her nephew José Herminio García, 61 16, her husband Julio Chavarría Banegas, 62 and her
nephew Marlon García Barahona, 63 11.
57.
Irma Deras García told how a large number of armed soldiers entered the home at
that time and...
“they shoved me to one side. I was in my nightgown, they left me on the sidewalk outside
the house and went in, I heard how they took my whole family, they took Consuelo Deras,
who was disabled, she had a humpback […] I was wearing a bathrobe and I told them, let
me get out of these clothes, […] and one of them said, I will go with you, and I went up the
stairs, and because I was in my nightgown, they fondled me.” 64
58.
Afterward they were all taken on foot to the police station. That same night, the family
business that sold cement blocks and tiles was raided; Domingo Deras was there and they
apprehended him.
59.
When Héctor García 65 went to the home of the Deras García family to tell them that
his father had been caught, he was detained and taken with the rest of the family to the police
station which was being guarded by some 25 “cobra agents,” all of them armed with Galil and
M-16 assault rifles. They took them to a cell and made them all stand with their faces pressed
against the wall. They were together for a few moments at first, but then they took Irma
Deras García out of the cell, took photographs and fingerprints, and then blindfolded her and
questioned her about her participation in a guerrilla cell. When she denied the charges, they
beat her around the face and another agent said, “pull out her tongue[;] she is the sister of
the dead communist.” Then they were all blindfolded, tied up and taken to the San Pedro Sula
air base, where they were forced into a military airplane and taken to Tegucigalpa. They were
hit and kicked the whole time. When Irma Deras was interrogated, she heard the screams of
her family members being beaten and frequently being made to stand against the wall and
given death threats. 66
60.
Domingo Deras, José Herminio García and Consuelo Deras García were released on
June 9, 1984. While they were in custody, Consuelo Deras García “had a nervous breakdown
because of what was happening to her and the uncertainty of not knowing any of the things
they were asking her.” Afterward she passed away.
Son of Héctor Deras García and brother of Marlon Javier García Barahona.
Husband of Irma Deras García and brother-in-law of Herminio Deras García.
63
Son of Héctor García and brother of José Herminio García Barahona.
64
Statement by Irma Isabel Deras García, supra.
65
Cf. Statement rendered in public hearing by Irma Isabel Deras García on May 10 and 11, 2022.
66
In the words of Irma Deras García: “[t]hey took us in a bus with the windows covered, and they took us in
one at a time, we started off and then we reached the air base in San Pedro Sula […] when we were on the bus, the
handcuffs were pulled so tight, here it still shows, I asked if they would move them because I was bleeding, one of
them said we were causing trouble, I also told him that I heard a man vomiting, and I told him it was my father, I
thought then that my father were being held, I told him my father has high blood pressure, please give him water,
because he was like vomiting, so he told me, yes, we will give it to him but quit being such a pain. We went to the
airplane blindfolded and handcuffed […] I heard Marlen crying, Sandra crying, and I said I can’t ... they are younger,
I need to set the example [, …] in the airplane they told me we are going to throw you out, you and the whole family,
out into empty space, you will never see your children again.” “They took us to Tegucigalpa, […] they took us to a
place, I never found out where we were, and then we were interrogated often, they asked where the guns were,
what was the name of our guerrilla cell, that we wanted to blow up the Democracy Bridge, where was the dynamite,
we were interrogated so much, we had no water to drink, they didn’t give us any food, and there was a time at
around 4:00 a.m. the next day, when they let us rest.” “At one point they tied me, they put a hood over my head
and then also they took us out to dig our grave, they said, they gave us a shovel and said, dig the hole, because
here you will end up dead.” Statement by Irma Isabel Deras García, supra.
61
62