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When they discuss the cause of his death and her brother’s assassins, her mother
wants to know why they did it, when the victim did not have any enemies or any
vices and worked in the bakery. He also liked mechanics and repaired cars. She
heard that the persons responsible for his death were agents of the State, when she
filed the claim with the police.
The family is still afraid that the authorities will take reprisals for their testifying
before the Inter-American Court and “wanting to know the truth in order to recover
the honor” of their family member. Her presence before the Court signifies at least
“satisfying [her] mother, that [her] brother was not a drug-trafficker, drug addict or
whatever people say.” Reparation cannot mitigate the pain, because her brother’s
life “is priceless” and “it would not take away this illness that [her] mother has.”
f)
Testimony of María Ildefonsa Morales de Paniagua, mother of Anna
Elizabeth Paniagua Morales
She lives in Toronto, Canada.
At the time of Anna Elizabeth’s death, the witness, her husband, her other children German Giovanni and Carolina – her daughter-in-law, Blanca de Paniagua, her four
grandchildren, the victim and her daughter, María Elisa, aged four at the time, lived
in the house of one of her sons, Alberto Antonio.
Her daughter was 23 years of age when she died and had been married, but at the
date of the facts, her husband was already dead.
Her daughter had obtained a diploma as an expert accountant from the Carlos
Federico Mora School. Although she did not attend the Universidad de San Carlos,
she had competed in athletic events for the institution, as a runner. She worked
even on Saturdays and Sundays and was going to begin a new job just before she
died. The victim was also studying to obtain her license as an auditor and thus help
to support her family with her earnings.
The witness and her daughter had a good relationship. The latter “was very
obedient, she helped [the witness] with expenses, [...] she obeyed her father” and
she got on well with her siblings. When she heard about the abduction, she was
furious and, as result, became ill. They looked for her daughter and, days later, they
heard on the television that an unidentified body had been found and she felt that it
was her daughter. She examined her daughter’s body and saw that it had suffered
“a terrible death.” She feels sad remembering that image of her daughter, because
of the torture that was inflicted on her.
Her family left Guatemala because they felt threatened. Since then, the witness
lives in Toronto, Canada, with her husband. Some of her children live in Toronto;
another daughter lives in British Columbia and two children live in New York. The
victim’s daughter stayed in Guatemala with her paternal grandmother. She is a sad
girl of 17 years of age, who does not say much. When her daughter died, her
granddaughter had failing grades at school for several years because “she misses her
mother’s love.” Although the witness keeps in contact with her granddaughter, she
would like her to live with her family.
Her relationship with her husband changed after the victim’s death.