43 174. Among the actions of the State agents who intervened in the facts of the case that produced an impact on the families, the Court must stress the treatment of the corpses of the youths whose bodies were discovered in the San Nicolás Woods, Henry Giovanni Contreras, Federico Clemente Figueroa Túnchez, Julio Roberto Caal Sandoval and Jovito Josué Juárez Cifuentes. They were not only victims of extreme violence resulting in their physical elimination, but also, their bodies were abandoned in an uninhabited spot, they were exposed to the inclemency of the weather and the action of animals, and they could have remained thus during several days, if they had not been found by chance. In the instant case, it is clear that the treatment given to the remains of the victims, which were sacred to their families and particularly their mothers, constituted cruel and inhuman treatment for them. 175. In a recent case, the Court has stated that the burning of Mr. Nicholas Blake’s mortal remains to destroy all traces that could reveal his whereabouts is an assault on the cultural values prevailing in Guatemalan society, which are handed down from generation to generation, with regard to respecting the dead. [This action] increased the suffering of Mr. Nicholas Blake’s relatives30. 176. The European Court has had the opportunity to issue an opinion on the condition of victim of inhuman and degrading treatment of the mother as a result of the detention and disappearance of her daughter at the hands of the authorities. In order to determine if Article 3 of the European Convention, corresponding to Article 5 of the American Convention, has been violated or not, the European Court evaluated the circumstances of the case, the gravity of the ill-treatment and the fact of not having official information to clarify the case. In the light of these considerations and that it was the mother of the victim of a human rights violation, the European Court concluded that she was also a victim and that the State had violated the said Article 331. 177. Owing to the foregoing, the Court concludes that the State violated Article 5.1 and 5.2 of the American Convention on Human Rights, in relation to Article 1.1 of the Convention, to the detriment of Henry Giovanni Contreras, Federico Clemente Figueroa Túnchez, Jovito Josué Juárez Cifuentes and Julio Roberto Caal Sandoval, and violated Article 5.2 of the Convention, in relation to its Article 1.1, to the detriment of their mothers, María Contreras, Matilde Reyna Morales García, Rosa Carlota Sandoval, Margarita Sandoval Urbina, Marta Isabel Túnchez Palencia and Noemí Cifuentes. 30. Blake case, supra note 16, para. 115. 31. Eur. Court HR, Kurt v. Turkey, supra note 21, pp. 1187, §§ 130-134. In this respect, see also, United Nations Human Rights Committee, Quinteros v. Uruguay, July 21, 1983 (19th session) Communication Nº 107/1981, para. 14. In this case, the Committee stated that “it underst[ood] the deep sadness and anxiety that the author of the communication suffer[ed] owing to the disappearance of her daughter and the continuing uncertainty about her fate and her whereabouts. The author had the right to know what had happened to her daughter. In this respect, she is also a victim of the violations of the [International] Covenant [on Civil and Political Rights], in particular of Article 7 [corresponding to Article 5 of the American Convention], suffered by her daughter”.