The TRC was set up by the Peruvian government to investigate the causes and impact of two decades of internal violence and published its final report alongside detailed recommendations to the government on 28 August 2003. The report found that the conflict, which pitted extreme left guerrilla groups the Shining Path and the Tupac Amaru Revolutionary Movement (MRTA) against government forces, left almost 70,000 victims. The TRC found that the Shining Path was responsible for the largest number of victims, the majority of whom were civilians, while state forces were responsible for 37%. Over the past ten years, a country-wide victim registration project has caused those numbers to be revised and it is now believed that there may have been more than 100,000 victims.
The TRC also published detailed recommendations, with an emphasis on justice for victims, aimed at preventing future violence. Unfortunately a large number of cases, especially those involving state forces, have stalled due to obstruction from government ministries and the military. In some instances, cases have been shelved altogether.