Impunity Watch have posted a note related to the trial against Guatemalan military and officials for crimes against humanity. The names are, sadly, all too familiar.
On December 4 2023 in Leuven, Belgium, a trial will begin against five former Guatemalan military and officials accused of arbitrary detentions, torture, forced disappearances, murders and other crimes against humanity against Belgian missionaries of the Congregation of the Immaculate Heart of Mary during the military dictatorship of Romeo Lucas García (1978-1982).
The accused held high positions during the Guatemalan military dictatorship, and the Belgian justice accuses them of planning, ordering and supervising the crimes against the Belgian missionaries. The accused are:
- General Ángel Aníbal Guevara, Minister of Defense at the time
- General Benedicto Lucas García, Chief of the Army Staff
- General Manuel Antonio Callejas y Callejas, Head of the Intelligence (G2)
- Donaldo Álvarez Ruiz, Minister of the Interior
- Pedro García Arredondo, Head of Command 6 of the National Police
The victims are:
- Priest Walter Vordeckeres, murdered on 12 May 1980 in front of the parish of Santa Lucia Cotzumalguapa, Escuintla
- Missionary Ward Capiu, murdered on 22 October 1981 in San Lucas Sacatepéquez
- Missionary Serge Berten, disappeared on 19 January 1982 in Calzada San Juan, zone 19 of Guatemala City. It is known that he was taken to a clandestine detention centre, where he was tortured and later murdered. His body is still missing.
- Priest Paul Schildermans was arbitrarily detained on 4 January 1982 in the parish of Nueva Concepción, Escuintla, along with Guatemalan priest Paredes Aragon. Moments before the arrest, the parish sacristan were murdered. Father Schildermans was taken to a clandestine prison in Mazatenango where he was tortured. He was finally released on 6 January 1982.
You can read the full post, here, Belgium to judge 5 Guatemalan ex-military and officials for crimes against humanity.
Categories: Genocide, Guatemala, Human Rights, Impunity, Justice, Military, Solidarity in Action, Violence
Guatemala Solidarity Network 
Post comments here