105. Sergio Saúl Linares Morales was 30 year old; he was married with a daughter, and
his wife was pregnant at the time of his disappearance. He studied civil engineering at the
Universidad de San Carlos de Guatemala, where he taught classes and was a member of the
University Students’ Association He also worked at the Municipal Development Institute. The
Diario Militar records Sergio Saúl Linares Morales as follows:
74. Ing. SERGIO SAÚL LINARES MORALES
(alias) OTTO. Member of the PGT-CC, responsible for the Central Region. Member of the Manuel
Andrade Roca Sectional Unit (OSMAR). 23-02-84: Captured in Zona 9. 29-03-84: 300.
106. Sergio Saúl Linares Morales disappeared on February 23, 1984, when a group of
individuals came to his place of work in Zone 9 of the city and took him away in a car.
Shortly afterwards, several individuals went to the home of Mr. Linares Morales; they
searched his room, behaved in a violent manner towards his mother, and took personal
belongings and valuables. A soldier told the family that Mr. Linares Morales “had been
detained in a clandestine prison, [was] tortured and that, as a result of the torture, he was
blind and in a wheelchair.” Regarding this case, the CEH “reached the conclusion that State
agents captured Sergio Saúl Linares Morales and made him disappear […], by covert actions
previously decided by State authorities, violating his right to liberty and to physical and
mental integrity.”
107. The family searched for him in the morgue and reported the events to the National
Police and the Judicial Police, the then Head of State, the Ministry of Defense, and the
media, among others. Sergio Saúl's sisters testified that Sergio’s wife never returned to
their home because she was afraid and then went to Mexico.
108. On February 24, 1984, an application for amparo was filed on behalf of Mr. Linares
Morales. The next day the judge went to the Fourth Corps of the National Police, recorded
that Mr. Linares Morales was not detained on those premises, and requested information
from other police corps. On July 16, 1984, a judge executed a writ of habeas corpus with
the National Police, but the result was negative. In addition, in October 1984, the General
Directorate of the National Police recorded in its logs that “to date it has not been possible
to clarify [the case], noting that he had not […] been detained […] and is not […] in any
health clinic,” so that the investigation would continue.
the State on October 17, 2008, tome III, folio 7220); CEH, supra, volume VI, pp. 147, 149 and 152; Application for
amparo filed in favor of Sergio Saúl Linares Morales before the Supreme Court of Justice on February 24, 1984 (file
of annexes to the merits report, tome II, annex 88, folio 863); AHPN, Note No. 344-JAG-osh-sría of February 25,
1984, GT PN 26-01 S002, No. 11763 (file of annexes to the pleadings and motions brief, tome VI, annex D92, folio
12227); AHPN, Note of February 25, 1984, GT PN 26-01 S002, No. 11764 (file of annexes to the pleadings and
motions brief, tome VI, annexes D93, folio 12229); Decision No. 0101-SISI-84-oln of the General Directorate of
the National Police of October 1, 1984 (file of annexes presented by the State wit briefs of March 20 and October
10, 2008, annex B, folios 5232 and 5234); AHPN, Log for July 16, 1984, GT PN 51-01 S004, No. 4231 (file of
annexes to the pleadings and motions brief, tome VI, annex D8, folio 11478); AHPN, Ruling of the Supreme Court
of Justice of August 9, 1985 and Note No. 19795 of the DIT to the Supreme Court of Justice of August 11, 1985,
GT PN 50 S005, Nos. 13401 and 13402 (file of annexes to the pleadings and motions brief, tome VI, annex D26,
folios 11749, 11751, 11764 and 11765); AHPN, Note to the Sixth First Instance Criminal Judge of December 7,
1985, GT PN 50 S005, No. 13683 (file of annexes to the pleadings and motions brief, tome VI, annex D25, folio
11731); AHPN, Decision No. 0069-SISI-84/o1n of August 13, 1984, GT PN 50 S004, No. 12052 (file of annexes to
the pleadings and motions brief, tome VI, annex D34, folios 11875 and 11876); AHPN, Note to file, GT PN 50
S001, No. 25178 (file of annexes to the pleadings and motions brief, tome VI, annex D96, folio 12258); Letter
from the PDH to the Special Prosecution Unit of June 19, 2008 (file of annexes to the merits report, tome II, annex
93, folios 916 to 918); Letter from the Prosecutor of the Public Prosecution Service to the Head of the Permanent
Attention Office of September 14, 2006 (file of annexes presented by the State on October 17, 2008, tome III, folio
7188), and Habeas corpus application of February 23, 2006 (file of annexes to the merits report, tome II, annex
68, folios 798 and 799).
- 37 -