graves. However, on the orders of an army officer,77 they were buried in a mass grave78 with the aid of a tractor
at Los Josefinos village cemetery.79 All of them had been victims of a violent death.80
36.
Once the bodies were buried, all the residents left in Los Josefinos also fled into the bush because the
community was terrified 81 and the Army had told them that they should abandon the village. 82 Even after
fleeing, the survivors lived in constant dread and dared not report what had happened or recognize the victims
for fear of possible reprisals from the Army.83 Their fear was well-founded, as was demonstrated by one of the
cases documented by the CEH: “In early May 1982, a few days after the massacre in the village of Los Josefinos
... Guatemalan Army personnel executed 22-year-old Marcos Socop Guamuch, who was in the forest along with
others fleeing the military offensive.” 84 Likewise, those who provided assistance to the survivors were also
threatened by the Army.85 Many victims did not dare to return and resettle in Los Josefinos but had to find
refuge in other parts of the country or abroad.86
D.
Domestic proceedings
37.
On January 16, 1996, FAMDEGUA appeared before Petén Department Court of First Instance to request
the exhumation of the corpses buried in the mass grave at Los Josefinos, with a view to gathering evidence in
advance of judicial proceedings.87 The procedure was carried out by the EAFG from March 15 to 24, 1996, in
the presence of the Justice of the Peace of Sayaxche, Petén, and in it a total of 19 skeletons were recovered.88
On March 27, 1996, the Petén Department Court of First Instance ruled that the procedures carried out
suggested that a crime had been committed and decided immediately to refer the case to the Public Prosecution
Service. 89 On April 18, 1996, the Public Prosecution Service ordered that the necessary steps be taken to
investigate the facts; however, it only ordered that the former Deputy Mayor of Los Josefinos be summoned to
provide a declaration. 90 On June 18, 1996, the Public Prosecution Service requested information from the
National Police regarding possible reports of disappeared persons in Los Josefinos in April 1982,91 and also
(verso), line 31; two infants of undetermined sex, p. 9 (verso), line 34, and p. 10, lines 4-5; a male infant, p. 9 (verso), lines 38-39; two
female children, p. 9 (verso), lines 42-43 and 47-48; an adolescent female, p. 10, line 17; three adult females, p. 10, line 10 and p. 10
(verso), lines 29 and 43; an adolescent male, p. 10, lines 22-23; and seven adult males, p. 10 (verso), lines 35-36, p. 11, lines 1, 8, 13-14,
and 21-22, and p. 11 (verso), lines 30 and 36; (ii) Forensic Report, Guatemalan Forensic Anthropology Team, March 25, 1996. See Annex
05, Criminal case file C-805-96, pp. 19-27, which states that the remains of 19 people were found, concretely: a child of undetermined
sex, p. 21 (JP-I-9); two infants of undetermined sex, p. 21 (JP-I-10) and p. 22 (JP-I-18); a male infant, p. 21 (JP-I-11); two female
children, p. 21 (JP-I-12 and JP-I-17); an adolescent female, p. 22 (JP-I-7); three adult females, p. 22 (JP-I-6) and p. 23 (JP-I-8 and JP-I1); an adolescent male, p. 22 (JP-I-13); and eight adult males, p. 22 (JP-I-4), p. 23 (JP-I-5, JP-I-2, and JP-I-19) and p. 24 (JP-I-3, JP-I-14, JPI-15, and JP-I-16). See also Annex 07, Forensic Report, June 1996, pp. 10-27, which states that following an osteological analysis of each
set of remains, it was determined that 19 of the skeletons recovered were female, four were male, and 11 were of undetermined sex. Five
of them belonged to children between the ages of one month and 11 years old, one was of an adolescent male between 12 and 18 years old,
and 12 belonged to adults over 18 years old; Annex 03. Declaration of Francisco Gámez Ávila (p. 2), who said that children and adults were
buried in the mass grave and that among the buried corpses he recognized Santiago Colón, Eugenio Cuac, and Mrs. Inés, whose surname
he did not recall.
77 Information from Samuel Bracamonte, Annex 05, Criminal case file C-805-96, p. 9, lines 21-23.
78 Testimony of Samuel Bracamonte, Annex 05, Criminal case file C-805-96, p. 36 (verso), lines 32-34. Annex 03. Declaration of Francisco
Gámez Ávila, p. 2.
79 Certificate issued by Raúl Armando Ramírez Hernández, Justice of the Peace, during the exhumation at los Josefinos on March 15, 1996,
Annex 05, Criminal case file C-805-96, p. 9, lines 23-25; Forensic Report, Guatemalan Forensic Anthropology Team, March 25, 1996, Annex
05, Criminal case file C-805-96, p. 20; Annex 03. Declaration of Francisco Gámez Ávila, p. 2.
80 Annex 07, Forensic Report, June 1996, p. 27.
81 Testimony of Samuel Bracamonte, Annex 05, Criminal case file C-805-96, p. 36 (verso), lines 38-42.
82 Annex 04, Minutes of Los Josefinos Displaced Persons Committee, p. 2; Annex 03. Declaration of Francisco Gámez Ávila, p. 2.
83 Annex 01. Notarized declaration of César Armando Palencia Muralles, pp. 5-7.
84 CEH, Guatemala: Memory of Silence, p. 3141.
85 Annex 09. Declaration given by Eleodora Grijalva Solís de López in January 1996 (hereinafter “Declaration of Eleodora Solís de López”),
p. 2.
86 Annex 02. Notarized declaration of Antonio Ajanel Ortiz, p. 2, who describes how he had hide because he had a bullet wound in one arm
and feared that he would be taken for a guerrilla fighter because of the wound; also how he did not see his surviving son—who was five
years old at the time of the events—until he was 25 years old because he had taken refuge in Mexico.
87 Annex 05, Criminal case file C-805-96, pp. 1-2.
88 Annex 05, Criminal case file C-805-96, pp. 7-12.
89 Annex 05, Criminal case file C-805-96, p. 13.
90 Annex 05, Criminal case file C-805-96, p. 31.
91 Annex 05, Criminal case file C-805-96, p. 34.
11