2007, this unit requested the court’s authorization to require further information from the Ministry of Defense concerning the zone, military detachments, troops, commands, officers, and chains of command during the months of March to May 1981.76 In this request, the unit placed on record that the ”Ministry of Defense […] has always refused to provide the information that the Public Prosecution Service has asked it to provide in order to clarify the events that it is investigating.”77 The Ministry of Defense filed several remedies against the judicial decision ordering it to hand over certain information, arguing that this was confidential and referred to military matters that were classified as “secret.”78 All the remedies were denied and, as a result, on October 2, 2007, the Ministry of Defense issued an official communication in which it indicated that there were no records of the military detachments assigned to the zone at the time of the events, attaching a certification on the location of the Petén detachments in 1982, and the record of the officers occupying the posts of Commander, Second and Third Commander and Officer. 79 The trial judge then decided to hold a hearing, which took place on December 20, 2007, for the Ministry of Defense to produce the required information classified as secret in order to determine whether it was useful for the investigation. 80 Neither the Public Prosecution Service nor the Public Defense Service took part in this hearing. 81 In a ruling of January 23, 2008, the San Benito Criminal Court decided not to incorporate the record of the hearing into the proceedings because it did not contain elements that were relevant for the investigation.82 48. In June 2009, the remains of the 19 individuals originally buried in the mass grave were exhumed for a second time to extract DNA samples and compare these to the genetic material of the victims’ family members.83 The results of the analyses presented on December 6, 2010, only permitted the identification of one of the victims, Cristóbal Rey González González, with a high degree of certainty.84 49. In a ruling of December 2010, the Supreme Court of Justice authorized the transfer of the proceedings and ordered that the case be forwarded from the Petén court to the First Trial Court for criminal matters, drug-trafficking and crimes against the environment of the municipality of Guatemala (hereinafter “the Criminal Trial Court”).85 Subsequently, in December 2010 and January 2011, the prosecution conducted various investigation procedures to collect the identity cards and birth and death certificates of those who had died on April 29 and 30, in the village of Los Josefinos.86 Cf. Prosecutor, Human Rights Section, Unit for Special Cases and Human Rights Violations, request of January 23, 2007 (evidence file, folios 175 to 179). 76 Cf. Prosecutor, Human Rights Section, Unit for Special Cases and Human Rights Violations, request of January 23, 2007 (evidence file, folios 175 to 179). 77 See, among others, appeal for reconsideration of the January 26, 2007, ruling of April 17, 2007 (evidence file, folios 225 and ff.); Appeal contesting the ruling of January 26, 2007 (evidence file, folios 235 and ff.); Appeal for reconsideration of the ruling, of April 19, 2007 (evidence file, folios 245 and ff.), and Appeal for reconsideration of the ruling, of April 20, 2007 (evidence file, folios 265 and ff). 78 Cf. Ministry of Defense, Communication No. 6992, of October 2, 2007 (evidence file folio 294), and Ministry of Defense, Communication No. 7001, of October 2, 2007 (evidence file folios 863 and ff.). 79 80 Cf. Record of procedure of December 20, 2007 (evidence file, folio 327). Cf. Record of oral hearing held at the General Luis García León First Infantry Brigade on December 20, 2007 (evidence file, folio 500). 81 Cf. San Benito Criminal and Environmental Crimes Court, Authorization ruling on January 26, 2007 (evidence file, folios 182 to 186). 82 Cf. Criminal and Environmental Crimes Court of the department of Petén, ruling of April 29, 2009 (evidence file, folios 447 and ff.). 83 84 Cf. Death certificate of Cristóbal Rey González González (evidence file, folios 1553 and 1554). 85 Cf. Supreme Court of Justice, ruling of December 15, 2010 (evidence file, folios 486 and 487). Cf. Prosecutor, Human Rights Section, requests addressed to the National Civil Registry (RENAP) on December 29, 2010 (evidence file, folios 1074 to 1099). 86 17