http://upsidedownworld.org/main/guatemala-archives-33/4300-despite-historic-conviction-genocide-continues-in-guatemala Despite Historic Conviction, Genocide Continues in Guatemala[image: PDF]<http://upsidedownworld.org/main/guatemala-archives-33/4300-despite-historic-conviction-genocide-continues-in-guatemala?format=pdf>[image: Print]<http://upsidedownworld.org/main/guatemala-archives-33/4300-despite-historic-conviction-genocide-continues-in-guatemala?tmpl=component&print=1&page=>[image: E-mail]<http://upsidedownworld.org/main/component/mailto/?tmpl=component&link=93749049376a085e83cbb8256fcb3c2963a75bd6>Written by Leonor Hurtado Thursday, 16 May 2013 12:04
[image: Photo by Caracol Producciones]Source: Food First<http://www.foodfirst.org/en/node/4264> On May 10th, the Guatemalan Court of Justice convicted the ex-dictator General Ríos Montt to 80 years in prison for the massacres of indigenous people during the 1980s [1]. Many Guatemalans hope that the judicial process against the criminals of the country's "dirty war" will continue [2]. But while the Guatemalan people celebrate the conviction, the processes of genocide initiated 30 years ago by Ríos Montt's massacres still continue by other means. In the last decade, the expansion of oil palm plantations and sugarcane production for ethanol in Northern Guatemala has displaced hundreds of Maya-Q´eqchi´ peasant families, increasing poverty, hunger, unemployment and landlessness in the region, confirms Alberto Alfonso-Fradejas in the new Food First report, "Sons and Daughters of the Earth: Indigenous Communities and Land Grabs in Guatemala"<http://www.foodfirst.org/en/Land+grabs+in+Guatemala> [3]. There is a tremendous contradiction here: at the same time that the ex-General Ríos Montt is convicted for genocide, the state allows the oligarchy, allied with extractive industries, to displace entire populations without taking into account the human cost, and in many cases, resulting in the murder and imprisonment of rural people who resist the assault. The genocide against the indigenous peasant population in Guatemala no longer has the face of a military dictatorship supported by the United States.... Now it is the corporations, the oligarchy and the World Bank who push peasants off their lands. The fourteen families of the oligarchy who control the country's sugarcane-producing companies (AZAZGUA), the five companies that control the national production of ethanol, along with the eight families that control the production of palm oil (GREPALMA) [4] and members of the Coordinating Committee of Agricultural, Commercial, Industrial, and Financial Associations (CACIF) are accumulating land and wealth with the support of investment from international institutions such as the World Bank, Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) and the Central American Bank for Economic Integration (CABEI). The convergence of multiple global crises: finance, energy, food and environment, has directed corporate investment into land-based resources such as agrofuels, minerals, pasture and food. The situation in Guatemala is extremely violent; this is due to the global trend in which agrarian, financial and industrial interests converge to grab control of peasant lands and resources. In many ways, land grabbing is a new form of genocide. Ricardo Falla's study "What Do You Mean There Was No Genocide?" analyzes the definition of genocide and its characteristics [5]. According to Falla, of the five acts that define genocide, two were most prominent in Guatemala: "the massacre of the members of a group" and "the intentional subjection of a group to living conditions which will lead to their total or partial physical destruction." The first genocide was against the Ixil peoples during the time of Ríos Montt. This second genocide is enacted through the privation of the Q´eqchi´ peoples' means of survival through land grabs. Hundreds of families have been displaced; they do not have land on which to produce or live and they are denied their cultural and community identity. These are conditions that lead to their physical destruction. The conviction against a person who committed genocide is an historic victory, but it is not enough [6]. Ríos Montt was convicted only after he was no longer useful to the system of exploitation and subjugation. The oligarchy, which benefitted from the genocide, continues to commit genocide against the indigenous peasant population. They are supported by international investment and hidden by a legal system that favors land grabs to the detriment of the Guatemalan people. [1] "The judges are totally convinced of the intent for the physical destruction of the Ixil' area, in reference to the death of 1,771 indigenous Ixil people in Quiché between 1982 and 1983, perpetrated by the Army. Moreover, "the attitude of Ríos Montt is inexplicable, which allowed the Army to carry out massacres, massive violations against the population." Judge Jasmín Barrios, Tribunal Primero A de Mayor Riesgo, reading the sentence, Prensa Libre, 05/11/13. [2] "To the surprise of all, one of the ex-military witnesses testified that Pérez Molina (President of Guatemala) ordered the committing of atrocities. I was going to give my testimony in the trial, but at the last moment, I was blocked, because they feared that I would also mention the role of Pérez Molina. Now that the trial is ending, if Ríos Montt is convicted the next question will be: what role did Pérez Molina play?" Commentary (of the American journalist present in the area of Ixcán in 1982) Allain Nair,http://www.allannairn.org/. [3] Alonso-Fradejas, Alberto. 2013. "Sons and Daughters of the Earth": Indigenous communities and land grabs in Guatemala (Land & Sovereignty in the Americas Series, No. 1) Oakland, CA: Food First/Institute for Food and Development Policy and Transnational Institute. [4] Asociación de Azucareros de Guatemala / Association of Sugarcane Producers of Guatemala (ASAZGUA) y Gremial de Palmicultores de Guatemala / Guild of Palm Growers of Guatemala (GREPALMA). [5] Genocide was defined in the Convention for the Prevention and Sanction of the Crime of Genocide, adopted December 9, 1948, in effect since January 12, 1951. Signed by Guatemala in 1950. In the present Convention, genocide means any of the following acts committed with intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnical, racial or religious group, as such: (a) Killing members of the group; (b) Causing serious bodily or mental harm to members of the group; (c) Deliberately inflicting on the group conditions of life calculated to bring about its physical destruction in whole or in part;(d) Imposing measures intended to prevent births within the group; (e) Forcibly transferring children of the group to another group. [6] The process against Ríos Montt was interrupted on two occasions and has encountered many obstacles since it started on March 19, 2013. At least 150 recusals, complaints, requests for dismissal of judges and others have been imposed throughout the trial. The process against Ríos Montt and Rodríguez Sánchez started in 2000 when the Association of Justice and Reconciliation (AJR) presented the denunciation in the department of Quiché. However, the tried party that received the document was not likely due to the rain of legal resources, but to the fact that Ríos Montt maintained immunity from that year until 2012, when he was no longer a congressperson. "Genocide: Court condemns Ríos Montt to 80 years and absolves Rodríguez" Prensa Libre, 05/11/13. *May 9, 2013* *The Final Battle: Ríos Montt's Counterinsurgency Campaign*<http://www.gwu.edu/~nsarchiv/NSAEBB/NSAEBB425/> U.S. and Guatemalan Documents Describe the Strategy Behind Scorched Earth. http://www.gwu.edu/~nsarchiv/NSAEBB/NSAEBB425/ ------------------------------------------------------------ http://nsarchive.wordpress.com/2013/05/14/rios-montt-convicted-of-genocide-and-crimes-against-humanity-the-sentence-and-its-aftermath/ Rios Montt Convicted of Genocide and Crimes Against Humanity: The Sentence and Its Aftermath MAY 14, 2013 by The Archive <http://nsarchive.wordpress.com/author/nsarchive2/> This post can also be found on the Open Society Justice Initiative website<http://www.riosmontt-trial.org/2013/05/rios-montt-convicted-of-genocide-and-crimes-against-humanity-the-sentence-and-its-aftermath/>, created in partnership with the National Security Archive. By Jo-Marie Burt [image: Ríos Montt leaves the Guatemalan tribunal, where he is being tried on genocide charges. (Photo credit: Daniel Hernández-Salazar)]<http://nsarchive.files.wordpress.com/2013/05/rios-montt-courtroom.jpg> Ríos Montt leaves the Guatemalan tribunal, where he is being tried on genocide charges. (Photo credit: Daniel Hernández-Salazar) On the afternoon of Friday, May 10, 2013, a Guatemalan trial court (High Impact Court A) found General Efrain Rios Montt, former *de facto* head of state, guilty of genocide and crimes against humanity. The conviction was for crimes committed against Guatemalas Maya Ixil indigenous population during Rios Montts 17-month rule in 1982 and 1983. The judge presiding over the trial court read out an hour-longsummary version of the tribunals ruling <http://ajrguatemala.org/> to a packed courtroom, with the full judgment to follow. Rios Montt, 86 years old, was sentenced to 80 years in prison 50 years for genocide and 30 years for crimes against humanity, served consecutively. His house arrest was revoked and the judge ordered his immediate transfer to Matamoros Prison. His co-accused, Mauricio Rodriguez Sanchez, former head of military intelligence, was acquitted of both charges. The verdict came 30 years after the crimes and 13 years after the complaint was brought by survivors to the Public Ministry. The trial started on March 19, 2013 in an increasingly polarized environment. The three-judge panel of presiding judge Yassmin Barrios and her associates, Patricia Bustamante Garcia and Pablo Xitumul de Paz, overcame several attempts by the defense to derail the processincluding one on the day of the verdictbefore a sentence was finally handed down. *The Judgment* In issuing its conviction of Rios Montt on genocide and crimes against humanity charges<http://www.prensalibre.com/noticias/justicia/Extractos-veredicto-Rios-Montt_0_917908232.html>, the court found that witness and expert testimony proved beyond a reasonable doubt that, under Rios Montts command, the Guatemalan armed forces elaborated and implemented a series of plans designed to eliminate the Maya Ixil population as a group, since they considered that the Ixil supported the guerrillas. The summary of the judgment relied on testimony and other evidence presented to the court over the course of the 27 hearings since the trials opening. Judge Barrios identified, with specificity, the testimony of expert and fact witnesses that formed the foundation of the courts judgment. This includes the testimony of more than 90 Ixiles who were direct survivors of violence or relatives of victims and who testified before the court, as well as experts from a variety of disciplines and specialtiesforensic anthropologists and archeologists, military experts, academic experts in racism and state discrimination, forced displacement, and sexual violence in armed conflict, among others. The court found that Rios Montt had command responsibility. According to Judge Barrios, Rios Montt had full knowledge of what was happening and did nothing to stop ithaving the knowledge of the events, and the power and the capacity to do so. To support the finding that Rios Montt had knowledge of the crimes, the tribunal noted, for instance, that there were regular reporting requirements (every fifteen days) up the chain of command to the president, evidenced in the annexes of one of the military operational plans entered into evidence in the case. The court also relied on the military expert witnessesincluding the defenses military expert, General Quilo Ayusoto find that Rios Montt, as *de facto *head of state, knew or should have known about the actions identified in the indictment. (*[C]onsideramos que el acusado, José Efraín Ríos Montt, tuvo conocimiento de todo lo que estaba ocurriendo y no lo detuvo a pesar de tener el poder para evitar su perpetración.*) The court further relied on these experts to find that Rios Montt authorized the military operational plans. The court found that Rios Montt actively developed the national security plan. It also found that he ordered the development of *Plan Victoria 82<http://www.gwu.edu/~nsarchiv/NSAEBB/NSAEBB425/> *, knew of it and authorized its enactment. The court ruled that the prosecution and civil parties had proved the concrete crimes identified in the indictmentthe murder of 1,771 Ixiles, the forcible displacement of 29,000, and at least 9 cases of sexual violence, and various cases of torture. The court described the nature of the violence deployed against the Maya Ixil as including indiscriminate massacres, rape and sexual violence against women, infanticide, the destruction of crops to induce starvation, the abduction of children, and the forcible displacement and relocation of surviving populations into militarized model villages. The court also described the forced participation of the population into self-defense patrols (*patrullas de auto-defensa civil*, or PACs) as a method of destroying modes of self-governance and undermining local indigenous authoritieswho implemented and enforced the obligation that men join the patrols. Drawing on the evidence presented, the court was totally convinced that there was an intention on the part of the Guatemalan army to eliminate the Maya Ixil as an ethnic group, and that the elements of the crime of genocide were met. (*[E]stamos totalmente convencidos de la intención de producir la destrucción física del grupo ixil.*) The court found that the crimes were committed as part of a systematic plan to destroy the Maya Ixil as a group, and not spontaneous acts. The court found that there was sufficient evidence presented of planning by the military high command, including in the aerial bombing campaigns in the mountains which affected the most vulnerable. Racism, the tribunal found, was one of the causes of the genocide. In reading a summary of the judgment, Judge Barrios highlighted that the military documents themselves demonstrated that, among the objectives of the armed forces was the destruction, at least in part, of the Maya Ixil, who it considered to be the enemy. Some of the military operational plans of the time*Plan Victoria 82*<http://www.gwu.edu/~nsarchiv/NSAEBB/NSAEBB425/> , *Plan Firmeza 83*, and *Plan Operacion Sofía*<http://www.gwu.edu/~nsarchiv/NSAEBB/NSAEBB297/>outlined efforts to systematically attack the Maya Ixil who were perceived to be rebellious, difficult to control and the social base of the guerrilla. The court described *Victoria 82 *and *Firmeza 83 *as outlines of the military objectives, and*Operacion Sofia *as the concrete operationalization of these objectives. For instance, telegrams annexed to *Plan Operacion Sofia *establish that children were captured and detained in military installations, and that the military had control of the population. The court found that the Army, under Rios Montt, did not distinguish between unarmed civilians and people who were armed. The court also noted the killing by soldiers of fetusesthe seed that has to be eliminatedas support for the finding of sufficient intent to commit genocide. Women were raped, Judge Barrios said, not only as the spoils of war, but as part of the systematic and intentional plan to destroy the Ixil ethnic group by exercising violence on womens bodies as a way to destroy the social fabric and thereby ensure the destruction of the Ixil population. Judge Barrios made specific reference to the testimony of one woman, who narrated how she was raped by more than 20 soldiers while she was held prisoner in a military base. The tribunal noted that sexual violence results in pain and suffering that is still experienced by many of the women, and that the violence has an inter-generational effect, noting that women reproduce life as well as culture. The tribunal made reference to the forensic evidence presented in court, as well as statistical evidence presented by Patrick Ball<http://www.riosmontt-trial.org/2013/04/prosecution-experts-testify-on-psychological-cultural-statistical-and-gender-issues/> showing that 5.5% of the Ixil population had been killed during the period in questionwith the Ixil killed at a rate eight times higher than that of the ladino population. Rodriguez Sanchez was acquitted of all charges. The court found that, as director of intelligence, Rodriguez Sanchez did not have command responsibility, and that his responsibility for and involvement in the crimes had not been sufficiently established. The court relied in part on the prosecutions military expert, Robles Espinoza, who stated that the military intelligence unit (D2) was not involved in operations and could not authorize any actions. (*D2 no tiene injerencia en el campo de operaciones y no se le puede responsabilizar de ninguna acción.*) The court did recognize that Rodriguez Sanchez, in his role as director of military intelligence, elaborated the military operational plans. Despite Rodriguez Sanchez acquittal, the court ordered him to remain detained (in a military hospital), as he has been, until the sentence is final (*firme*). According to his lawyer, the sentence should be entered on Friday, May 17, but it could take up to four months before the sentence is considered final. In her concluding remarks, Judge Barrios stated, without justice, there will be no peace. She affirmed that the implementation of justice helps with the recognition of the truth and the assurance that these types of crimes will not be repeated. She further ordered the Public Ministry to continue its investigations of others who may have responsibility for these crimes. The tribunal scheduled two further hearingson Monday, May 13 at 8:30 am to hear the courts ruling on reparations for the victims; and on Friday, May 17 at 3 pm for the reading of the full judgment. *The Courtroom: Before and After the Verdict* The mood was tense in the hours leading up to the sentencing. Witnesses, observers, and the press filed into the courtroom for the 8 am hearing<http://www.riosmontt-trial.org/2013/05/judgment-in-genocide-trial-expected-today-at-4-pm-despite-pre-trial-judges-call-for-trials-annulment/>. That final hearing of the trial included only Rodriguez Sanchezs final statement and a call for the parties to reconvene at 4 pm for the verdict. Many observers, fearful that they would not be able to get back into the building, or that there would be no more space in the courtroom, remained until the sentencing in the afternoon. Early in the day, Judge Carol Patricia Flores, a pre-trial judge who handles evidentiary and other matters in connection with the case, generated uncertainty when she emitted a ruling re-affirming her April 18 annulment of the trial and its regression to November 2011<http://www.riosmontt-trial.org/2013/05/judgment-in-genocide-trial-expected-today-at-4-pm-despite-pre-trial-judges-call-for-trials-annulment/>a time before the indictment of either Rios Montt or Rodriguez Sanchez. Some legal experts assured those present that once the oral phase of the trial was completed, no further injunctions could prevent the sentence from being handed down, but the uncertainty remained until the judges returned to issue the verdict just after 4 pm. By the afternoon, the courtroom was packed to standing room only, and many struggled to enter. At the end of a turbulent week, expectations were high. Supporters of the former head of state applauded Rios Montts entry into the courtroom before the verdict was read, and strongly criticized the verdict afterwards. Family members of the two defendants were in the courtroom, including Rios Montts daughter, Congresswoman Zury Rios Montt, as well as members of the Guatemalan Association of Military Veterans (AVEMILGUA) and the Foundation Against Terrorism (*Fundacion Contra el Terrorismo*), who have staunchly opposed the trial. They were far outnumbered, however, by survivors, relatives of victims, and their supporters, who cheered in elation in response to the tribunals verdict. Among those in attendance were Rigoberta Menchú, who brought the first genocide case against Rios Montt before a Spanish court (*La Audiencia Nacional*), and Helen Mack Chang, sister of Myrna Mack, who was killed in 1990 by members of the Presidential High Guard (*Estado Mayor Presidencial*) due to her work researching violence and its aftermath among Ixil and other Mayan communities. Immediately after the pronouncement of the verdict, chaos broke out as it seemed that Rios Montt, with his attorney, Francisco Garcia Gudiel, was perhaps trying to leave the courtroom through a side door. Judge Barrios shouted that Rios Montt could not be permitted to leave without police escorts transporting him directly to prison. The sentence is condemnatory, and it must be implemented, Judge Barrios called out, her voice trembling. She ordered security to protect the two exits while she sought the support of the police and the Office of the Human Rights Ombudsman (*Procuradoria de Derechos Humanos*). Judge Barrios also shouted to Rios Montts attorneys: As lawyers you must not obstruct the application of justice! Judge Barrios told the lawyers that they could leave, but that the accused was prohibited from leaving. She restated that the panel of judges would remain in the courtroom until the police arrived to escort Rios Montt to prison. Judge Barrios urged the people in the gallery to begin filing out in an orderly fashion, though most remained until after Rios Montt was transported to prison. Judge Barrios struggled to maintain order in the courtroom, and it took at least 30 minutes for the police escorts to arrive even though it had been anticipated that a verdict would be announced at that time. Security arrangements seemed improvised at best. The press corps contributed to the chaos. Journalists and photographers swarmed around Rios Montt to register his reaction to the verdict. The press ignored the judges repeated and strident demands that they step back from Rios Montt, instead continuing to register his declarations. At one point, the defense table collapsed under the weight of all the press leaning or sitting on it to get a shot of the now condemned general. Eventually the National Police arrived, and the chaotic situation dissipated. As calm returned to the courtroom, the crowd began to sing a poem by Otto Rene Castillo: Here, no one cried / Here, we only want to be human / Eat, laugh, fall in love, live / Live life, not die. The song and its haunting words evoked the memory of those who died in Guatemalas internal armed conflict. At around 6 pm, Rios Montt was escorted out of the courtroom to a cell at the Matamoros military base. As he left the room, more applause and chanting ensued: Justice! Justice! Justice! This is what a real judge looks like! And, simply, Yassmin! Yassmin!, recognizing the tribunals presiding judge. Some of the Maya Ixiles stood up and called out *Tantixh*!thank you!to the three judges, bowing their heads. Judge Barrios replied with appreciation of the recognition, but with insistence that we are only doing our duty. In the minutes between the verdict and Rios Montts departure to Matamoros Prison, Rios Montt spoke willingly to the assembled press<http://www.abc.es/internacional/20130511/abci-rios-montt-apleacion-ilegal-201305110340.html>. According to media reports, he claimed that the tribunal was an international show trial that will affect the heart and soul of the Guatemalan people. He affirmed that he was at peace, despite the courts verdict, as he believed he had obeyed the law and not caused bloodshed of his brothers. (*Es un show político internacional que va a afectar el alma y el corazón del pueblo guatemalteco, pero nosotros tenemos paz porque nunca derramamos o no nos manchamos las manos de sangre de nuestros hermanos.*) In contrast to the statements of his most ardent defenders, who have asserted that the country needs to avoid prosecutions to prevent destabilization, Rios Montt said the only way to have peace is through justice<http://www.abc.es/internacional/20130511/abci-rios-montt-apleacion-ilegal-201305110340.html>. However, he insisted that justice was lacking in the courts sentence. (*La única manera de tener paz es haciendo justicia y precisamente de eso adolecemos hoy.*) Rios Montt further stated that the judgment was not grounded in law and would be overturned, and that the judges ruled based on institutional or personal interests rather than the interests of the country. Rios Montts attorney, Garcia Gudiel, said that there were 12 pending legal challenges, and also asserted with confidence that the judgment would fall on appeal. *Reactions to the Verdict* The impact of the Rios Montt judgment has been hailed as historic. For the first time, a domestic court has proven capable of investigating, prosecuting and sentencing an accused former head of state for genocide. The Rios Montt trial and verdict are being discussed as an example of justice for Latin America and the world. At the same time, due to the fact that the process unfolded in a context of massive and recurring legal and political challenges, many observers questioned at various stages whether this demonstrated that the obstacles to such a prosecution were too monumental for the Guatemalan justice system. The numerous legal challenges lodged at different judicial authorities stymied the trial for several weeks, and left even some of the lawyers confused. The prosecution and civil parties repeatedly identified their perception that the defense used these *amparos*, or constitutional challenges, as a way to threaten the continuation of the trial, rather than as legitimate efforts to protect the rights of the accused. Further, at some critical instances, some highlighted that the trial demonstrated the risks of political interference and corruption. At the start of the trial, President Otto Perez Molina stated that, in his view and based on personal knowledge, he did not believe that there was genocide<http://www.riosmontt-trial.org/2013/03/trial-to-start-despite-last-minute-legal-challenges/> in Guatemala. After the temporary suspension of the trial, high-profile former government officials identified that the charges and the trial threaten to destabilize the country; soon after, President Perez Molina strongly endorsed this view<http://www.riosmontt-trial.org/2013/04/legal-challenges-and-public-debates-mount-in-guatemala-while-the-constitutional-court-deliberates/>. By this point, a witness had already implicated the president in controversial testimony<http://www.riosmontt-trial.org/2013/04/day-10-witness-implicates-president-perez-molina-in-massacres/> . President Perez Molinas position shifted markedly as the trial progressed. After the judgment, President Perez Molina insisted that he respected the independence of the judiciary<http://guatemala.gob.gt/index.php/2011-08-04-18-06-26/item/3745-presidente-respeta-decisi%C3%B3n-de-tribunal>and the trials judgment in this case. He highlighted the verdict as an opportunity for reconciliation. However, he also noted that the sentence against Rios Montt had not yet been ratified. Moreover, he repeated his long-stated assertion that in Guatemala there was no genocide<http://www.plazapublica.com.gt/content/quiero-que-alguien-me-demuestre-que-hubo-genocidio>qualifying this that it was based on [his] experience. In an extendedinterview with *CNN En Español* <http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=udtJ5PNawvg> after the conclusion of the trial, the president was forced again to confront the fact that a witness in the case had explicitly implicated him in related crimes. The environment around the trial became increasingly polarized as it progressed, and that did not dissipate after the verdict. Throughout the trial, high-profile voices in Guatemala vociferously challenged criminal prosecutions of military officers for human rights violations. They contested that a genocide ever occurred and viewed the prosecution as undermining the role of the military in saving the country from falling into the hands of communist rule. After the verdict, on Sunday, military families marched in front of the Matamoros military base in support of Rios Montt. Also on Sunday, the powerful business association CACIF (the Coordinating Committee of Agricultural, Commercial, Industrial, and Financial Associations)called for the verdict to be overturned<http://www.cacif.org.gt/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=1044&Itemid=468&lang=es>. CACIF rejected the tribunals legal reasoning, saying the intention to commit genocide had not been adequately demonstrated; charged the tribunal with violating due process and other procedural guarantees; and insisted that the sentence was politically motivated, fuelled polarization and undermined the rule of law in Guatemala. In the end, the recognition of the significance of the judgment was hailed by domestic and international actors<http://www.espanol.rfi.fr/americas/20130511-organizaciones-internacionales-aplauden-el-fallo-contra-rios-montt>. The Center for Legal Action for Human Rights (CALDH), one of the civil parties to the genocide trial, applauded the verdict, affirming that the judgment confirms what has been claimed over the past 30 years, and acknowledges that crimes against humanity should be punished in order to ensure that they never again occur. Sebastian Elgueta, representing Amnesty International, stated: With this conviction, Guatemala leads by example in a region where entrenched impunity for past crimes sadly remains the norm. James Goldstone, Executive Director of the Open Society Justice Initiative<http://www.riosmontt-trial.org/2013/05/476/>, identified that this verdict demonstrates that accountability for the gravest international crimes is possible despite the considerable political challenges that such prosecutions can face. The U.S. Embassy in Guatemala also issued a statement<http://www.lahora.com.gt/index.php/nacional/guatemala/actualidad/177567-ee-uu-llama-a-respetar-la-legitimidad-y-la-integridad-del-proceso-contra-rios-montt> on Sunday recognizing the verdict as important for the rule of law in Guatemala and an opportunity for true reconciliation and progress forward. In its statement, the Embassy highlighted that it was not Guatemala, as a country, that was on trial, but two individuals, one of whom was acquitted and the other convicted. For Helen Mack, a Guatemalan human rights defender, the trial marks a watershed for Guatemalathe first time Guatemalas indigenous population have had an opportunity to make their voices heard in a court of law, and a demonstration that truth and justice for the victims can be achieved through peaceful, democratic means. Benjamin Geronimo, on behalf of the survivors group Justice and Reconciliation Association <http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hQl9U-wxi7M>, the civil party which initiated the case, recognized that this conviction is important but only part of a larger struggle. There will be certain appeals, and according to Geronimo, there should also be further prosecutions. *Emi MacLean, Legal Officer of the Open Society Justice Initiative, contributed to the research and writing of this blog.* [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] ------------------------------------ --------------------------------------------------------------------------- LAAMN: Los Angeles Alternative Media Network --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Unsubscribe: <mailto:[email protected]> --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Subscribe: <mailto:[email protected]> --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Digest: <mailto:[email protected]> --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Help: <mailto:[email protected]?subject=laamn> --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Post: <mailto:[email protected]> --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Archive1: <http://www.egroups.com/messages/laamn> --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Archive2: <http://www.mail-archive.com/[email protected]> --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Yahoo! 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