111 public authorities placed obstacles to steps for disinterment, and there was an official refusal to supply information regarding the whereabouts of the mortal remains of Efraín Bámaca Velásquez, for which reason this Court reached the conclusion that Mrs. Harbury suffered cruel, inhuman, and degrading treatment.68 All this situation has caused deep anguish as has been corroborated in the expert opinion of expert witness Deutsch and in various testimony;69 b) as regards José León Bámaca Hernández and the sisters, Egidia Gebia and Josefina Bámaca Velásquez, the Court reiterates that it is not necessary to prove non pecuniary damage regarding the parents,70 and regarding the sisters of the victim it is reasonable to assume that as members of the family they cannot have been indifferent to the loss of their brother.71 In any case, this Court deems that the affective relationship between Mr. Bámaca Velásquez and his father and sisters has been proven during the procedural stage (supra 35). Efraín Bámaca Velásquez entered the URNG, and consequently lost contact with his family nucleus, which at that time included his father and sisters, but this loss of contact resulted, as was proven in the merits72 from the situation of armed conflict that Guatemala was going through73 and the army’s practice of extracting information from the detainees, and from those participating in any insurgent activity, and to the fear of his next of kin of the sufferings the armed forces might inflict upon them.74 It is the opinion of this Court that such were the causes of the apparent distance between Efraín Bámaca Velásquez and his next of kin and that it was not due, as the State has argued, to severed family ties. In this case it must be added that given the specific characteristics of Mayan culture, of the Mam ethnic group, the loss of the emotional and economic support of the elder son brought great suffering to the Bámaca Velásquez household. On the other hand, they have suffered the emotional consequences of not having been able to bury the mortal remains of Efraín Bámaca Velásquez; and c) as regards Alberta Velásquez (supra 36), the sister of Efraín Bámaca Velásquez on his mother’s side, the Court reiterates that in the case of siblings, the degree of relationship and affection between them must 68 Bámaca Velásquez Case, supra note 6, para. 165. Among others, the testimony of Mrs. Harbury, of Patricia Davis, of James Harrington, and of Emily Jones, rendered at the Court during the Merits and Reparations stages (supra 22). 69 70 See Cantoral Benavides Case, Reparations, supra note 5, para. 61.a); Villagrán Morales et al. Case, Reparations, supra note 5, para. 66; Paniagua Morales et al. Case, Reparations, supra note 5, para. 108; Castillo Páez Case, Reparations, supra note 6, para. 88; Loayza Tamayo Case, Reparations, supra note 6, para. 142; Garrido and Baigorria Case, Reparations, supra note 48, para. 62; and Aloeboetoe et al. Case, Reparations, supra note 40, para. 76. 71 See Cantoral Benavides, Reparations, supra note 5, para. 61.d); Villagrán Morales et al. Case, Reparations, supra note 5, para. 68; and Paniagua Morales et al. Case, Reparations, supra note 5, para. 110. 72 With the testimony, among others, of Santiago Cabrera López and Otoniel de la Roca Mendoza. 73 Bámaca Velásquez Case, supra note 6, para. 121 b). 74 Bámaca Velásquez Case, supra note 6, para. 121 f) and g).