There is concern for the safety of the people listed above, whose lives may be in danger, after they participated in an exhumation on 8 October 1993 at a clandestine cemetery in the village of Chel, municipality of Chajul, department of El Quiche. At the cemetery three bodies were exhumed, which were identified as Nicolas Bernal Mendoza, Miguel Cobo and Gaspar Caba Santiago. These three men had been kidnapped in December 1989, reportedly by members of the Patrullas de Autodefensa Civil (PAC), Civil Defence Patrols. Following the exhumation, Justice of the Peace Luis Montefar ordered an immediate investigation to determine those responsible for the killings.
