60
activities, rituals, spiritual practices and learning processes of their community, to speak their
language and to wear their traditional costumes, as well as to practice their traditional
occupations. 204
197. In short, the Court considers that the lack of guarantees for the return of members of
Chichupac village and neighboring communities of the municipality of Rabinal after March 9,
1987, has had a particularly adverse effect on the traditional community-based, cultural and
religious practices, the family and social structure, and on the identity markers and language of
the Maya Achí people of said village and communities. This is due to the disruption of the
ancestral culture and the historical links with the territory and social practices, the destruction
of the community’s social fabric and its sense of cohesion. All this has resulted in a loss of part
of the Mayan culture that has not yet been fully evaluated. In this regard, the Court highlights
the differentiated impact that the acts of violence and displacement have had on the ethnic and
cultural identity of members of the village of Chichupac and neighboring communities of the
municipality of Rabinal, which has left them in a situation of exceptional vulnerability.
198. At the same time, the Court highlights the clear indications of the differentiated impact that
forced displacement and the failure to guarantee return or resettlement measures has had on
the women of the village of Chichupac and neighboring communities of Rabinal at the cultural,
social, family and individual levels. These women have had to take charge of their families and,
together with their children, endure the pain of the violence they survived, which placed them
at particular risk of suffering other forms of violence. These factors, which are described below,
give an idea of the horror they experienced and of the individual, family and collective suffering
of women displaced during the internal armed conflict.
199. First, the expert witness Alejandro Rodríguez Barilla found that “in the instant case, the
allegations suggest that at least 18 women suffered sexual violence and essentially mass rapes
by members of the Army and paramilitary groups” and that some of these attacks were
perpetrated against displaced women who were relocated in the “model village” or La Colonia.
In turn, at least five of the women mentioned by the expert witness were victims of rapes that
resulted in pregnancies and the birth of their children. 205 Second, the CEH Report states that
“because of the modus operandi, the rapes led to an exodus of women and scattered entire
communities, breaking up marital and social relationships, and thus led to a sense of social
isolation and community shame. It also drove some women to abortion and infanticide, and were
an impediment to marriages and births within the group.” Furthermore, “[t]he stigma attached
to Maya women who are victims of rape provokes the horror of rejection by their families or the
community. Some survivors of sexual violence have even moved to another community precisely
to avoid the shame of being labeled as a ‘raped woman.’ These women have had to endure the
fear of ‘being found out’ and the panic that others will blame them.” 206
200. Third, the Court takes note of the life testimony of Juana García Depaz, who suffered the
loss of the men in her family, that is, the death of her husband, brother and son, the
disappearance of her father, brother and nephew, as well as the death of her daughter, between
August 1981 and August 1986. 207 She was captured on October 22, 1983, by the State security
forces and taken to the military post in the municipality of Rabinal, where she was beaten, raped
by soldiers, threatened with death, hung by the neck with a rope and interrogated about the
guerrillas. She was then transferred to the Pacux colony of Rabinal, and later to the colony of
Chichupac, where she lived under tight military control, was forced to work to feed the soldiers
204
Cf. Case of the Río Negro Massacres v. Guatemala, para.58, footnote 44, and Case of Plan de Sánchez Massacre v.
Guatemala. Merits. Judgment of April 29, 2004. Series C No. 105, para. 42.5.
205
Cf. Expert witness Alejandro Rodríguez Barilla (evidence file, folios 11568 and 11569).
206
Cf. CEH, “Guatemala, Memory of Silence”, Chapter 2, paras. 2353 and 2384.
207
The names of the family members of Juana García Depaz are: Mateo Grave, Adrián García Manuel, Hugo García de
Paz, Agapito Alvarado Depáz, Eusebia Grave García, José León Grave García and Efraín García de Paz (supra paras. 86,
99, 115 and 148)