homes, and hid in fear. Later they returned to their homes, found their wives and children dead and had to bury them. Rosendo Hernández Amaya was unable to find one of his children. Alejandro Hernández Argueta recounted that, at the age of 11, he was living in the village of Jocote Amarillo when the massacre took place, and he managed to survive because, when his mother saw that the soldiers had arrived, she told him to leave with his brother, who he lost while trying to return home. After all the action of the soldiers had ceased, he searched for his mother and, being unable to find her, he returned to his home which “was already in flames [because] all the homes had been set on fire.” Finally, he found “three of his siblings dead; on finding them, [he] spoke to [his] oldest brother, Santos, but Santos did not answer him, and next to him was [their] four-month old brother, and [he] lifted him up but he was already stiff […]. He ran out of the house crying.” Then he waited to see if anyone would come to the house and at about 7 p.m. his father arrived; he “was happy because [he] hadn’t been able to find anybody to be with, because it’s not the same being with other people as being with your family.” The following morning his father went to bury their other family members, and “found his mother underneath the house, just below where his brothers were.”228 172. All things considered, the massacres had a significant psychological impact on the survivors and they have suffered profound grief and anguish as a direct result of the particular circumstances of the massacres, and also present mental and physical problems.229 The said circumstances include having heard the cries for help and, in some cases, having witnessed the acts of cruelty with which their family members were executed, as well as the fear caused by the extreme violence that characterized the massacres. In addition, the Court considers it especially serious that some of them had to gather up the bodies of their loved ones, which were burned and/or in an advanced state of decomposition and, in some case, incomplete, in order to bury them, without being able to give them proper burial in accordance with their traditions, values or beliefs.230 173. Furthermore, the case file reveals that, in some cases, the survivors took different measures, such as the search for justice, taking part in the proceedings before the domestic and/or the international jurisdiction (supra para. 32 and infra paras. 211, 212 and 227). It has also been proven that the lack of effective investigations in order to elucidate the facts and the impunity in which the facts of this case remain have caused the surviving victims to feel fear, vulnerability and insecurity.231 The Court finds that it is clear that the circumstances described reflect the profound suffering that the surviving victims have endured, which has persisted for more than 30 years owing to the impunity in which the events remain; events that took place in 228 Sworn statement made by Alejandro Hernández Argueta before the Oficina de Tutela Legal del Arzobispado on August 3, 2011 (evidence file, tome VIII, annex 3 to the pleadings and motions brief, folios 5573 to 5574). 229 Cf. Expert opinion on psychosocial impacts and recommendations for reparations in the case of “The Massacres of El Mozote and nearby places” provided by María Sol Yáñez De La Cruz, undated (evidence file, tome XVIII, annex 2 to the final written arguments of the representatives, folio 10549). 230 Cf. Case of the Ituango Massacres v. Colombia, para. 260. 231 Cf. Sworn statement made by María del Rosario López Sánchez before the Oficina de Tutela Legal del Arzobispado on June 19, 2011 (evidence file, tome VIII, annex 3 to the pleadings and motions brief, folio 5524); Sworn statement made by Pedro Chicas Romero before the Oficina de Tutela Legal del Arzobispado on July 25, 2011 (evidence file, tome VIII, annex 3 to the pleadings and motions brief, folios 5530 to 5531); Sworn statement made by Santos Jacobo Chicas Guevara before the Oficina de Tutela Legal del Arzobispado on June 20, 2011 (evidence file, tome VIII, annex 3 to the pleadings and motions brief, folio 5540); Sworn statement made by César Martínez Hernández before the Oficina de Tutela Legal del Arzobispado on June 22, 2011 (evidence file, tome VIII, annex 3 to the pleadings and motions brief, folio 5548); Sworn statement made by Alejandro Hernández Argueta before the Oficina de Tutela Legal del Arzobispado on August 3, 2011 (evidence file, tome VIII, annex 3 to the pleadings and motions brief, folios 5574 to 5575); Affidavit provided by Juan Bautista Márquez Argueta on April 1, 2012 (evidence file, tome XVII, affidavits, folio 10278); Affidavit provided by Antonia Guevara Díaz on April 1, 2012 (evidence file, tome XVII, affidavits, folio 10288); Affidavit provided by Juan Antonio Pereira Vigil on April 1, 2012 (evidence file, tome XVII, affidavits, folios 10290 to 10291); Statement made by María Dorila Márquez de Márquez before the Inter-American Court during the public hearing held on April 23, 2012; Expert opinion provided by María Sol Yáñez De La Cruz before the Inter-American Court during the public hearing held on April 23, 2012, and Expert opinion on psychosocial impacts and recommendations for reparations in the case of “The Massacres of El Mozote and nearby places” provided by María Sol Yáñez De La Cruz, undated (evidence file, tome XVIII, annex 2 to the final written arguments of the representatives, folio 10537). 55