80
316. Regarding the arbitrary assignment of names, witness Máynez Grijalva testified
that “the identity of the bodies provided by the Public Prosecutor was obtained from
the confession of those detained.”337 Moreover, the EAAF indicated that a request was
made that “four of the eight skeletal remains recovered, [including the three victims
be] compared […] with only one of the women who had disappeared.”338 The EAAF
added that “[t]he official communications making this request and the case file
consulted do not specify why, one or two days after they were discovered, certain
bodies were specifically compared […] only with certain women who had disappeared.”
339
317. The State did not contest the factual clarifications made by these statements
and documents, so that the Court finds that these irregularities related to the arbitrary
assignment of identities have been proved.
c.2)
Return of the bodies without a positive identification
318. International standards require that the remains be returned only when the
victim is clearly identified; that is, when a positive identification has been obtained.
The Minnesota Protocol establishes that “the body must be identified by reliable
witnesses and other objective methods.”340
319. In the instant case, although the State ordered different expert appraisals,341
including some based on cranial-facial superposition and DNA tests,342 when the
remains were returned to the next of kin, the State only had the information provided
by the latter regarding general physical data and identification of clothing.343
320. For example, in the case of Claudia Ivette González, on November 15, 2001,
her sister indicated that she had identified her from a hair sample, a fingernail, a
jacket and a blouse, as well as from a tooth filling.344 The body was returned to the
next of kin that same day.345 In the case of Esmeralda Herrera, on November 16,
2001, she was identified by her brother and her father by “the clothes found” where
337
Testimony of witness Máynez Grijalva, supra note 312, folio 3846.
338
Cf. E.A.A.F., Dictamen en antropología and genética forense, supra note 189, folio 10330.
339
Cf. E.A.A.F., Dictamen en antropología and genética forense, supra note 189, folio 10331.
340
Cf. Manual on the Effective Prevention and Investigation of Extralegal Executions, supra note 310.
341
Cf. Official letter No. 0504/00 issued by the official of the Public Prosecutor’s Office, head of the
Office of the Special Prosecutor for the Investigation of the Murders of Women on November 10, 2001 (case
file of attachments to the application, volume IX, attachment 39, folio 2687).
342
Cf. Official letter No. 0507/01 issued by the official of the Public Prosecutor’s Office, head of the
Office of the Special Prosecutor for the Investigation of the Murders of Women on November 8, 2001 (case
file of attachments to the application, volume IX, attachment 39, folio 2688); official letter 504/01 issued by
the official of the Public Prosecutor’s Office, head of the Office of the Special Prosecutor for the Investigation
of the Murders of Women on November 8, 2001 (case file of attachments to the application, volume IX,
attachment 39, folio 2689); official letter No. 513/01 issued by the official of the Public Prosecutor’s Office,
head of the Office of the Special Prosecutor for the Investigation of the Murders of Women on November 9,
2001 (case file of attachments to the application, volume IX, attachment 39, folio 2690), and official letter
No. 514/01 issued by the official of the Public Prosecutor’s Office, head of the Office of the Special Prosecutor
for the Investigation of the Murders of Women on November 9, 2001 (case file of attachments to the
application, volume IX, attachment 39, folio 2691).
343
Cf. EAAF, Dictamen en antropología and genética forense, supra note 189, folio 10331.
344
Cf. appearance of Mayela Banda González, supra note 173, folios 2796 and 2797.
345
Cf. Official letter No. 530/01 issued by the official of the Public Prosecutor’s Office attached to the
Office of the Special Prosecutor for the Investigation of the Murders of Women on November 15, 2001 (case
file of attachments to the application, volume IX, attachment 51 and 53, folio 2799).
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