35 What is most important is for the State to acknowledge that her mother’s murder was a special intelligence operation coming from the Presidential Security Department of the Presidential General Staff, admitting that it was an institutional order that led to surveillance and following of her mother and then killing her. She also stated that Guatemala must publicly apologize to them through all the mass media. Her family wants the truth to be known and for no one to be able to deny, after the trial, what happened. She came to render testimony before the Inter-American Court because in this way no one will be able to deny what happened to her mother, thus setting a precedent that will have a great social impact in Guatemala. She does not want them to be seen as victims but rather as actors. d. Testimony of Helen Mack Chang, sister of Myrna Mack Chang23 She always lived with her sister, Myrna Mack Chang, except when she was married. Her sister was an anthropologist and at the time of the facts she was conducting a study on refugees, sponsored by the Georgetown University. Her sister also advised Monsignor Julio Cabrera Ovalle, when he was in charge of the Diocese of Quiché, on the situation of the refugees and internally displaced population in Guatemala, as this was a topic unknown to many and handled almost exclusively by the military. In one of her studies, her sister reached the conclusion that the return of the refugees should be attained through their integration into the country, discontinuing the war treatment they were receiving. She requested intervention of the Church, of non-governmental organizations and of the International Red Cross, all this to humanize the conflict. Her sister’s position was contrary to the counterinsurgency plans of the Army, and this turned her into a military objective. On September 11, 1990, about a quarter to seven p.m., her sister was attacked by at least two men and received 27 knife wounds. After the facts, the witness began to make inquiries among the neighbors and other possible witnesses, but they were all afraid to talk. Then, she began to receive the first threats and to be followed, all of which coincided with the visit of the United Nations Rapporteur for Guatemala, Christian Tomuschat, and the perpetrators of the crime sought to avoid a complaint regarding the facts. They also sought to dishonor her family by speculating that her sister’s murder was a crime of passion; that she was involved in the foreign currency “black market;” that she took drugs, or that she was a member of the guerrilla forces. She became involved in the criminal proceedings a month after the facts, when she noted that the investigation did not move forward and that the Magistrates’ Court trial did not progress. She had to carry out the investigation nearly alone, as the Public Prosecutor’s Office only supported her with briefs when they deemed that it was not dangerous. Otherwise, she looked up some article of the law that would allow her to do it on her own, individually, or she would obtain an attorney’s signature, in the understanding that at that time she did not have any funds to pay 23 She testified on what she knows for a fact regarding the murder of her sister Myrna Mack Chang, the threats she has suffered, as well as the struggle she has headed for over 10 years to combat impunity in this case before the judiciary, her multiple efforts to keep the memory of her sister alive, the suffering caused to her by the execution of the victim, and other background pertaining to the object and purpose of the application.