because Mayan women are responsible for the social reproduction of the group [… and] personify the values to be reproduced in the community.”47 60. In addition, the children of the indigenous communities were exposed to numerous violations of their human rights, being direct victims of forced disappearance, arbitrary execution, torture, kidnapping, rape, and other acts in violation of their fundamental rights. Torture and threats against children were also used as a way of torturing their families.48 Similarly, during this period, there was a pattern of separating children from their families after the massacres, and taking and retaining them illegally, all perpetrated by the military forces and illegal armed groups. In many cases, this practice meant that the children’s names were changed and they were denied their identity.49 In some case, the separation of children from their families resulted in their sale or illegal adoption, denying them the right to learn about their culture.50 The CEH report also indicates that “[a]fter the massacres or scorched earth operations, many of the children who could take care of themselves were taken by the soldiers, officers or members of armed groups and subjected to servitude in their own homes or in those of other families. Some of those children were subjected to exploitation and systematic abuse.”51 The CEH found that “the children had to perform domestic work or other tasks that they were given in the homes where they were living. They suffered all kinds of physical and mental ill-treatment. Together with the violation of their right to individual liberty, these children suffered the violation of all their human rights because, owing to the conditions of servitude to which they were subjected, their physical and mental integrity was also affected, and they were kept in a situation of economic exploitation, abuse and permanent fear.”52 In addition, the report Guatemala Nunca Más (Guatemala Never Again) prepared by the Recovery of the Historical Memory Project of the Human Rights Office of the Diocese of Guatemala (hereinafter “the REMHI Report”) indicates that “[i]n some cases, children who were separated from their families or communities, were abducted, and adopted fraudulently by some of those who had victimized their families. This practice has condemned them to live with their families’ murderers.”53 This report cites declarations by General Héctor Gramajo published in the April 6, 1989, edition of the Guatemalan newspaper Prensa Libre, according to which “at certain times, it became fashionable in the ranks of the Army to take charge of the little ones aged three or four years old […].”54 61. In addition, all these facts had and still have an important cultural impact on the Mayan communities. The human rights violations that took place during the internal armed conflict in Guatemala also meant a loss of the cultural and religious values and practices of the Mayan communities, as well as of their social, economic and political institutions.55 In particular, between 1980 and 1983, the forced disappearances, the use of torture and the 47 Report “Guatemala, Memoria del Silencio”, supra, second chapter, volume III, paras. 3348 and 3418. Also, during the public hearing, expert witness Rosalina Tuyuk stated that the rape of the Mayan women had, in many cases, prevented people from procreating, owing to the psychological consequences of the abuse. In addition, she indicated that many of the women who were raped have kept this experience secret, because talking about it “would somehow mean dishonor, criticism, stigmatization and shame [… for them] within the family […].” 48 Cf. Case of Molina Theissen v. Guatemala. Merits. Judgment of May 4, 2004. Series C No. 106, para. 40.6 49 Cf. Case of the Dos Erres Massacre v. Guatemala, supra, paras. 177, 170 and 199. 50 Cf. Expert opinion provided by Rosalina Tuyuc Velásquez during the public hearing. 51 Case of the Dos Erres Massacre v. Guatemala, supra, para. 171. 52 Report “Guatemala, Memoria del Silencio”, supra, second chapter, volume III, para. 2520. 53 Report “Guatemala Nunca Más”, supra, volume I, second chapter. 54 Report “Guatemala Nunca Más”, supra, volume I, second chapter. 55 Cf. Case of the Plan de Sánchez Massacre v. Guatemala. Merits, supra, para. 42.7. 25