108.
Based on the foregoing, the Commission concludes that the State has not assumed the investigation in
this case as its own duty and it has not been effectively aimed at the investigation, pursuit, capture, prosecution
and, as applicable, punishment of those responsible, in such a way as to thoroughly examine the harm caused
to the residents of Los Josefinos. In addition, the investigation has not been aimed at the identification and
delivery of the remains of those killed in the massacre. Likewise, the investigation has not been conducted in a
reasonable time. All of the foregoing harms the right of the victims and their relatives to know the truth of what
happened in a timely way. Bearing in mind that the massacre at Los Josefinos occurred within a systematic
framework of widespread human rights violations in Guatemala and given the magnitude of the massacre, the
State clearly had a duty to conduct a meaningful investigation of all those allegedly responsible, including the
involvement as masterminds by high-ranking officers and government officials, as well as to locate and identify
those who were killed and disappeared within a reasonable time.
109.
The Commission also considers demonstrated that there was direct obstruction of the investigations
by the Army and the Ministry of Defense, which not only refused at first to respond to the request for
information, arguing that the information sought was a "state secret,” but also, when it did respond, did so only
partially and failed to hand over all the requested information, did not allow the Public Prosecution Service to
verify the nonexistence of certain files, and denied the possibility of presenting arguments on the Army's
classification of certain documents as secret. In that regard, furthermore, the judicial authorities failed to act
properly to protect the right of the victims to access necessary information to obtain the truth by failing to
clearly state the reasons why the information was considered not relevant. As mentioned above, in this case,
this aspect is subsumed in the analysis of the rights to a fair trial and judicial protection.
110.
Therefore, the IACHR considers that the State violated the rights to a fair trial and judicial protection
recognized at Articles 8 (1) and 25 (1) of the American Convention, in conjunction with the duty to respect
rights set down in Article 1 (1) thereof, to the detriment of the relatives of the victims of the massacre, the
victims of forced displacement, and all the surviving victims individually identified in the Consolidated Annex
to this report on merits. The IACHR also concludes that the State violated Article I (b) of the Inter-American
Convention on Forced Disappearance of Persons to the detriment of the victims of forced displacement
individually identified in the aforementioned annex and their relatives.
V.
CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS
111.
The Commission concludes that the State of Guatemala is responsible for violating the right to life, right
to humane treatment, rights of the child, right to juridical personality, right to personal liberty, right to privacy,
right to property, rights of the family, freedom of movement and residence, right to a fair trial, and right to
judicial protection. The foregoing is in accordance with Articles 3, 4 (1), 5 (1), 5 (2), 7, 8 (1), 11 (2), 17, 19, 21,
22 (1) and 25 (1) of the American Convention, in conjunction with Article 1 (1) thereof. In addition, the State
violated the obligations set forth in Article I of the Inter-American Convention on Forced Disappearance of
Persons.
112.
Based on the foregoing conclusions,
THE INTER-AMERICAN COMMISSION ON HUMAN RIGHTS RECOMMENDS THAT THE STATE OF
GUATEMALA,
1.
Provide adequate individual and collective reparation for all the human rights violations recognized in
the instant report, in both material and immaterial respects, including fair compensation for consequential
injuries, loss of income, and moral harm,226 elucidation and circulation of the historical truth of the events,
remembrance of the deceased and disappeared victims, and implementation of a rehabilitation program,
including adequate psychological and psychosocial care for survivors and relatives of the executed and
disappeared victims. The measures of satisfaction and rehabilitation should be fully agreed upon with the
victims.
In its analysis of compliance with the recommendations contained in this report on merits, the IACHR will appraise the payments made
by the State of Guatemala during the processing of the case by the IACHR, as well as their sufficiency in the light of the inter-American
standards applicable to gross human rights violations such as those that were committed in this case.
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