127
vindicated at a public act, and for the police work of Rember Larios
Tobar to be publicly recognized;
d)
to adopt the following measures:
d.i)
for the President of Guatemala and the Minister of Defense to
publicly ask for the “forgiveness” of the Mack family for past and
current human rights violations against the victim and her family;
d.ii)
for two annual scholarships to be established in the name of
Myrna Mack Chang to maintain public recognition of the victim and the
nature of her work.
These scholarships must be granted to
Guatemalan students to study Anthropology and Law at respected and
internationally recognized universities, outside Guatemala. AVANCSO
and the Myrna Mack Foundation must also participate in selecting the
students. This reparation is especially appropriate due to the Myrna
Mack Chang´s academic background and her devotion to promoting
human rights. The scholarships should enable reproduction, to a
certain extent, of the impact of the life of the victim on Guatemalan
society;
d.iii) for a monument to Myrna Mack Chang to be built, located in the
region of Guatemala where she worked intensely.
Considerations of the Court
271. The Court has concluded, inter alia, that Guatemala violated Articles 8 and 25,
in combination with 1(1) of the Convention, to the detriment of the next of kin of the
victim, due to deficient direction of the judicial proceedings, their delays, and the
obstructions effected to impede punishment all those responsible, including direct
perpetrators, accessories, participants and accomplices after the fact, which has
generated feelings of insecurity, defenselessness, and anguish in the next of kin of
the victim.
272. The Court recognizes that in the instant case impunity of those responsible is
partial, as one of the direct perpetrators has been tried and punished (supra paras.
134.5 and 134.22). Nevertheless, at the time of the instant Judgment, after more
than thirteen years, the criminal proceeding is ongoing and is pending a decision on
an appeal for annulment, for which reason a definitive judgment has not yet been
issued that identifies and punishes all those responsible for the extra-legal execution
of Myrna Mack Chang. On the other hand, there has been a situation of grave
impunity that constitutes an infringement of the aforementioned duty of the State
(supra para. 217), that is injurious to the next of kin of the victim, and that fosters
chronic recidivism of the human rights violations involved.291
273. This Court has repeatedly referred to the right of the next of kin of the victims
to know what happened and to know who are the agents of the State responsible for
291
Cf. Bulacio Case, supra note 9, para. 120, Juan Humberto Sánchez Case, supra note 9, paras.
143 and 185; and Las Palmeras Case. Reparations, supra note 10, para. 53.a).
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