22
117. The Commission submitted receipt No. 318558, dated in El Florido on December 12, 1981.
At the bottom of the receipt appears the signature "Francisco Fairén G." and it shows a
temporary tourist entry into Guatemala of a "wine-beige" colored, Opel automobile with Costa
Rican license plate 39991. In his opinion of August 12, 1988, the expert appointed by the
President concludes that the signature of Francisco Fairén Garbi is genuine.
118. By letter of March 2, 1988, the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Guatemala informed the Court
that, in the "opinion" of that government, Francisco Fairén Garbi and Yolanda Solís Corrales
"never entered Guatemala," but it points out both names were on the departure lists of the Valle
Nuevo border post (Las Chinamas) for December 14, 1981. The Guatemalan government says
"that list appears to be signed by Oscar Gonzalo Orellana Chacón, although the signature
corresponds to that of José Víctor García Aguilar," but it does not say whether it considers them
genuine.
119. The Government of Costa Rica forwarded to the Court certified case file No. 9243 which
contains a report signed on June 14, 1982, by Ricardo Granados, Head of the Criminal Section of
the Office of Judicial Investigations (OIJ) of Costa Rica. The report is addressed to the Head of
the "Ministerio Público" of that country and concerns the investigation requested regarding the
disappearance of Francisco Fairén Garbi and Yolanda Solís Corrales. According to that report, in a
search of the home of Mario Alberto Monge Fernández, who had apparently seen them on the day
of their departure, the investigator found documents and other papers which suggested Francisco
Fairén Garbi and Yolanda Solís Corrales had probably taken medical supplies to El Salvador and
Guatemala, in which case their destination would not have been Mexico. Nevertheless, witnesses
Francisco Fairén Almengor, Elizabeth Odio, and Antonio Carrillo affirmed that neither Francisco
Fairén Garbi nor Yolanda Solís Corrales were political activists (testimony of Francisco Fairén
Almengor, Elizabeth Odio, and Antonio Carrillo). The Commission also maintained that they had
no political background which could have aroused the suspicion of the Government of Honduras.
120. Witness Florencio Caballero affirmed, initially, that he had no knowledge of the case of the
Costa Rican citizens Francisco Fairén Garbi and Yolanda Solís Corrales, although, later, in another
part of his testimony, he said he remembered the name Francisco Fairén Garbi from a Battalion
316 list of persons kidnapped (testimony of Florencio Caballero).
VII
121. The testimony and documentary evidence, corroborated by press clippings, presented by
the Commission, tend to show:
a.
That there existed in Honduras from 1981 to 1984 a systematic and
selective practice of disappearances, carried out with the assistance or tolerance
of the government;
b.
That Francisco Fairén Garbi and Yolanda Solís Corrales were presumably
victims of that practice;
c.
That in the period in which those acts occurred, the legal remedies
available in Honduras were not appropriate or effective to guarantee his rights to
life, liberty and personal integrity.