A few highlights from the Rios Montt Genocide Trial (Graphic heavy)

[Catherina]

These are just a few of the worst highlights tweeted and written about by Xeni Jardin ‏ @xeni ) who's been attending the trial daily and interviewing survivors. Unfortunately, I can only go as far back as April 17 for her tweets on this.

First a picture:

A 1982 photograph by Jean-Marie Simon of Otto Perez Molina; he commanded the Guatemalan Army in Nebaj, Quiché, Guatemala at the time, and is now President. Nebaj is part of the region at issue in a genocide trial against former head of state Ríos Montt. The military hat in this photo indicates status as a Kaibil.

-- Harris Whitbeck Sr (see wiki), a defense witness, testified that he ran "humanitarian programs" for Montt. Both Montt and him are evangelicals. Millions of dollars in funds for Montt's "Beans and guns" (“frijoles y fusiles”) came from US lawmakers & evangelical Christian groups. Pat Robertson and Jerry Falwell evangelized for their friend Rios Montt. Whitbeck claims he never heard of military massacres, rapes in camps, torture, forced cutting down of crops etc. It was all good

-- One 20pg paid paper insert by Guate Anti-terrorism Fndtn linked genocide trial to intl Marxist conspiracy enabled by Catholic Church.


Paid propaganda. Sign reads "The Secretary of Peace says there was no genocide" (Otto Molina's Sec of Peace testified FOR Rios Montt and said that)

-- “They treated us like animals. They slaughtered us like animals. Now they want to pretend it didn't happen.” —V., K'iche man

April 19

-- No reports from local press of yesterday's raid against human rights offices of @UDEFEGUA in the Ixil Region in Guatemala,

-- Outside court. Massive crowd led by Ixiles. Flower & pine needle altar; copal burning. Signs demanding justice. Ixil holding red flowers.

-- This is a huge crowd outside court. Very high energy. WE ARE ALL IXIL, WE WILL CONTINUE THE FIGHT, & chants in Ixil also.



Tons of tweets about how the Ixiles are leading this, organizing the marches, leading the chants, leading everything. This is important because it's also the Ixiles who are now under martial law in those 4 municipalities where Molina said drug gangs are causing problems.

On April 19, when someone tried to keep them all out of the courtroom, they raised a huge public fuss

-- Noise outside this building is overwhelming. Crowd screaming justice, no more genocide, we have the right to know the truth. Drumming.

-- Cars on street honking in support.

-- On one hand, I’m disappointed more foreign media aren’t here covering justice system’s crisis in Guatemala. OTOH, they’d just mess it up.

-- Case in point: this report by Rachel Levin for Al Jazeera English. WTF. So many inaccuracies, so tone-deaf.

BS: “Entire areas of country where people don’t even know trial is taking place…because Guatemala is one of the poorest countries in LatAm.”

Guess what, Al Jazeera: the hundreds of indigenous people demonstrating behind you in that standup *are those same poorest people.*

The poor, marginalized indigenous in Guatemala aren’t stupid. They’re incredibly politically sophisticated.

And by my research, there’s wide awareness of trial among indigenous throughout the country (23+ Mayan ethnic groups, Ixil are but one).

Yes; way media+power works here contribute to lack of political involvement & awareness of trial. But fiercest organizers I see are poor.

Seriously, this piece sucks.

Apparently, people who watched it thought the same because the top rated comment on the Al-Jazeera piece is

No surprise that Al Jazeera's latest video on this topic allowed no comments. They are promoting propaganda in regard to this topic, in order to back the current US-backed president, Otto Perez Molina, who was about to be clearly implicated in the trial. Al Jazeera has gone into absolutely no detail about what the testimony of Allan Nairn would have been, and what the implications would have been if he would have testified. Al Jazeera is a crock of shit.

and

Get your news about this issue from Democracy Now. They cover it very well, and interview Allan Nairn, the journalist who was about to testify when the trial was shut down. Al J is simply US propaganda, as mentioned by others here also.

-- What I hate about AJ piece: this elitist logic that only ppl with $ are politically engaged, aware of HR issues. Couldn’t be less true here. Mayans organize, share info in ways outsiders may not see or grok. But it’s poor marginalized indigenous who pushed hardest for this day. They may have less financial resources to lose, but if all you have is a cornfield & your family, that’s what you have, & it’s everything.

-- An indigenous leader here was murdered just last night. Multiple anti-mining Mayan activist disappearances/killings happened recently too.

-- Worn by Mayan observers in Guatemala genocide trial court, and their supporters.

-- Every day since lower court judge Flores effectively derailed tribunal, protesters have gathered to demand trial continue. Today, the same.

-- Rigoberta Menchú (Nobel Prize for Peace Winner) in front of the courthouse



22 April

-- Banner w names of civilians disappeared or assassinated during Guatemala's armed conflict Outside Const. Court, now.

-- Outside Guatemala's Constitutional Court right now. Photos from Jean-Marie Simon; a handwritten copy…



-- “What do we want? JUSTICE!” “All of us are Ixiles!” “My heart is Ixil!” Protesters chanting outside Guate Const. Court for trial to continue “We demand the genocide tribunal be allowed to continue. We will be here every day until the Constitutional Court resolves this.”