Guatemala must act on retrial of former dictator – think-tank

[Judi Lynn]

Guatemala must act on retrial of former dictator – think-tank
Source: Thomson Reuters Foundation - Mon, 23 Sep 2013 02:57 PM
Anasatasia Moloney

BOGOTA (Thomson Reuters Foundation) – Guatemala must ensure a prompt and fair retrial of former dictator Jose Efrain Rios Montt to bring justice to victims of its civil war and bolster a fragile democracy and justice system in the Central American nation, International Crisis Group said on Monday.

In May, Guatemala's highest court overturned a historic conviction against 86-year-old Rios Montt. He was sentenced to 80 years in prison for genocide and crimes against humanity for his role in the killings by state security forces of at least 1,771 members of the Maya Ixil indigenous group during his rule from 1982 to 1983.

Rios Montt's conviction had been hailed as a victory for war victims and a justice system in a country still recovering from a 36-year civil war that ended in 1996, during which around 200,000 people died and 45,000 disappeared.

A United Nations-backed Truth Commission set up under the 1996 peace accords concluded that the military was responsible for more than 85 percent of human rights violations during the war.

More:
http://www.trust.org/item/20130923145717-4bk3f/?source=search

[Judi Lynn]

1. A Retrial for US-Backed Guatemalan War Criminal?

A Retrial for US-Backed Guatemalan War Criminal?
John Glaser, September 23, 2013

Back in May, former Guatemalan dictator Efrain Ríos Montt was convicted on charges of genocide and crimes against humanity in an historic case, the first time a former head of state had been prosecuted for genocide by his own country. Ten days after his conviction, the Constitutional Court annulled the verdict and wiped Rios Montt’s slate clean again.

“The abrupt annulment of the verdict raised questions of outside interference, particularly from powerful economic and political interests,” a new report from the International Crisis Group concludes. “Judicial authorities must now expedite a new trial and continue to prosecute others responsible for massive human rights violations during the armed conflict.”

A new trial may be in the works, but it will undoubtedly be an uphill battle. Maybe the United States should have something to say about that.

Ríos Montt received training from the U.S. at the infamous School of the Americas. He came to power in a military coup in 1982 and continued to receive enthusiastic support from Washington, even as his regime carried out mass atrocities. The Reagan administration aided, abetted, and covered up Montt’s crimes.

Montt’s forces, with the help of his chief of staff Fuentes, slit the throats of women and children, tortured and mutilated thousands of innocent indigenous peasants, and beat innocent civilians and doused them in gasoline to be burned alive. The UN commission investigating the atrocities has already concluded it constituted acts of genocide. Through it all, Reagan was calling Montt “a man of great integrity” and “totally dedicated to democracy.”

More:
http://antiwar.com/blog/2013/09/23/a-retrial-for-us-backed-guatemalan-war-criminal/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+AWCBlog+%28Antiwar.com+Blog%29

[Judi Lynn]

2. Migrants' DNA could help ID some of thousands still missing from Guatemalan civil war

Migrants' DNA could help ID some of thousands still missing from Guatemalan civil war
By Amy Taxin, The Associated Press September 22, 2013

SANTA ANA, Calif. - Aracely Garrido returned to her native Guatemala last month to bury one of 13 family members who disappeared during the country's decades-long civil war and was identified years later through DNA from surviving relatives.

The 55-year-old tax preparer now living in a Los Angeles suburb is among a small group of Guatemalan immigrants in the area who have given DNA samples in hopes of finding loved ones who vanished during the fighting from 1960 to 1996. Many more soon will be able to do the same as forensic experts who run a Guatemalan lab that matches victims' remains to the living are expanding their outreach to Guatemalans abroad.

"Being able to find him was at least some relief," Garrido said of her cousin, a construction worker and political activist who she said was seized by authorities along with his teenage son.

She hopes the Forensic Anthropology Foundation will locate the remains of her other missing relatives, many of whom were targeted by the government because they were politically active.

More:
http://www.canada.com/news/Migrants+could+help+some+thousands+still+missing+from+Guatemalan/8944428/story.html