89 example, of how his mother had died when he was still small; he mentioned that he had sisters and he was concerned about them, about how they lived, because he knew they suffered hunger, and about this situation and their malnutrition and health, as well as the repression and dangers they faced. He spoke a lot about his father, and remembered that they always worked together. While he was militant in the guerrilla forces, he stopped communicating with his relatives so as to protect them and prevent their being persecuted because he was a guerrilla fighter. He was concerned about their situation, and he often remembered the time when they lived together, and he thought that, as the war was gradually ending, he would be able to arrange a meeting with them, perhaps on the other side of the Mexican border, perhaps in Tapachula, but he feared for their safety. His personal qualities as an indigenous leader led him to participate with the Commanders of the Unidad Revolucionaria Nacional Guatemalteca (hereinafter “URNG”) in the Peace Process in Guatemala, beginning in 1991, primarily in the area of indigenous rights. He also felt an obligation and responsibility to participate as a leader in the public life of his country during the transition toward peace, and possibly once the conflict ended he would have begun to work through the Toriello Foundation, an organization in charge of various social projects, where other former members of the URNG and friends of Efraín Bámaca Velásquez are working. “[H]e was always concerned, he remembered the hunger and poverty of his people and he was fond of them, and it is also the Mayan culture, […] in which of course all the family is one”. The expectations of the witness regarding her future life with Efraín Bámaca Velásquez were like those of any person involved in a war. She thought that their personal life would be rather difficult. She knew there would be periods of separation and although there was the possibility of his dying, they had the hope of having children and living together in Guatemala, once peace was attained in that country. The hope of being together and having a normal life after the peace accord gave them energy. Her life changed completely as a consequence of her husband’s disappearance. She felt forced to abandon her professional obligations as an attorney, as well as to sell her belongings. The search for her husband affected her quite a lot financially. With the purpose of determining his whereabouts, she went before various administrative authorities, filed several habeas corpus remedies before the competent courts, talked to congressmen, and took steps with international organizations. At that time, she received psychological pressure from State agents, and there was a defamation campaign against her. She even went on hunger strikes, “but no, [she] was not able to save his life, he was murdered”. The hunger strikes were useful to find out the truth about what had happened to him, and they had important physical consequences, such as a drastic loss of weight, neurological damage to one of her eyes, problems with her metabolism and her heart. Capture and disappearance of her husband, as well as obstruction and lack of administration of justice regarding steps taken within the country to search for her husband caused her great emotional suffering, especially due to previous experience with victims of human rights violations in Guatemala, as she was aware of the situation of torture that he might suffer. “[T]his meant amputation of genitals, amputation of hands […], burning with cigarettes, cutting [of] tongue, [asphyxia]