161. Regarding the other massacres, as it has been proved that the inhabitants of those areas were aware of the operation and some of them had been advised of the violent operation of the military forces by people who had escaped, the Court finds it reasonable that they endured anguish and fear in the moments prior to the arrival of the soldiers, because they could foresee that they would be deprived of their life violently and arbitrarily, and this constituted cruel and inhuman treatment. 162. According to the acknowledgment of the facts made by the State, the acknowledgement of responsibility at the domestic level, and the determinations made by this Court, the events that preceded the execution of the people who were in the village of El Mozote, the cantons of La Joya and Cerro Pando, the villages of Rancheria, Los Toriles and Jocote Amarillo, and the cave on Cerro Ortiz, entailed their physical, mental and moral suffering, and this violated their right to personal integrity recognized in Article 5(1) of the American Convention, which in turn constituted cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment, contrary to Article 5(2) of the American Convention in relation to Article 1(1) of this instrument, to the detriment of the executed victims. Also, as it has been proved that there were children among the executed victims, the Court concludes that the violations of the right to integrity to their detriment occurred also in relation to Article 19 of the Convention. 163. In addition, based on the State’s acceptance of the facts, the Court considers that, in this case, it is reasonable to grant probative value to the series of indications derived from the case file that allow it to infer the truth of the rape of the young women perpetrated by the soldiers in the village of El Mozote. First, as a result of its investigations, the reports of Tutela Legal del Arzobispado indicated that, during the course of the operation in El Mozote, many young women had been raped before they were killed, mainly on “Cerro La Cruz” and “Cerro El Chingo.”202 Furthermore, Rufina Amaya’s testimony indicates that, before the massacres, the soldiers had camped out in “Cerro La Cruz” and “Cerro El Chingo,”203 and this is corroborated by the results of the judicial inspections in these places that revealed the existence of trenches.204 Rufina Amaya also stated that, on December 12, 1981, she heard women’s screams coming from “Cerro El Chingo” crying out “Oh, oh, don’t kill us.”205 In addition, during her participation in the judicial inspection conducted in El Mozote, she indicated that when she was able to hide behind some bushes, she was able to see that in the house of Israel Márquez “the soldiers were raping and killing a group of women.”206 The exhumations at this site indicated that the remains belonged mainly to women.207 In addition, when filing a complaint, Pedro Chicas indicated that “the same soldiers took the young women to [Cerro] El Chingo and [Cerro] La Cruz, in the even the youngest children recognize what is happening and can sense their parents’ uncertainty and fear.” United Nations, Impact of Armed Conflict on Children, supra, para. 67. 202 Cf. Tutela Legal del Arzobispado de San Salvador, El Mozote. Lucha por la verdad y la justicia: Masacre a la Inocencia, San Salvador, El Salvador, 2008, pp. 57 and 333 (evidence file, tome VIII, annex 2 to the pleadings and motions brief, folios 5302 and 5456). See also, Sworn statement made by Wilson Valeriano Guevara before the Oficina de Tutela Legal del Arzobispado on March 13, 1992 (file of proceedings before the Commission, tome II, annex 20 to the submission of the case, folio 830), and Sworn statement made by José Antonio Márquez Claros before the Oficina de Tutela Legal del Arzobispado on August 9, 2011 (evidence file, tome VIII, annex 3 to the pleadings and motions brief, folio 5566). 203 Cf. Sworn statement made by Rufina Amaya Vda. de Márquez before the Oficina de Tutela Legal del Arzobispado on October 10, 1990 (evidence file, tome II, annex 20 to the submission of the case, folios 1572 to 1573). 204 Cf. Judicial inspection made on “Cerro El Chingo”, village of El Mozote, jurisdiction of Meanguera, department of Morazán on June 3, 1992 (evidence file, tome III, annex 23 to the submission of the case, folios 2025 and 2026), and Judicial inspection made on “Cerro La Cruz”, village of El Mozote, jurisdiction of Meanguera, department of Morazán, on June 10, 1992 (evidence file, tome III, annex 23 to the submission of the case, folio 2072). 205 Cf. Sworn statement made by Rufina Amaya Vda. de Márquez before the Oficina de Tutela Legal del Arzobispado on October 10, 1990 (evidence file, tome II, annex 20 to the submission of the case, folio 1577). 206 Judicial inspection made in the canton of El Mozote, jurisdiction of Meanguera, department of on May 27, 1992 (evidence file, tome III, annex 23 to the submission of the case, folio 1996). 207 Cf. Report of the Argentine Forensic Anthropology Team (EAAF) on the exhumation work performed in 2001 (evidence file, tome VI, annex 28 to the submission of the case, folio 4489). 51

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