homes of the inhabitants of the village of El Mozote, the canton of La Joya, the villages of Ranchería, Los Toriles and Jocote Amarillo and the canton of Cerro Pando, as well as the possessions that were inside them, in addition to being a violation of the use and enjoyment of property, also constitute an abusive and arbitrary interference in their private life and home. The victims who lost their homes also lost the place where they lived their private life. Consequently, the Court finds that the Salvadoran State failed to comply with the prohibition of arbitrary or abusive interference with private life and home. 183. The facts in this case also reveal that those who survived the massacres were forced to leave their usual place of residence, because of both the State’s acts and its omissions. In other words, owing to the acts of State agents when perpetrating the massacres that terrorized the population and left the people, most of them peasants and housewives (supra para. 81), without their homes and without the essential means for their subsistence, as well as because of the lack of State protection suffered by the civilian population in the areas associated with the guerrilla that placed them in a situation of vulnerability in the presence of military operations. Thus, “the display of cruel and excessive violence under a plan designed to terrorize,”255 in addition to causing the mass displacement of the inhabitants, also eliminated the possible means of subsistence, and the few survivors had no way of continuing their lives in those places, leaving them abandoned and uninhabited. This situation continued for a long time without the public authorities providing assistance to the civilian population. 184. Juan Bautista Márquez explained that, “as they could no longer endure the hunger, thirst, sleepless nights and discomfort, because they were wearing the same clothes without being able to wash, and hiding in the woods, [he] managed to evade the soldiers and leave the area, crossing the border of El Salvador into Honduras.”256 María del Rosario López stated that the canton of La Joya “became deserted; the other members of [her] family had moved to Colomoncagua, Republic of Honduras.”257 Hilario Sánchez Gómez recounted that he “went back down to his house, but found it burned down, together with all his crops, and finding himself alone, he decided to seek refuge in the Republic of Honduras.”258 Antonia Guevara Díaz testified that, “in addition to [the] frustration of not being able to do absolutely anything to obtain justice, the death of [her] family members changed [her] life completely […] and [that of her] family, [because] they were [obliged] to leave their homes with their belongings and to live in overcrowded conditions with hundreds of families from different parts of the country in the Colomoncagua refugee camp[, in the Republic of Honduras].”259 185. Some of the testimonies reveal that, in the course of the internal and international displacement, the victims endured situations of discrimination owing to their status as displaced persons, and because they were associated with the guerrilla, as well as precarious living conditions.260 In this regard, according to expert witness Yáñez de la Cruz, “during their flight 255 Expert opinion provided by María Sol Yáñez De La Cruz before the Inter-American Court during the public hearing held on April 23, 2012. 256 Affidavit provided by Juan Bautista Márquez Argueta on April 1, 2012 (evidence file, tome XVII, affidavits, folios 10276 to 10279). 257 Sworn statement made by María del Rosario López Sánchez before the Oficina de Tutela Legal del Arzobispado on June 19, 2011 (evidence file, tome VIII, annex 3 to the pleadings and motions brief, folio 5522). 258 Victim statement made by Hilario Sánchez Gómez before the Second First Instance Court of San Francisco Gotera on February 14, 1991 (evidence file, tome III, annex 23 to the submission of the case, folio 1725), and Witness statement made by Hilario Sánchez Gómez before the Second First Instance Court of San Francisco Gotera on November 28, 1990 (evidence file, tome III, annex 23 to the submission of the case, folio 1697). 259 Affidavit provided by Antonia Guevara Díaz on April 1, 2012 (evidence file, tome XVII, affidavits, folio 10287). 260 Expert witness Yáñez De La Cruz stated that those who were displaced “suffered stigmatization and illtreatment when they were asked where they came from; they were called members of the guerrilla, thieves, and they lived in extreme poverty without any type of psychosocial support or the protection of any institution.” Expert opinion on psychosocial impacts and recommendations for reparations in the case of “The Massacres of El Mozote and nearby places” provided by María Sol Yáñez De La Cruz, undated (evidence file, tome XVIII, annex 2 to the final written arguments of the representatives, folio 10530). For example, María del Rosario López Sánchez declared that “following the massacre in Jocoaitique and owing to the threats of the Armed Forces, [she] lived in Jocoaitique for around eight months and, from there, [she] went to Gualindo Abajo; the displaced affected [her] greatly, because the Gotera people 59