preliminary statement before the Fifth District Court; 145 v) second amplification of the preliminary statement before the Fifth District Court, 146 and vi) the statements before the Inter-American Commission and the Inter-American Court. In these statements, Messrs. Cabrera and Mr. Montiel described the cruel, inhumane and degrading treatment or alleged acts of torture to which they were subjected during the days they remained under arrest. 112. From an analysis of the statements rendered by Messrs. Cabrera and Montiel during the criminal proceedings, in general terms, there is a record of the following actions: i) pulling of the testicles; ii) electric shocks; iii) blows to different parts of the body, such as the shoulders, abdomen and head; iv) that they were blindfolded and bound; v) that they were placed forming a cross according to the sun’s location; vi) that they were blinded by a bright light; vii) that they were threatened with weapons; and viii) that Tehuacán soda was forced up their noses. 147 113. The Court notes that the domestic courts considered the testimonies of Messrs. Cabrera and Montiel to be inconsistent, and therefore challenged their value. 148 However, the Court considers that the differences between each 145 In an extension of his preliminary statement, on July 13, 1999, Mr. Cabrera García stated that: “in the Public Prosecutor’s Office, they put a pistol to my head, [saying] that if I did not sign, [they would] blow it off […] and that’s why I signed.” For his part, Mr. Montiel Flores stated that: “the soldiers put a rifle to my head and stepped on my face,[…] and said ‘if something happens to us, I’m going to blow your head off.” He added that “on Monday May [3], I was given something to eat and wanted to wash my hands and one of the soldiers got angry and said he was going to smash my head with a stone” and they took them to [Court and to the Public Prosecutor’s Office]. He also indicated that “at times, through torture, [they] made me sign or admit that the pistol and marijuana were mine,” saying him that if he did not agree, they “knew where my family was. I was fearful that they would hurt my family” so he had to remain silent. Cf. Amplification of the Preliminary Statements of Messrs. Cabrera and Montiel before the First Instance Criminal Court of the Judicial District of Mina of July 13, 1999 (case file 61/99) (File of attachments to the answer brief, volume XXIII, pages 10037, 10039 and 10040). 146 On December 23, 1999, Mr. Cabrera García stated that: “as they were pulling us, I felt sick. My testicles were getting dry, and I had blood in my urine from their beatings.” He emphasized that four soldiers pulled on his testicles. He added that: “they took us to the bank of the Pizotla River and kept us tied up there, with our hands and feet bound, they gave us nothing to eat,” when they were lying on the ground, they used their “elbows to dig holes that would fill up with river water that we could drink” since they were not given water. “At the battalion’s base, they continued to beat me and […] on Thursday a drunken soldier arrived and he continued to beat and torture us […]” Mr. Montiel Flores stated that when he was detained at the Pizotla River, “one of the soldiers pulled my pants down and pulled my testicles […]” He said another soldier grabbed him by the jaw and pulled him, while someone leaned on his shoulders and apparently dropped on his knees down on his stomach, that three soldiers were doing this at the same time and they were telling him to say that […] he belonged to the EPR and that he should talk, because they knew where his family was […], and that they wet him to give him electrical shocks. Later, [at the 40th Battalion], “they separated us and took me to a room. There they wanted to force me to say that I was carrying firearms and was a member of a guerrilla group […].” That night, “they took us and put us all tied up […] in a military vehicle, […]” placing the rifle muzzle to his head, near the neck, and a foot on the back, telling them that they would go to jail. Cf. Amplification of the statements rendered by Messrs. Cabrera and Montiel on December 23, 1999, supra note 67, pages 10360 to 10362 and 10364 to 10366. 147 Mr. Cabrera García stated that: “[a]t night, they took us out, they poured mineral water up my nostrils, they pulled my hair, and the Tehuacán drink was so strong, that […] I felt it coming up through my whole nose and head, I was suffocating so they would hit me in the head to revive me. And while I came to and reacted, they were doing the same to Rodolfo.” Cf. Affidavit of Mr. Teodoro Cabrera García of March 4, 2010 (Merits file, volume III, page 1193). 148 As to the alleged contradictions in the victims’ accounts, the Single-Magistrate Court held that: “they are inadmissible because, aside from their vagueness and imprecision, they do not indicate which judicial and ministerial authority they are referring to; the physical and moral tortures to which they refer are not evident from the preliminary investigation, given that […] the various statements they made before the Agent of the Public Prosecutor’s office in Arcelia, Guerrero, the Federal Public Prosecutor’s Office in Coyuca de Catalán, of the same office and the Criminal Court of First Instance of Coyuca de Catalán were all rendered according to the law, […]. In particular, the lower court pointed out that the main contradictions included the following: “while RODOLFO MONTIEL FLORES alleged, in his initial statement, that one of the soldiers became angry when they fed him and he wanted to wash his 41