15 73. Through investigations conducted in 1992, Ramiro de León Carpio, at that time Ombudsman, discovered that the remains of Bámaca Velásquez might be buried in an XX grave in Retalhuleu. On May 20, 1992, the Second Criminal Trial Judge of Retalhuleu ordered the exhumation of the said body. However, the procedure was cancelled owing to the intervention of the Attorney General, Acisclo Valladares Molina, who arrived at the site accompanied by about 20 members of the armed forces and questioned the legality of the exhumation3. 74. On April 24, 1992, the URNG sent a note to the Ombudsman, informing him that the member of the guerrilla who had been killed in combat and buried in the Retalhuleu cemetery was not Efraín Bámaca Velásquez. In this note, it assured that Bámaca Velásquez had been captured alive, detained clandestinely and tortured to obtain information. On May 11, 1992, the Ombudsman replied to the URNG, providing a detailed description of the body that had been buried in Retalhuleu, which coincided with the characteristics of Bámaca Velásquez4. 75. Based on the statements of the witness, Santiago Cabrera López, the Guatemalan Human Rights Commission and Jennifer Harbury filed a petition for habeas corpus in favor of Bámaca Velásquez against the President of the Republic, in his capacity as Commander in Chief of the Army, and the Minister of National Defense, on February 22, 1993. On the following February 25 and 26, in file No. 14/93, the Supreme Court of Justice declared that this was without merit because the victim had not been found, and “immediately order[ed] the appropriate investigation, and that all relevant information should be officially forwarded to a competent court”. On March 11, 1993, the President of the Supreme Court of Justice indicated that “current mechanisms for habeas corpus procedures are inadequate for conducting an effective investigation under petitions for habeas corpus”, and suggested that there was a need “to undertake a thorough reform of justice in Guatemala.”5 92, given to Jennifer Harbury on August 23, 1993, Annex 4; testimony of Patricia Davis, given to the Court on August 24, 1993, Annex 5; testimony of Nery Ángel Urízar García, given to the special prosecutor, Julio Eduardo Arango Escobar, in the Public Ministry on May 20, 1995, Annex 10; Human Rights Watch/Americas, Disappeared in Guatemala: The Case of Efraín Bámaca Velásquez, March 1995, Annex 51; final report of the Ombudsman in the special pre-trial investigation procedure, December 9, 1994, Annex 16; letter of May 11, 1992, from Ramiro de León Carpio, Ombudsman, to Villagrán Muñoz; testimony of Mario Ernesto Sosa Orellana, given to the Court on November 22, 1998; testimony of Jennifer Harbury, given to the Court on June 16, 1998; and testimony of Julio Arango Escobar, given to the Court on June 17, 1998. 3 Cf. Final report of the Ombudsman en the special pre-trial investigation procedure, December 9, 1994, Annex 16; Human Rights Watch/Americas, Disappeared in Guatemala: The Case of Efraín Bámaca Velásquez, March 1995, Annex 51; testimony of Jennifer Harbury, given to the Court on June 16, 1998; testimony of James Harrington, given to the Court on June 17, 1998; testimony of Francis Farenthall, given to the Court on June 17, 1998; testimony of Acisclo Valladares, given to the Court on November 22, 1998; and letter of May 11, 1992 from Ramiro de León Carpio, Ombudsman, to Francisco Villagrán Muñoz. 4 Cf. Note of April 24, 1992 from the URNG to the Ombudsman; note of May 11, 1992, from the Ombudsman to the URNG; Human Rights Watch/Americas, Disappeared in Guatemala: The Case of Efraín Bámaca Velásquez, March 1995, Annex 51; and testimony of Jennifer Harbury, given to the Court on June 16, 1998. 5 Cf. Decisions of the Supreme Court of Justice of February 25 and 26, 1993, in file No. 14/93, Annex 23; letter of March 11, 1993, from Juan José Rodil Peralta, President of the Supreme Court of Justice, to the members of the Board of the Guatemalan Human Rights Commission, Annex 24; and testimony of Jennifer Harbury, given to the Court on June 16, 1998.