3.
The “Aurora 8 de Octubre” community on the Xamán estate
48.
The “Aurora 8 de Octubre” community settled on the Xamán estate, Municipality of Chisec,
Department of Alta Verapaz, Guatemala.35 The community was established in 1994 and comprised some 90
families that had been living in Mexico as refugees from the armed conflict in Guatemala, as well as 50 other
families that were already living there.36
49.
According to the records of the CEH those people belongs to the q’eqchi’, mam and q’anjob’al
indigenous population and, to a lesser extent, to the ixil and k’iche’ indigenous population.37 The CEH said
that the refugees who had returned to live in that community had survived massacres in their own villages of
origin in 1982.38 According to a statement from one community member to the CEH, they decided to name it
“Aurora 8 de Octubre” because it was one of the first communities, like a dawn for the returnees in that place
that had once been full of civil patrols.” (Translator's note: “Aurora” means “dawn” in English.)39
4.
The events that occurred in October 1995 on the Xamán estate
50.
The Commission notes that the events that took place on the Xamán estate in early October
1995 were recorded in the report of the CEH, which dubbed it the "Xamán Massacre.”40 The CEH took into
account statements of surviving community members as well as reports of the United Nations Verification
Mission in Guatemala (MINUGUA).
51.
The IACHR also notes that during the proceedings before it the State acknowledged the
events and expressly mentioned that 11 people were killed and another group of persons were wounded in
the shooting by its soldiers. The findings of the CEH also coincide with the statements of survivors of those
events, as is shown by the record before the Commission and the conclusions of the criminal proceedings
mentioned hereinbelow.41 In light of the foregoing, transcribed below are a number of extracts from the
information gathered by the CEH on the "Xamán massacre":
On October 3, 1995, a military patrol under the command of a Guatemalan Army second
lieutenant and composed of 26 soldiers, including one minor, set out from the Rubelsanto
base in military zone 21, headquartered in Cobán, Alta Verapaz Department. Before leaving
the patrol already intended to pass by the entrance to the Xamán estate.
On the morning of October 5, a number of community members ... who were rubber tapping,
noticed the soldiers moving near the estate; they were near the school, no more than 10
meters from the first homes.
Several villagers who were erecting a canopy in the center of the village to be used during
the anniversary celebrations [marking the community's first birthday] were alerted to the
presence of the patrol. A group of 10 villagers assembled; they included some women, the
community elders, and number of leaders of community organizations. They went out to
meet the patrol and asked to speak to the commanding officer. The group asked the soldiers
why they were there, in violation of the October 8 Agreements.
35
Annex 2. CEH, Guatemala: Memory of Silence, Volume VI, Illustrative Cases, Annex 1, Illustrative Case No. 3: Xamán Massacre.
36
Annex 2. CEH, Guatemala: Memory of Silence, Volume VI, Illustrative Cases, Annex 1, Illustrative Case No. 3: Xamán Massacre.
37
Annex 2. CEH, Guatemala: Memory of Silence, Volume VI, Illustrative Cases, Annex 1, Illustrative Case No. 3: Xamán Massacre.
38
Annex 2. CEH, Guatemala: Memory of Silence, Volume VI, Illustrative Cases, Annex 1, Illustrative Case No. 3: Xamán Massacre.
39
Annex 2. CEH, Guatemala: Memory of Silence, Volume VI, Illustrative Cases, Annex 1, Illustrative Case No. 3: Xamán Massacre.
40
Annex 2. CEH, Guatemala: Memory of Silence, Volume VI, Illustrative Cases, Annex 1, Illustrative Case No. 3: Xamán Massacre.
Annex 3. Statements by Anastacio Maya Quiché, Rolando Hernández, Alfonso Hernández, Pascual Ruiz, Pedro Morales, Luis
Ordóñez, Lucas Chic, Ramiro Ramírez, and René Hernández. Enclosed with the initial petition.
41
11