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Based on the information collected, the members of the Guatemalan Forensic
Anthropology Team reached the conclusion that the corpse examined “[did] not
correspond to the skeleton of Mr. Bámaca [Velásquez]”, owing to the differences in
the dental record and the age. Dr. Michael Charney, who was present during the
exhumation in Retalhuleu, reached the same conclusion.
He had access to the report of the first autopsy performed on corpse XX by the
Retalhuleu coroner, which indicated that the cranium presented a compression or
had been crushed; a very deep and strong laceration caused by a rope; injuries to
the left shoulder made with a dagger-like object; an injury from a bullet in the right
thoracic area, which affected the right kidney and the liver; bruising from blows to
the thorax, and marks on the ankles, a sign that the person's feet had been tied.
These details showed that the person on whom the autopsy was performed did not
die in combat, but that the traumatisms described could correspond to forms of
violence or torture inflicted before death.
It was not possible to have photographs of the autopsy, because “many
departmental forensic offices do not have the resources to make this type of
analysis”. In general terms, the forensic medical analysis is fairly detailed, but
“other types of analysis which would have completed the information” were missing.
During the exhumation, the environment was “rather tense”. There were vehicles
without license plates at the entry to the cemetery and unidentified individuals taking
photographs of those who were conducting the procedure.
He was present at another exhumation carried out in Coatepeque, on November 10,
1994, in order to establish whether the corpse in a grave was that of Bámaca
Velásquez. On that occasion, Dr. William Hagland, from the US organization,
Physicians for Human Rights, the Coatepeque coroner, local authorities of the
National Police Force, members of the Guatemalan Forensic Anthropology Team,
some journalists and observers, and Jennifer Harbury, who was “in the middle of a
hunger strike”, were present.
After comparing the dental record and determining the height and age of the
corpses, it was concluded that neither of the two bodies found at Coatepeque was
that of Efraín Bámaca Velásquez.
As a member of the Guatemalan Forensic Anthropology Team, he took part in
another exhumation attempt related to the Bámaca Velásquez Case, in a military
detachment known as La Montañita or Las Cabañas. There had been an attempt to
conduct this procedure in 1995, at the request of the Office of the Prosecutor of the
Public Ministry, but “it could not be carried out”, because lawyers, representing the
Guatemalan Army arrived, and they considered that the requirements for this
procedure had not been fulfilled.
They tried to conduct the procedure a second time, in the presence of the special
prosecutor, Julio Arango, and after one day's work, the Army's lawyers once again
suspended it, because they considered that the necessary requirements had not
been fulfilled. In a preliminary study, the Guatemalan Forensic Anthropology Team
established that approximately four weeks would be required to carry out the
archaeological phase of the study.