Florinda Uscap Ivoy and Juan Osorio Alvarado. Some of the children offered themselves or
were offered by their mothers to be taken by the patrollers to avoid being killed. After the
massacres, the children were forced to walk, hungry and thirsty, to Xococ, where some
were taken by the soldiers or the patrollers, while others were led to the village church to
be turned over to members of the Xococ community. The Río Negro children were obliged to
live with these individuals, some for two to four years, approximately,103 and were forced to
work. The case file indicates that some of the children were threatened and mistreated,104
and they were prevented from contacting next of kin who had survived the massacres.
Some children were given a new identity until they were recovered by their next of kin
owing to measures taken before the municipal authorities.105 Apart from these 17 children,
103
Cf. Judgment of May 28, 2008, Case No. 28-2003-OF (file of annexes to the submission of the case, tome
II, Annex 16, folios 576, 756, 760, 784, 811, 839 and 847).
104
For example, Jesús Tecú Osorio was beaten and choked until he lost consciousness. Cf. testimony given
by Jesús Tecú Osorio during the public hearing. See also, “Testimony of Jesús Tecú Osorio of February 1995.
Criminal proceedings 001-98-1. Attached to the petitioners’ brief received on May 7, 2007” (file of annexes to the
submission of the case, tome I, folios 575 and 576); Memoria de las Masacres de Río Negro: Recuerdo de mis
padres and memoria para mis hijos, supra (file of annexes to the submission of the case, tome XX, folios 12408 to
12414). Furthermore, according to the testimony of Juana Chen Osorio in the case file, the individuals who selected
her and her younger brother, Juan, changed their names, forced them to work and hit them with “whips.”
According to Ms. Chen Osorio, “I was in despair; Juan told me ‘I am going to leave and I am going to kill myself,’
[…] and the woman heard, and she went to fetch Juan, and […] there was a hole [sic] in the fire and she burned
Juan’s feet; I began to tend to Juan, who was screaming; that was just a small taste of what’s to come, she told
him. You two have to work. Where will the money for your clothes come from?” Cf. testimony of Juana Chen Osorio
(file of annexes to the submission of the case, tome I, folio 533). In her affidavit, María Eustaquia Uscap Ivoy
indicated that: “[….] Doña Paula’s mother mistreated my sister and perhaps because of this [my sister] became ill
and then died. Florinda was very little, but she hit her and made her wash the clothes. When I left my sister, we
cried and cried […].” (merits file, tome II, folio 1008).
105
Cf. Report “Guatemala, Memoria del Silencio,” supra, volume VI, annex I, Illustrative Case No. 10
“Massacre and Elimination of the Community of Río Negro”, second chapter, volume III, para. 2526; testimony
provided by affidavit by María Eustaquia Uscap Ivoy (merits file, tome II, folios 1008 and 1009); Judgment of
November 30, 1998, Criminal proceedings No. 001-98-1 (file of annexes to the submission of the case, tome I,
folios 588 to 589); Judgment of May 28, 2008, Case No. 28-2003-OF (file of annexes to the submission of the
case, tome II, folios 723, 742 to 743, 759 to 760, 765 to 766, 781 to 783, 787, 796 to 798, 803 to 804, 807 to
812, 816 to 817, 824 to 835, 841, 845 to 848, 855 to 859, 897 to 899 and 933); testimony of Juana Chen Osorio
(file of annexes to the submission of the case, tome I, folios 532 to 535); Testimony given during the public
hearing by Jesús Tecú Osorio; “Testimony of Jesús Tecú Osorio of February 1995. Criminal proceedings 001-98-1.
Attached to the petitioners’ brief received on May 7, 2007” (file of annexes to the submission of the case, tome I,
folios 574 to 576); testimony of José Osorio Sic (file of annexes to the submission of the case, tome I, folios 547 to
549), and Memoria de las Masacres de Río Negro: Recuerdo de mis padres and memoria para mis hijos, supra (file
of annexes to the submission of the case, tome XX, folios 12408 to 12416).
35
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