A nine-volume report handed over to Peru's President Alejandro Toledo by the Truth and Reconciliation Commission makes a detailed analysis of the causes of the political violence that shook the country for 20 years: 1980 to 2000.

The document accuses the Maoist guerrilla movement Sendero Luminoso (Shining Path) and its leader Abimael Guzmán of being the worst human rights violators, and estimates that 69,280 people were killed or "disappeared" between 1980 and 2000, falling victim to insurgent groups or to government repression.

Three of every four victims were Quechua-speakers, members of the country's biggest indigenous community.

The report also holds former presidents Fernando Belaúnde (1980-1985), Alan García (1985-1990) and Alberto Fujimori (1990-2000) responsible for what occurred.

"The last two decades of the 20th century were a blemish of horror and dishonour on the Peruvian state and society. The story that is told here talks about us, about what we were, about what we must stop being", said the chairman of the Commission, Salomón Lerner after handing the report over to the president.

The document culminates a 22 months of research, in which testimony was gathered from more than 16,000 people in 530 remote parts of Peru.

The Commission's estimate of the number of lives claimed by the civil conflict is up to three times the figure previously mentioned in Peru.