Third stage: mass arrests and violation of due process
A period of mass arrests with serious violations of due process and convictions of innocent people.
From 1993 onwards, the counter-subversive strategy was characterized by a substantial increase in the number of detentions of alleged subversives and a decrease in the number of cases of arbitrary executions and forced disappearances, although the number of cases of violation of the due process of detainees increased notoriously. The years with the highest number of official detentions were 1993 (4,085 detentions) and 1994 (4,948 detentions). Many people were prosecuted in violation of elementary principles of due process and with insufficient evidence, being convicted in irregular trials. The magnitude of the errors forced the State to establish the mechanism of pardon, freeing hundreds of innocent convicts.