20 of the decisions. These implementers have a precise understanding of their functions, and exercise them with respect and without major problems. This system was invaded when the military agents and the PAC leaders arrived to set aside the whole structure and substitute it with one that was radically militaristic, vertical, arrogant and overbearing, at the head of which they placed themselves. The effect of this strategy was to destroy the community mechanisms, the oral transmission of cultural knowledge, and to violate the Mayan rules and values of respect and service to the community. The selection, harassment, punishment and elimination of the elderly and the women, oral transmitters of their millenarian culture, ensured the loss of oral knowledge, which has caused almost irreparable damage. To end racism and discrimination against the indigenous people in Guatemala, he recommends, in particular, raising awareness about what happened so that people realize the immensity of the abuse. This requires widespread dissemination of precise and exact information. On that basis, measures must be taken at all levels by Government authorities, civil society and, above all, the indigenous people, to ensure that such events never happen again. Although he considers that the design and execution of a national program of reparation and compensation for the damage caused to the survivors and to the community of Plan de Sánchez – particularly the non-pecuniary damage – is a positive and important measure, the State should make an effort to define the basic elements of a policy to overcome racism and racial discrimination. e) Expert report of Nieves Gómez Dupuis, psychologist For the victims, the Plan de Sánchez massacre was a sudden event that caused profound traumas. The way people were rounded up, the extreme cruelty with which they died, the rape and torture, the death of the children, the decomposition of the bodies, the lack of funeral rites, the destruction of homes and crops, the theft of belongings, the military harassment, and the impunity, terrified the survivors and made them afraid to report the events, to meet together, and to express their needs their culture and their spirituality. The survivors display the symptoms of serious, chronic post-traumatic stress; manifested by re-experiencing the sight and smell of the burnt corpses; in hyperalertness characterized by sleep disorders, watchfulness, outbursts of anger towards their families, and fear of the Army; in avoidance, through the use of alcohol, loss of interest in activities they once enjoyed and, in some cases, a death-wish. Many suffer from psychosomatic and physical ailments, the origin of which it has been impossible to determine, owing to inexistent or inadequate medical and psychological care. They also manifest mourning disorders, fear, feelings of guilt, and bouts of weeping. These symptoms have hindered the personal development and adversely affected the quality of life of the survivors, at the individual, family, social and labor levels. The trust that existed between the inhabitants of the community has deteriorated. The survivors were accused of being guerrillas and of committing the massacre. In addition, they were obliged to live alongside the perpetrators and see them in the