disappearance she had put some heavy books in a briefcase and asked her to take it to her house.35 She said
that she did not know what had happened to the briefcase.36
3.
Investigation
47.
On April 9, 2000, Mayra Angelina Gutiérrez's brother, Armando Gutiérrez, reported the
disappearance of Ms. Gutiérrez to the Criminal Investigation Service of the National Civil Police and the Public
Prosecution Service.37
48.
On April 11, Mario Polanco Pérez of Grupo de Apoyo Mutuo (GAM) filed a habeas corpus
petition for Ms. Gutiérrez with the judicial authorities.38 That same day, the Ninth Court of First Instance for
Criminal Matters, Drug Trafficking and Environmental Crimes accepted the habeas corpus petition in favor of
Ms. Gutiérrez.39 The court requested different authorities of the Office of the Director General of the National
Civil Police, prisons, and hospitals, to provide information, if they had any, on the whereabouts of Ms.
Gutiérrez.40 The IACHR notes that the judicial record shows that various state entities indicated that there
was no record of her arrest.41 On April 14, 2000, the Chief Secretary of the Office of the Director General of the
Police presented a written communication to the court, saying that "there is no record of a complaint having
been filed for Ms. Mayra Angelina Gutiérrez Hernández ... alleging her disappearance.”42
49.
On April 12, 2000, a prosecutor from the Public Prosecution Service requested the Chief of
the Criminalistic Investigations Department to assign two agents "to investigate the disappearance of Ms.
Mayra Angelina Gutiérrez Hernandez."43
50.
On April 13, 2000, the Office of the Human Rights Ombudsman lodged a habeas corpus
petition for Ms. Gutiérrez with the Seventh Justice of the Peace for Criminal Matters.44 The Third Court of First
Instance for Criminal Matters, Drug Trafficking and Environmental Crimes refused the petition because "the
country's courts have informed that ... Mayra ... was not in any of the Republic's prisons.”
51.
On April 26, 2000, the Office of the Human Rights Ombudsman received a preliminary report
from the Chief of the Juveniles and Missing Persons Section of the National Civil Police’s Criminal
Investigation Service.45 The report concluded that the prime suspect in the disappearance of Ms. Gutiérrez
"was Juan Alberto Arancibia in view of a contradiction between what he told investigators ... about his
migratory movements and documentation obtained from the Immigration Authority (Delegación de
35 Annex 2. Curriculum Vitae of Mayra Angelina Gutiérrez Hernandez. Enclosed with the petitioners' brief received by the
IACHR on October 30, 2000.
36 Annex 2. Curriculum Vitae of Mayra Angelina Gutiérrez Hernandez. Enclosed with the petitioners' brief received by the
IACHR on October 30, 2000.
37 Annex 10. Official letter from the Human Rights Ombudsman, July 31, 2000. Enclosed with the petitioners' brief received by
the IACHR on October 30, 2000.
38 Annex 13. Presentation of habeas corpus petition, April 11, 2000. Enclosed with the petitioners' brief received by the IACHR
on October 30, 2000.
39
Annex 1. Judicial record, p. 4. Enclosed with the State's communication of November 23, 2014.
40
Annex 1. Judicial record, p. 4. Enclosed with the State's communication of November 23, 2014.
41
Annex 1. Judicial record, pp. 22 and 27. Enclosed with the State's communication of November 23, 2014.
42
Annex 1. Judicial record, p. 28. Enclosed with the State's communication of November 23, 2014.
Annex 15. Communication from the prosecutor, Marta López, dated April 12, 2000. Enclosed with the petitioners' brief
received by the IACHR on October 30, 2000.
43
44 Annex 5. Amnesty International press release, Mayra Angelina Gutiérrez, May 31, 2000. Enclosed with the petitioners' brief
received by the IACHR on October 30, 2000.
45 Annex 10. Official letter from the Human Rights Ombudsman, July 31, 2000. Enclosed with the petitioners' brief received by
the IACHR on October 30, 2000.
9