extrajudicial detention and torture and allowing prosecutors to visit and monitor detention centres. The Committee also welcomes the legislative expression of culpability for all persons, including State officers, who engage in terrorism and in arbitrary and excessive use of force or who are responsible for disappearances. The Committee also regards as an important feature the creation of a new register of detainees and the envisaged change in the composition of the National Council for Human Eights, in order that members of different government agencies whose activities affect the realm of human rights be represented therein. The Committee notes also the recent strong statements addressed to the army and police by the President of Peru concerning the importance of human rights. 2. Factors and difficulties impeding the application of the Covenant 340. The Committee finds little information in the report itself that relates to the period before 5 April 1992 and notes the Peruvian Government's view that much of the system existing before that date suffered from serious and profound flaws and needed reconstruction. Developments after 5 April 1992, when the Executive Branch seized all powers of the Peruvian State and constituted the Government of Emergency and National Reconstruction, have also not been encouraging. The Committee considers that the internal disorder and lawlessness in Peru, both before and after 5 April 1992, have obstructed the Covenant's effectiveness and, in some cases, rendered it inapplicable. 341. In this connection, the Committee observes that, during the entire period under examination, the assumption of power by military forces in the areas declared to be under a state of emergency has rendered ineffective the implementation of certain rights and freedoms guaranteed under the Covenant. The Government's acceptance of civilian vigilante groups that have full army support, notably the peasants' patrols (rondas campesinas) has worsened the situation, and it is clear that the Government is not in a position to rectify various abuses, including excessive and indiscriminate retaliatory responses to terrorist acts. 342. It remains to be seen if the changes brought about by the Government of Emergency and National Reconstruction will assist in the restoration of internal law and order in Peru, At the present time there is no evidence that this is the case. The concentration of all power in the hands of the Executive, the unilateral changes by the Government of Emergency and National Reconstruction in the Judiciary, and the serious disruptions to the legal system have, in the Committee's opinion, impeded the application of the Covenant in Peru. 3. Principal subjects of concern 343. The Committee expresses its deep concern about the terrorism that appears to be part of daily life in Peru. The Committee condemns the atrocities perpetrated by insurgent groups and is particularly disturbed by the scale of terrorist violence, which shows no consideration for the most basic human rights. Nevertheless, the Committee also censures excessive force and violence used by the military, the paramilitary, the police and armed civilian -81-