“during the investigation and prosecution, the State shall guarantee the victims full access
6
and the capacity to act at all stages.” Therefore, in its next report, the State must submit
information regarding these statements made by the representatives.
B.
The obligation to continue with the effective search for and the immediate
location of Mr. Radilla Pacheco or, if applicable, of his remains (Operative
Paragraph 9 of the Judgment)
12.
The State indicated that from October 19 to 28, 2010 new excavations aimed at
locating Rosendo Radilla Pacheco were carried out at the place “where he presumably
disappeared.” It indicated that “it has continued these efforts in full agreement with the
victims and their representatives,” and that the excavations have been carried out by
experts proposed by Ms. Tita Radilla Martínez. The State affirmed that on October 28, 2010,
the excavation concluded “without having found clues, evidence, or skeletal remains.”7 It
also indicated that “the archeological expert [proposed by Ms. Radilla Pacheco] was asked
to conclusively certify his experience[...], documenting cases [in which he has intervened as
part of the Forensic Anthropology Foundation of Guatemala, the methodology used, and the
results obtained.” The State also indicated that the expert “was asked to state the
similarities or analogies between those cases and [this one]. Once [this] requirement is
fulfilled, […] the agent of the Federal Public Ministry of the Federation shall proceed
according to the law.”
13.
The representatives affirmed that actions carried out by the Attorney General’s
Office "still do not reflect the seriousness necessary in this case, as the most important
measure ordered in the investigation since the Judgment was handed down is the
excavation ordered in the former military barracks of Atoyac de Álvarez[, but] this
excavation was ordered in places that had already been investigated in 2008.” In that
regard, they indicated that the experts proposed by Ms. Tita Radilla, who were accredited
during the preliminary inquiry, issued a series of recommendations after excavations
concluded on October 28, 2010. They stated that despite the fact that these experts “were
authorized by the [Attorney General’s Office], the [agent] of the Public Ministry has
questioned their recommendations and[,] thus[,] measures aimed at searching for Mr.
Rosendo Radilla Pacheco’s skeletal remains have been delayed.” This agent indicated to the
representatives that “excavations could not continue until the expert of the Forensic
Anthropology Foundation of Guatemala could prove the Foundation's experience.” Finally,
the representatives stated that the agent of the Public Ministry, in charge of executing the
aforementioned preliminary inquiry, told them that the Ministry did not have the resources
necessary to continue with excavations or to hire experts in forensic archeology, and thus
“the cost of hiring experts would be charged to [the representatives if they] offere[d] them
as collaborators in the measures carried out, even if the Attorney General’s Office were to
decide to consider them as official experts and not as independent experts.”
6
Case of Radilla Pacheco v. Mexico, supra note 5, para. 334.
7
It indicated that during the excavations, representatives of the National Commission on Human Rights, the
Unit for the Promotion and Defense of Human Rights of the Ministry of the Interior, and the “Office of the High
Commissioner of the United Nations […] were present. Additionally, personnel of the Social Communications
Department of the Attorney General's Office were also present. The latter “took on the task of ensuring that the
media was given access to the place and of issuing various bulletins that were presented” through the web page of
the Attorney General’s Office. Other members of the organization that represents the victims that are not
accredited in proceedings were allowed to be present “in order to strengthen the psycho-social support of Rosendo
Radilla Pacheco’s next of kin.”
5