17 Commission and the documentary and personal evidence delivered in the instant case: (a) On March 26, 1985, Mr. Nicholas Blake, a journalist, and Mr. Griffith Davis, a photographer, both United States citizens residing in Guatemala, set off from Huehuetenango to San Juan Ixcoy, then walked to the small village of El Llano, arriving there on March 28 or 29, 1985. There they were questioned by Mario Cano, Commander of the El Llano Civil Self-Defense Patrol, who sought instructions from officers of the Las Majadas military garrison and ordered members of the civil patrol to take them to the border with El Quiché, telling them, "you can kill them if you wish." Mr. Nicholas Blake and Mr. Griffith Davis were immediately taken by the patrols to a place known as Los Campamentos where they were killed and their bodies thrown into the undergrowth and covered with tree trunks (cf April 17, 1997 testimony of Justo Victoriano Martínez-Morales; April 17, 1997 testimony of Richard R. Blake, Jr.; April 17, 1997 testimony of Samuel Blake; video recording of Mr. Samuel Miller's May 14, 1993 interview with Mr. Justo Victoriano Martínez-Morales; June 1988 statement by Justo Victoriano Martínez-Morales; statement by Justo Victoriano Martínez-Morales delivered in Huehuetenango; October 1993 statement by Samuel Blake delivered in Washington, D.C.; October 1993 statement by Richard R. Blake, Jr., delivered in Washington, D.C.; June 14, 1993 statement by Michael Shawcross delivered in Antigua, Guatemala; document of April 22, 1985, from the Embassy of the United States of America in Guatemala to the Secretary of State with reference to the travel of Embassy officials to Huehuetenango and El Quiché; note of February 19, 1986, from Mr. William L. Ball, III, to Senator Cohen; document of March 1990 from the Embassy of the United States of America in Guatemala addressed to the Secretary of State; letter of December 30, 1998, from Martha L. Sardiñas to Mr. Samuel Blake; and map of the road taken by Mr. Nicholas Blake and Mr. Griffith Davis in March 1985). (b) Mr. Nicholas Blake and Mr. Griffith Davis remained disappeared from March 28 or 29, 1985, until the dates on which their remains were discovered: Mr. Griffith Davis' on March 16, 1992, and Mr. Nicholas Blake's on June 14, 1992 (cf. July 18, 1992, Anthropological Forensic Report issued by the Smithsonian Institute; April 17, 1997 testimony of Richard R. Blake, Jr.; April 17, 1997 testimony of Samuel Blake; October 1993 statement by Samuel Blake delivered in Washington, D.C.; October 1993 statement by Richard R. Blake, Jr. delivered in Washington, D.C.; and June 14, 1993 statement by Michael Shawcross delivered in Antigua, Guatemala). (c) In April 1985, Ms. Metchtild Lindken, wife of Mr. Griffith Davis, and Ms. Lori Legator and Mr. Michael Shawcross, friends of the Blake family, established contact with U.S. Embassy officials who, in turn, communicated with Guatemalan military authorities in the Huehuetenango and El Quiché Departments informing them that Mr. Nicholas Blake and Mr. Griffith Davis were lost or disappeared, and seeking assistance in locating them (cf. April 17, 1997 testimony of Ricardo Roberto; April 17, 1997 testimony of Richard R. Blake, Jr.; April 17, 1997 testimony of Samuel Blake; October 1993 statement by Samuel Blake delivered in Washington, D.C.; October 1993 statement of Richard R. Blake, Jr., delivered in Washington, D.C.; June 14, 1993 statement by Michael