Nations close in on Guatemalan massacre suspects

[Judi Lynn]

Source: Associated Press

Nations close in on Guatemalan massacre suspects
2011-03-14 13:12:00

Nearly 30 years after an elite Guatemalan military force raped and slaughtered residents of a tiny village, U.S. and Canadian authorities are closing in on some of the alleged perpetrators.

The arrest of four ex-soldiers in a little more than a year has raised hopes among advocates of victims' relatives that at least one might stand trial for the killings.

Human rights advocates are pinning their hopes on the prosecution of Jorge Sosa Orantes, who was arrested in January in Canada on U.S. charges of lying on his citizenship application about his ties to the Guatemalan military.

In the United States, Sosa is only charged with immigration violations — not carrying out the 1982 massacre in the village of Dos Erres. Activists in Canada, where he is jailed, are now pressing their government to try him for crimes against humanity, noting the case has languished in Guatemalan courts.




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