61
and was raped. The rapes carried out in October 1982 and June 1985 resulted in two pregnancies
from which her children Edgar and Sandra Maribel García were born (supra para. 116). After
March 9, 1987, Juana García was forcibly displaced with her daughter and son aged 3 years and
1 year, approximately, which lasted until the present time. In this regard, during the public
hearing, Juana García told this Court: “we were left without clothes, without anything, without
a home, like a bird flying […]. We were left without husbands, without spouses […]. I lost my
children, not only the two who died [,] [but also] the older ones, the [family] disintegrated, they
left […], I lost my sons for nine years […]. I saw the death of my children and of all the neighbors.
I suffered a lot, we all suffered greatly […]. We ended up wandering from place to place […].To
this day, we are still a disintegrated family.” However, despite these circumstances, Juana García
began the search for her loved ones who ended up in clandestine cemeteries and those who
were victims of forced disappearance. She denounced the events that had occurred to her next
of kin, was involved in the criminal investigations that followed from those denunciations, and
participated in the exhumation and identification procedures of her relatives in 2000, 2002 and
2006. She also told this Court that she is still searching for her father, Adrián García Manuel,
and for her granddaughter, the daughter of Eusebia Grave García, who was taken away by the
military when she was seven months old and who is now reported to be in Sweden. 208
201. Fourth, the REMHI Report noted that “women of all ages and ethnicities, from diverse social
backgrounds and different geographical locations, […] had to dedicate themselves to searching
for the disappeared and preserving the lives of those who remained, in order to guarantee their
personal and family survival. And all this was added to the great emotional toll caused by the
impact of violence and its effects on women, such as loneliness, overload and low selfesteem.” 209
202. Finally, the Court understands that the forced displacement included a large number of
children, who in addition to the impact of surviving the acts of violence, found that their father
and mother - or one of them - had died, and were forced to live in a culture that was not theirs,
which caused them to lose their identity and cultural roots, and in some cases they were forced
to take charge of their younger brothers and sisters. The Court emphasizes the differentiated
impact that acts of violence and displacement had on those who were children at that time, and
which placed them in a situation of special vulnerability. Likewise, the Court is aware of the
circumstances of the early years of life of children born from the rape of their mothers in the
context of the internal armed conflict, and who were themselves victims of the violence of the
time, and who have been especially vulnerable due to the possibility of facing stigmatization,
discrimination, abandonment, infanticide or other forms of violence. 210
B.4. Conclusion
203. Consequently, the Court considers that the State of Guatemala is responsible for the
violation of the rights recognized in Article 22(1) of the American Convention, in relation to
Article 1(1) thereof. In this judgment, the Court described the problems encountered in the
identification of all the alleged victims in this case, which, in turn, makes it difficult to determine
how many persons were displaced. On June 2, 2016, the representatives presented a list of
“Individualized and displaced persons,” indicating the names of those who would have remained
in a situation of displacement after March 9, 1987, without the State challenging their status as
displaced victims (supra paras. 10, 65 and 69). In application of the principle of good faith and
procedural loyalty of the parties in this case, the Court considers that these persons, who are
Cf. Statement of Juana García Depaz at the public hearing held on April 28, 2016.
Cf. REMHI Report “Guatemala: Nunca Más”, Tome I, Chapter 5, Title 5. The resistance of the women.
210
With regard to sexual violence in armed conflict, the International Committee of the Red Cross has noted that “[b]oth
children born as a result of rape and their mothers are also extremely vulnerable and may face an increased risk of
exclusion from the community. These children may even be victims of infanticide or other forms of violence”. Available
at: https://www.icrc.org/spa/resources/documents/faq/sexual-violence-questions-and-answers.htm. See, also: REMHI
Report “Guatemala: Nunca Más”, Volume I, Chapter 2, Titles: 1. Violence against children and 4. Children of violence.
208
209