16 other rights recognized in the Declaration of Basic Principles of Justice for Victims of Crime and 42 Abuse of Power. “ 72. As a result of the Ombudsman’s findings, an investigation was opened against the medical examiner Sergio Alder Alfredo Martínez Martínez for irregularities in documenting the autopsy carried out on Claudina Isabel Velásquez. The Judicial Branch Human Resources Disciplinary Unit found that Mr. Martinez had committed a serious fault and in 2007 imposed on him two penalties of 20 days’ suspension without pay.43 73. Furthermore, in Report No. 48-2006 of May 5, 2006, the Office of the Supervisor General of the Public Prosecution Service found that “the victim, her parents, and members of her family, particularly Mr. Jorge Rolando Velásquez Durán, were improperly treated.” The report contained two recommendations for the Crime Scene Specialists Area: that they avoid, at all costs, any further carrying out of investigative procedures (fingerprinting) at funeral homes, in view of its potential impact on collateral victims, and that work teams report immediately any difficulties or obstacles that they encounter in carrying out their work, and resolve them without harming the rights of others.44 The Context of Violence against Women and Girls 74. The IACHR and an array of international agencies, nongovernmental organizations, and national agencies have expressed concern over the past 12 years at the lack of due diligence on the part of the State in preventing, investigating, and punishing acts of violence against women in Guatemala amid a worsening context in that regard.45 75. In its Fifth Report on the Situation of Human Rights in Guatemala adopted in April 2001, the IACHR stated that violence against women in Guatemala was a profound problem in that country.46 In that report, the IACHR referred to the upsurge in the number of reported rapes and acts of domestic 42 Appendix 27. Office of the Human Rights Ombudsman, resolution of July 20, 2006 on the criminal investigation into the murder of Claudina Isabel Velásquez Paiz. 43 Appendix 28. Ruling of the Judicial Branch Human Resources Disciplinary Unit of October 16, 2007; and Appendix 29. Ruling of the Judicial Branch Human Resources Disciplinary Unit of February 12, 2007. Enclosed with the original petition of December 10, 2007. 44 Appendix 30. Report No. 48-2006, issued by Militza V. Rodríguez Alvarez and Zulma Lisbeth Rodríguez, to Gloria Patricia Porras Escobar, Supervisor General. Enclosed with the original petition of December 10, 2007. 45 IACHR, Press Release No. 20/04, Special Rapporteur evaluates the effectiveness of the right of women in Guatemala to live free from violence and discrimination. Washington, D.C., September 18, 2004; Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women, CEDAW/C/GUA/CO/6, 2 June 2006, Original: English, 35th Session, 15 May to 2 June 2006, para. 23, available online at http://www.un.org/womenwatch/daw/cedaw/35sess.htm; Integration of the Human Rights of Women and the Gender Perspective: Violence against Women, Report of United Nations Special Rapporteur, Yakin Ertürk, on her mission to Guatemala, 8 to 14 February 2004; Human Rights Ombudsman of Guatemala, Compendio “Muertes Violentas de Mujeres”, 2003 to 2005 [Compendium “Violent Deaths of Women, 2003 to 2005], p. 92. http://www.pdh.org.gt/files/inf_especiales/muerte_mujeres03-05.pdf; Amnesty International, Guatemala: No protection, no justice: killings of women (an update), AMR 34/019/2006, 2006; Amnesty International, Guatemala: No protection, no justice: killings of women, AMR 34/017/2005, June 2005. International Federation for Human Rights, International Investigation Mission, El Feminicidio en Mexico y Guatemala [Feminicide in Mexico and Guatemala], No. 446/3, April 2006. 46 par. 41. IACHR, Fifth Report on the Situation of Human Rights in Guatemala, April 6, 2001, OEA/Ser.L/V/II.111, Doc. 21 rev.,