alive.” 10 Two persons, according to the petitioners, were able to survive this massacre; one of them, Teodora Chen Tecú, said that she had heard that the Army and the PAC were going to finish massacring the entire population, so she advised the men to hide in the mountains. 29. One month later, on March 13, 1982, the petitioners reported that members of the Guatemalan Army and the PACs entered the community of Río Negro and assassinated approximately 177 11 persons (107 children and 70 women) 12 The petitioners say that at about six o’clock in the morning the soldiers and the PAC, uniformed and armed, reached the community of Río Negro and took all the people from their houses – most of them women and children. According to the petitioners, the patrol members had breakfast and then pillaged the village, several women were taken from the group to be raped. Subsequently, they forced the persons to walk about three kilometers up the mountain, where they were assassinated them, at a place known alternatively as Portozuelo and Pcoxom. 13 According to the petitioners, the following persons survived this massacre: Feliza González Coloch, Juan Tum Sanchez, Bruna Pérez Osorio, and Santiago Lajuj Jerónimo. 30. In addition, the petitioners allege that 17 14 children from the community of Río Negro were distributed among the patrol members, and were forced to live and work for almost two years as slaves for their victimizers. 31. On May 14, 1982, members of the Guatemalan Army and a group from the PAC entered the village of “Los Encuentros,” in the municipality of Salamá, department of Baja Verapaz, where the survivors of the community of Río Negro had taken refuge. On that occasion, 12 15 persons were massacred, the women were raped, and some persons were tortured and died as a result of the torture. Approximately 48 persons, mostly women, were captured and transported in three transfers made by helicopter; to this day their whereabouts are unknown. 16 According to the petitioners, the following persons survived this massacre: Bernarda Lajuj Osorio 17, Carmen Sanchez Chen, Osorio Sanchez, Osorio Lajuj, Antonio Osorio Lajuj, Paulina Chen Osorio, and Felipa Osorio Tahuico. 32. The petitioners report that another small group of survivors from the village of Río Negro took refuge in the “Community of Agua Fría,” situated in the municipality of Uspantan, department of Quiché, where the community was once again persecuted. 18 They state that on September 14, 1982, at approximately 5 a.m., a patrol from the Guatemalan Army and patrol members of the Civil Defense Patrols surrounded the village of Agua Fría and forced all its members to meet in a house, accusing them of belonging to the guerrilla forces. They indicate that approximately 90 19 persons were locked in that house, which was doused with gasoline and set afire. They indicate as well that the officer who commanded the operation threw a grenade in the house, and as a result the victims burned. Subsequently, according to the petitioners, the members of the Army and the PAC proceeded to sack and burn the 14 houses 10 Petitioners’ brief of April 16, 2007, p. 5. It is observed that the number of alleged victims of the events of March 13, 1982, in the information submitted by the petitioners, varies from 177 to 190 persons. 12 According to the petitioners, many of the children were from 3 months to 2 years of age; their remains were eroded due to the fragility of their bones. The exhumation of corpses performed 12 years later established the existence, in three graves, of 143 skeletal remains, 85 of which were of children, and the other 58 of women. In petitioners’ briefs of July 19 2005, p. 5 and April 16, 2007, p. 6. 13 The information provided indicates that the members of the community of Río Negro were forced to walk to a place called Pocoxom, which is also known as Portozuelo. 14 It is noted that the number of alleged victims, in the information submitted by the petitioners, varies from 17 to 20 children. 15 The petitioners, in their brief of May 6, 2007, clarify that in all, on this date 12 persons were assassinated and 48 were disappeared. See petitioners’ brief of May 7, 2007, p. 10. See also the reference to these facts in petitioners’ brief of July 9, 2005. 16 It is observed that the number of alleged victims of the events of May 14, 1982, in the information provided by the petitioners, varies from 57 to 60 persons. 17 According to the petitioners, she was subjected to slavery by a member of the PAC, in the village of Xococ, Rabinal Baja Verapaz. See additional information provided by the petitioners on September 5, 2007. 18 See petitioners’ brief of July 19, 2005, p. 6. 19 One observes that the number of alleged victims of the facts of September 14, 1982, in the information provided by the petitioners, varies from 92 to 117. 11 5