Ex-dictator to be tried for genocide
2013-01-29 13:00
Guatemala City - A Guatemalan judge on Monday ordered former dictator Efrain
Rios Montt to stand trial on charges of genocide for the slaughter of more than
1 750 native Maya people during his 1982-1983 regime.
The retired general, now 86, sat stoically as Judge Miguel Galvez ordered
the opening of a trial "for the crimes of genocide" and crimes
against humanity.
The landmark decision marks the first time that genocide proceedings have
been brought in the Central American country over the 36-year civil war that
ended in 1996, leaving an estimated 200 000 people dead, according to the UN.
Outside the courthouse in Guatemala City, relatives of victims - some
wearing red carnations and clutching photographs of their loved ones - lit
firecrackers in celebration after the ruling was read out.
Orchestrating the massacre
Rios Montt is accused of orchestrating the massacre of more than 1 750
indigenous Ixil Maya people in Quiche department during his time in power.
"There are serious bases on which to put him on oral and public trial
for his alleged participation in the crimes attributed to him," Galvez
said in a small courtroom packed with relatives of victims and rights
activists.
Rios Montt is known for his "scorched earth" campaign against
people the government claimed were leftist rebels, but who were often
indigenous Maya community members not involved in the conflict.
Dressed in a gray suit, the former strongman arrived on time for the
hearing. Upon his entry into the courtroom, a small group of retired soldiers
stood at attention and saluted him.
Once the judge issued his ruling and ended the hearing, activists in the
courtroom clapped and cheered, to the visible anger of retired soldiers.
Rights advocates have worked for years to see Rios Montt tried, but he
avoided court action, at one point by getting elected to Guatemala's congress -
and thereby winning parliamentary immunity.
‘Remarkable development’
"We are beginning to see the light at the end of the tunnel of impunity
that Guatemala has endured over the past decades," said activist Iduvina
Hernandez.
Human Rights Watch called the decision to prosecute Rios Montt a "major
step forward for accountability in Guatemala".
"The fact that a judge has ordered the trial of a former head of state
is a remarkable development in a country where impunity for past atrocities has
long been the norm," said the group's Americas director, Jose Miguel
Vivanco.
Galvez also ruled that he would open a genocide trial against retired
general Jose Rodriguez, a former member of the military leadership who arrived
in court in a wheelchair.
The judge told Rios Montt and Rodriguez to appear at a hearing on 31 January
for the presentation of evidence.
Until then, Rios Montt will remain under house arrest while Rodriguez will
remain at a military hospital where he has been treated for a stroke his
attorneys say he suffered in December.
'Unaware'
Attorneys for Rios Montt, who came to power in a coup in March 1982 and
ruled until August 1983, argued that he was never aware of the massacres
committed by the army.
"They want to stick something to Rios Montt that he never did,"
said his lawyer, Danilo Rodriguez, who happens to be a former guerrilla.
Another attorney for Rios Montt, Francisco Palomo, told reporters the defence
team would appeal Galvez's decision.
"We will be presenting an appeal. We are not afraid of facing a trial,
as long as it is a fair one... not a lynch mob," said Palomo.
Outside the courthouse, a group of relatives of victims set up a makeshift
altar, where they placed flowers and lit incense.
Indigenous Maya communities make up a majority of the population in rural
Guatemala.
