68
239. In this regard, the State informed that it is processing a bill to amend the Law
on the appeal for legal protection (Bill No. 3319), which largely complies with
observations presented by the Inter-American Commission in its application. It added
that the bill received a favorable ruling by the Extraordinary Commission on Reforms
to the Justice Sector, but it is pending before the Constitutional Court, which must
proceed to rule on that bill.
240. The Court calls to mind that the State must remove all obstacles to an
adequate investigation of the facts and corresponding processes so as to avoid
repetition of this type of facts.257 Specifically, in conformity with Article 2 of the
Convention, the State must adopt the measures necessary to make effective the
exercise of the rights and freedoms recognized in the Convention.
241. The Court takes cognizance that the parties to the proceeding have indicated
that Bill No. 3319, submitted to the Congress of the Republic on August 25, 2005 by
the Supreme Court of Justice, has modifications that will allow it to decrease the
abusive use of the appeal for legal protection. The CICIG verified this information,
and based on its mandate it proposed additional modifications so as to speed up the
processes and guarantee the right to a due process.258
242. The State must adopt, within a reasonable term, in conformity with Article 2
of the American Convention, the legal, administrative, and other measures necessary
to regulate the Law on the appeal for legal protection, so as to adapt this remedy to
its real goal and end, according to the Inter-American standards for the protection of
human rights. While the aforementioned measures are adopted, the State must
implement all actions that guarantee the effective use of the appeal for legal
protection, in conformity with section A) of chapter VIII of this Judgment.
B.3)
Identification and delivery of the remains of the individuals executed
in the Las Dos Erres massacre to their next of kin
243. The representatives requested the Court to order the State to use all available
means to identify the remains found in the exhumations, and to deliver them to their
next of kin. Neither the Commission nor the State submitted pleadings regarding this
reparation. However, the State referred to the creation, through government
agreement No. 835-2000, of a “Special Commission to Search for and Identify the
Next of Kin of the victims of the facts of December 7, 1982, in the Community of Las
Dos Erres, village of Las Cruces, Municipality of La Libertad, department of Petén,”
which as of August 30, 2001 delivered the final list of the victims identified,
comprised of 71 family groups.
244. The Court notes that although the victims in the instant case are not those
deceased in the massacre, but their next of kin and two survivors, the exhumation,
identification, and delivery of the remains is a right of the victims’ families as a
reparation measure.
245. The Court has established that the right of the victims’ next of kin to know
where are the remains of their loved ones, apart from constituting a demand of the
right to the truth, it is also a reparation measure, thus resulting in a corresponding
257
Cf. Case of La Cantuta v. Peru, supra note 235, para. 226; Case of Kawas Fernández v. Honduras,
supra note 21, para. 192, and Case of Anzualdo Castro v. Peru, supra note 28, para. 125 and 182.
258
International Commission Against Impunity in Guatemala (CICIG), Recommendations on Legal
Reforms by the CICIG, “First comprehensive packet of legislative reform proposals” (file on appendixes to
the brief of pleadings and motions, appendix 7, fs. 9309 and 9310).
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