-91.
José Fernando Serrano Cruz, the alleged victims’ brother
He is the son of María Victoria Cruz Franco and Dionisio Serrano Morales, both
of whom are deceased; he has eight living siblings and had four more siblings
who have died. He is 31 years old; he is a radio operator and he is blind. His
sisters, Ernestina and Erlinda, were born in Santa Anita canton, San Antonio
de La Cruz jurisdiction, Chalatenango Department, and were registered and
baptized. Ernestina was thin, dark-skinned, and had black hair. Erlinda was
plump, with pale skin and blond hair.
The witness referred to the military operation carried out in May 1982 as “the
most extensive that took place at the time.” He also referred to what
happened to his family when they fled from their home to protect themselves,
particularly what happened to his sisters, Ernestina and Erlinda. Owing to this
operation, on May 28, 1982, the witness and his family moved from Santa
Anita to Los Amates canton, San Isidro Labrador jurisdiction. While there,
they heard shots and the soldiers coming closer, so they decided to return to
Santa Anita. They traveled to Los Alvarenga canton, Nueva Trinidad. Since
dawn was approaching, they decided to hide in the woods so that the soldiers
would not see them. It was then that the Serrano Cruz family separated. The
witness, his mother and his sister, Rosa, managed to reach Los Conacaste
canton, where they asked “other people […] about the other members of the
family,” and they were told that the witness’s father, his siblings José
Enrique, Erlinda, Ernestina, Suyapa and the latter’s son, had last been seen in
Los Alvarenga canton. Approximately, one month later, the witness’s family,
with the exception of Ernestina and Erlinda, was reunited. The witness’s
mother asked her husband about the girls, and he “decided not to say that
[Ernestina and Erlinda] had disappeared, which suggested that they were
dead.” However, subsequently, Enrique, the witness’s brother, told his mother
that Ernestina and Erlinda “were not dead, but that the soldiers “had taken
them” when Suyapa was taking care of them while he and his father were
looking for water for the girls. The witness’s family was profoundly affected
emotionally, especially his mother; she began to suffer from a variety of
illnesses and was constantly crying and having nightmares.
In 1985, there was a very violent military operation during which the
witness’s father and a nephew died. The witness’s mother was able to submit
the case to the Asociación Pro-Búsqueda and the Public Prosecutor’s office.
The complaint before the Public Prosecutor’s office did not accomplish
anything; there was no response from the State.
The witness asked that “justice should be done, because, to date, there has
been no response from the Government to clarify his sisters’ case.”
2.
Andrea Dubón Mejía, a young woman who disappeared during
the armed conflict in the 1982 “guinda de mayo” and was found
She is 29 years old, has a university degree in Social Work and comes from El
Sitio canton, Arcatao jurisdiction, Chalatenango Department. She was seven
years old when the so-called “guinda de mayo” military operation took place;
she was taken by helicopter with a group of people to the Chalatenango Red
Cross. There were about 30 other children there and no one took down any