MiMundo

In the Pocomchi’ Mayan hamlet of Pambach, some 38 km from Cobán, residents gather at a local church to welcome the remains of Baldomero Chiquin (disappeared at the age of 16 with his 21-year-old brother Pedro Chiquin), Alberto Batz (disappeared at the age of 30), Alberto Caal (disappeared at the age of 26), Esteban Tul Tul (disappeared at the age of 47), Fernando Cal Jalal (disappeared at the age of 41) and Santiago Jalal Ja (disappeared at the age of 30).

The skeletal remains were returned to the families on Friday November 22nd, 2013, by members of the Guatemalan Forensic Anthropology Foundation (FAFG). All six men were taken by the army after a military incursion to the village on June 3rd, 1982, during the de facto government of Efraín Ríos Montt, and were never seen again.

You can read more about this and see some very moving photographs on MiMundo, from James Rodríguez here.

Categories: Genocide, Indigenous peoples, Military

Tags: Exhumations