Guatemala slipping back into impunity on anniversary of overturned genocide conviction
May 19, 2014
Guatemala slipping back into impunity on anniversary of overturned genocide conviction
The fight for justice for victims of crimes against humanity and genocide, from Guatemala’s past conflict is being seriously undermined, Amnesty International said today.
A year ago today Guatemala’s Constitutional Court annulled the conviction of former President General Efraín Ríos Montt for crimes against humanity and genocide committed in the 1980s. Since then key judicial figures have been replaced or sanctioned, and resolutions passed that further erode the chances of victims of the past conflict seeing justice.
“Victims of Ríos Montt’s crimes have been fighting for justice for more than three decades and now are again facing numerous obstacles created to deny them that justice,” said Sebastian Elgueta, Guatemala researcher at Amnesty International.
“Guatemala owes a debt of justice to those victims, as well as to the rest of the estimated 200,000 victims of the conflict.”
On 20 May 2013, the conviction of Ríos Montt for his role in the killing, torturing and forced displacement of 1,771 Maya-Ixil indigenous people during his 1982-83 presidency was effectively annulled by Guatemala’s Constitutional Court on a technicality.
More:
http://www.amnestyusa.org/news/news-item/guatemala-slipping-back-into-impunity-on-anniversary-of-overturned-genocide-conviction