was hit in the abdomen. Though I don’t know the name of the person who hit me, if you show me a photograph I would recognize him.” For his part, Mr. Montiel Flores indicated that he was not beaten “when I was at the river, but when I was at the army base, I was hit in the stomach and punched on the left cheek.” Cf. Statements of Messrs. Cabrera and Montiel of May 6, 1999, supra note 132, pages 9781 and 9785. 144 On May 7, 1999 Mr. Cabrera García stated: “When I was at the 40th Battalion, a drunken friend of the soldiers came along and began to beat me up, causing me to fall over. They had my hands tied behind my back, and my feet were also bound”. He added that in Pizotla he was blindfolded and heard that “they wanted to cut off my testicles; they opened my mouth and put a pistol inside.” For his part, Mr. Montiel Flores stated: “…that night, when I was in the soldiers’ custody, they stepped on my face and put the mouth of a rifle to my forehead. The soldier said [to him] ‘if something happens to me, I’m going to unload the rifle in you;’ He said he was tied up for a while, like TEODORO[,].He added that “on Monday night, the soldiers told us to lie face down with our heads pointing east; later, they woke us up and told us to lie down with our heads pointing west; shortly thereafter, they got us up again and had us lying as if on a cross; still later, they came for us and took us to the mountain. Armed men were there with their faces covered […].” He stated that one man warned him not to play the fool and said they knew his family’s location and another “pulled my testicles, saying he would cut them off if I didn’t tell him what I knew. And I said that I would say whatever they wanted me to say, if they would just stop beating me.” Cf. Preliminary Statements of Messrs. Cabrera and Montiel before the First Instance Court of the Judicial District of Mina of May 7, 1999 (Case file 03/999) (File of attachments to the answer brief, volume XXIII, pages 9836, 9837 and 9841). 40