afraid that it was “an act of repression against the labor union bodies by government authorities.”39 The Ombudsman asked the Director General of the National Police “to issue the necessary orders to ensure the investigation of this incident.”40 That same night, Mr. Gómez Areano reported the disappearance of his son to the Deputy Head of the Guatemalan Criminal Investigations Department.41 32. On March 15, 1995, UNSITRAGUA published a communiqué entitled “Urgent Action: Labor Unionist Missing,” reporting the disappearance of Mr. Gómez Virula and indicating that this had occurred in the context of the RCA labor conflict. In the communiqué, it demanded that the “President of the Republic, the Minister of the Interior, and other authorities, pay due attention to this case in order to discover the whereabouts of Gómez Virula and prevent him from becoming – in the worst case scenario – one more victim of the increasing wave of violence in Guatemala.”42 33. On March 16, 1995, UNSITRAGUA sent an urgent telegram to the Ministry of the Interior requesting an “urgent audience to address [the] disappearance [of the] labor unionist, Alexander Yovany Gómez Virula.”43 On March 17, 1995, UNSITRAGUA sent another communication to the Ministry of the Interior repeating the request made on March 16 by telegram and indicating that “Gómez Virula’s family, UNSITRAGUA and the Labor Union Movement are concerned by this violent act, but above all by the need to find [Alexander] Yovany alive.”44 34. On March 16, 1995, the investigators went to RCA to establish whether the missing person worked there, but were unable to obtain this information because the factory had closed down.45 The same day, they went to the home of the person who had filed the report, where they were received by his daughter-in-law who was unable to provide them with any additional information to discover the whereabouts of Mr. Gómez Virula. They also went to the men’s prisons in Zone 18 and to the judicial morgue. 46 35. The investigators indicated that, according to confidential information obtained, the missing person was in a romantic relationship with someone called SRM, who supposedly was the wife of an individual known as “El Pirata.”47 On March 17, 1995, the investigators went to look for SRM at her home, without finding her, so they went to her place of work, where they were told that SRM had not come to work and that they “were unaware of the reason.”48 C. 39 Discovery of Mr. Gómez Virula’s body and subsequent investigations Cf. Report filed before the Ombudsman on March 14, 1995 (evidence file, folio 412). Cf. Communication of the Deputy Head, Individual Rights Area, Ombudsman’s Office, of March 17, 1995 (evidence file, folio 413). 40 Cf. Communication of March 14, 1995, signed by the Deputy Head of the Guatemalan Criminal Investigations Department addressed to the prosecutor of the Public Prosecution Service (evidence file, folio 464). 41 42 Cf. UNSITRAGUA communication of March 15, 1995 (evidence file, folio 416). 43 Cf. UNSITRAGUA telegram addressed to the Ministry of the Interior of March 16, 1995 (evidence file, folio 27). Cf. UNSITRAGUA communication addressed to the Ministry of the Interior of March 17, 1995 (evidence file, folios 28 and 48). 44 Cf. Report of the Missing Persons Investigation Section of the National Police of March 19, 1995 (evidence file, folio 455). 45 Cf. Report of the Missing Persons Investigation Section of the National Police of March 19, 1995 (evidence file, folio 455). 46 Cf. Report of the Missing Persons Investigation Section of the National Police of March 19, 1995 (evidence file folio 455). 47 Cf. Report of the Missing Persons Investigation Section of the National Police of March 19, 1995 (evidence file, folio 455). 48 10