51
223. The Court has also held that given the multiple and complex nature of forced
disappearance, a grave violation of human rights, it may also involve the specific violation of the right to
recognition as a person before the law.313 This is because a forcibly disappeared person is no longer able
to enjoy and exercise his or her rights; the forced disappearance is one of the most egregious ways of
placing a person beyond the protection of the law, and also seeks to deny that person’s very existence
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and leave the person in a kind of limbo or uncertain legal situation vis-à-vis society and the State.
224.
As has been established, a total of eight persons were forcibly disappeared on August
24, 1981; January 8, 18 and 31, and February 12, 1982; and December 13, 1984. According to the
testimony on record, all these individuals were seen for the last time in the custody of State security
agents and their whereabouts are still unknown. All the evidence on file shows that these forced
disappearances were committed in the context of the violence and persecution being waged against the
Mayan people suspected of having ties to the subversive movement.
225. In keeping with the extreme violence to which detainees were subjected during that
period, one of the measures routinely used was to hold the detainees absolutely incommunicado, for
the clear purpose of erasing any trail of their subsequent extrajudicial execution, which was so often the
fate of detainees. On this subject, the Court has written that “[p]rolonged and coercive isolation is, by
nature, cruel and inhuman treatment, harmful to the mental and moral integrity of the person and the
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right to dignity inherent to the human being.” This isolation from the outside world produces moral
and psychological suffering in any person, places him in a particularly vulnerable position, and increases
the risk of aggression and arbitrary acts in prison.316
226. Based on the above considerations, the Commission concludes that the State violated
the right to recognition of one’s juridical personality, the right to life, the right to humane treatment and
the right to personal liberty, protected under articles 3, 4, 5 and 7 of the American Convention, read in
conjunction with Article 1(1) thereof, to the detriment of the eight disappeared persons. The
Commission also finds that the State violated Article I of the Inter-American Convention on Forced
Disappearance of Persons, to the detriment of this group of victims.
227. Before embarking upon its analysis of the other violations, the Commission believes it is
important to underscore the fact that the heinous nature of the acts committed against the members of
the village of Chichupac and neighboring communities, the more than 600 massacres committed against
September 22, 2009. Series C No. 202, par. 85; and Case of Radilla Pacheco v. Mexico. Preliminary Objections, Merits,
Reparations and Costs. Judgment of November 23, 2009. Series C No. 209, par. 154.
313
I/A Court H.R., Case of Anzualdo Castro v. Peru. Preliminary Objection, Merits, Reparations and Costs. Judgment of
September 22, 2009. Series C No. 202, paragraphs 91-92; Case of Radilla Pacheco v. Mexico. Preliminary Objections, Merits,
Reparations and Costs. Judgment of November 23, 2009. Series C No. 209, par. 157.
314
I/A Court H.R., Case of Anzualdo Castro v. Peru. Preliminary Objection, Merits, Reparations and Costs. Judgment of
September 22, 2009. Series C No. 202, par. 90.
315
I/A Court H.R., Case of Fairén Garbi and Solís Corrales v. Honduras. Merits. Judgment of March 15, 1989. Series C
No. 6, par.149; Case of Godínez Cruz v. Honduras. Merits. Judgment of January 20, 1989. Series C No. 5, paragraphs 164 and
197; and Case of Velásquez Rodríguez v. Honduras. Merits. Judgment of July 29, 1988. Series C No. 4, paragraphs 156 and 187.
316
I/A Court H.R., Case of Castillo Petruzzi et al. v. Peru. Merits, Reparations and Costs. Judgment of May 30, 1999.
Series C No. 52, par. 195; and Case of Suárez Rosero v. Ecuador. Merits. Judgment of November 12, 1997. Series C No. 35, par.
90.