emergency in the area.69 Consequently, “INDE made a commitment to find, and to hand over to those who were displaced, land that was the same as or better than the land that was going to be flooded.” However, “[t]he authorities attempted to settle the inhabitants of Río Negro in Pacux, an arid place, and in houses that were not in keeping with their culture.”70 Consequently, the community refused the State’s proposals and resisted leaving its land. For its part, the Guatemalan Army declared that the community's refusal was due to subversive influences.71 In January 1983, “the sluice gates of the dam were closed and the reservoir began to fill.”72 Consequently, most of the land occupied by the community of Río Negro was flooded. Another of the places flooded was Los Encuentros, an archaeological site and sacred place for the Mayans of the area.73 67. The Court will now refer to the alleged massacres in the instant case. According to the CEH, “the killings in the form of massacres were accompanied by the destruction and burning of property. In the north of Rabinal, the region near the Chixoy dam was completely devastated.” The community of Río Negro, among others, was located in this area.74 The CEH also referred to the massacres of Río Negro, Los Encuentros and Agua Fría, to which the Court will refer below, as three of the four massacres in which “the paramilitary forces acted […] with the greatest degree of cruelty.”75 C. Massacre of March 4, 1980, in the chapel of the community of Río Negro and extrajudicial executions of July 8, 1980 68. On March 4, 1980, two members of the Guatemalan Army and an agent of the Military Foot Patrol Police (hereinafter “PMA”) came to the village of Río Negro in search of several individuals they accused of having stolen provisions from the INDE workers who were building the Río Chixoy dam.76 The members of the Río Negro community assembled in front of the village chapel, and following this an argument broke out and apparently the 69 Cf. Report “Guatemala, Memoria del Silencio,” supra, volume VI, annex I, Illustrative Case No. 10 “Massacre and Elimination of the Community of Río Negro,” and Report “Generación de insumos para la verificación and identificación de daños and perjuicios por construcción de la hidroeléctrica de Chixoy,” supra (file of attachments to the pleadings and motions brief, tome XXI, folio 12975). 70 Report “Guatemala, Memoria del Silencio,” supra, volume VI, annex I, Illustrative Case No. 10 “Massacre and Elimination of the Community of Río Negro.” 71 The construction of the Project concluded in 1983. Cf. Report “Guatemala, Memoria del Silencio”, supra, volume VI, annex I, Illustrative Case No. 10 “Massacre and Elimination of the Community of Río Negro”; Estudio de los Elementos del Legado de la Represa Chixoy, supra (file of attachments to the pleadings and motions brief, tome XXI, folios 12747 and 12748), and Report “Generación de insumos para la verificación and identificación de daños and perjuicios por construcción de la hidroeléctrica de Chixoy”, supra (file of attachments to the pleadings and motions brief, tome XXI, folio 13051). 72 Estudio de los Elementos del Legado de la Represa Chixoy, supra, volume two (file of attachments to the pleadings and motions brief, tome XXI, folio 12851). 73 Cf. Report “Guatemala, Memoria del Silencio,” supra, volume VI, annex I, Illustrative Case No. 10 “Massacre and Elimination of the Community of Río Negro”. 74 Cf. Report “Guatemala, Memoria del Silencio,” supra, second chapter, volume III, para. 3390. 75 Report “Guatemala, Memoria del Silencio,” supra, second chapter, volume III, para. 3411. 76 Cf. Report “Guatemala, Memoria del Silencio,” supra, volume VI, annex I, Illustrative Case No. 10 “Massacre and Elimination of the Community of Río Negro”; testimony given by Antonia Osorio Sánchez on June 24, 2009 (file of annexes to the submission of the case, tome I, folio 481); testimony given by Jerónimo Osorio Chen on July 6, 2009 (file of annexes to the submission of the case, tome I, folios 495 to 496), and testimony given by Francisco Chen Osorio on July 1, 2009 (file of annexes to the submission of the case, tome I, folios 553 to 554). 28