36
ii)
Search for María and Josefa Tiu Tojín
101. The Commission asked the Inter-American Court to order the State “to adopt
the measures necessary to locate and deliver the remains of María Tiu Tojín and
Josefa Tiu Tojín to their next of kin.” On their part, the representatives stated that “it
is important to determine the whereabouts of both victims, for which the State must
arrange for all the economic, administrative, legislative, and regulatory resources
that favor and make the search [and] location of María and Josefa Tíu Tojín easier.”
The representatives also stated that it is necessary to determine “the existence of
clandestine cemeteries located in the areas where the victims could have been
taken, using as a point of reference the detachment of Nebaj, [t]he last place where
they were seen, and perform the corresponding exhumations in order to exhaust all
possibilities of locating the victims;” similarly, “the State must assume the
commitment to speed up the processes referring to the regulatory framework,
constitution, and budget allocated to the [National Search Plan] for its operation
[…].”
102. The State mentioned that, “it had already started actions with the Foundation
of Forensic Anthropology of Guatemala with the purpose of locating the remains of
the victims. As part of these actions they […] met with the next of kin of the victims
in order to obtain information related to the facts and [the] possible location of the
same.”
103. The Court has established that María and Josefa Tiu Tojín are still missing and
their whereabouts are still unknown (supra para. 41). The effective investigation of
their whereabouts or the circumstances of their disappearance constitute a
reparation measure and therefore an expectation the State must satisfy.108 Thus, the
State must proceed immediately with the search and location of the remains of María
and Josefa Tiu Tojín, through the corresponding diligences for that effect,
specifically, in the place where they were last seen alive or any other place where
there is evidence of their location. If the victims were found dead, the State shall, in
a short period of time, hand over the remains to their next of kin, prior genetic
verification of their relationship. The expenses generated by this process shall be
covered by the State. Additionally, the State shall cover, if it were the case, the
funeral expenses, respecting the traditions and customs of the next of kin of the
victims.
104. The Court observes that the inclusion of the present case in the National Plan
for the Search of Missing People is a commitment included in the agreement (supra
para. 15). In this regard, the State indicated, during the public hearing (supra para.
7) that the mentioned Plan is currently in the Commission of Matters Pending
Resolution of the Congress of the Republic109 awaiting its approval in the following
months.
105. The Tribunal values the efforts made by the State in this sense. However, it
considers that the State may not cite the lack of implementation of the mentioned
108
Cfr. Case of Velásquez Rodríguez v. Honduras, supra note 20, para. 181; Case of Zambrano Vélez
et al. v. Ecuador, supra note 13, para. 149, and Case of Heliodoro Portugal v. Panama, supra note 17,
para. 244.
109
Cfr. initiative number 3590 of the Congress of the Republic of Guatemala (dossier of Annexes to
the final written arguments of the State, Annex IV, folios 23 through 51).
Seleccionar párrafo de destino3
Conectar a un párrafo
Connect to an entity
Disable highlights
Añadir a la tabla de contenidos