“When trial judges in Guatemala convicted their own former head of state, Efrain Rios Montt, of genocide last May—a worldwide first—the rule of law set down roots in a country renowned for impunity. Subsequent events have shown how fragile those… Read More ›
Genocide
Brief Review of 2013
Situation of Human rights defenders The context in Guatemala in 2013 continued being hazardous for human rights’ defenders where, up to October, there were 18 assassinations of human rights defenders and 608 attacks against them, which is almost double the… Read More ›
Wartime victims exhumed from military base return to Pambach
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… Read More ›
Judging a Dictator: The Trial of Guatemala’s Rios Montt
The Open Society Justice Initiative has just published a summary of the six week trial of Efrain Rios Montt based on the daily monitoring reports from this website. The 56-page book, Judging a Dictator: The Trial of Guatemala’s Rios Montt,… Read More ›
Interview with Juan Francisco Soto, Director of CALDH
The following is an interview with Juan Fransisco Soto, Director of CALDH published in English by Carolyn O’Neil on the website,‘The Trial of Efrain Rios Montt & Mauricio Rodriguez Sanchez’. Twelve years went by before the querella lodged by the… Read More ›
“Yes, there was genocide!”: Guatemala’s Ixil Vow to Keep Fighting for Justice
Rob Mercatante writes on the website of the Americas Program: “In the early hours of June 21 hundreds of human rights defenders, artists, feminists, musicians, religious workers, community organizers, independent journalists, international accompaniers, campesino and indigenous activists and others gathered… Read More ›
The Rios Montt Judgement in the Light of International Law: Naomi Roht-Arriaza and Susan Kemp
Written by Naomi Roht-Arriaza & Susan Kemp (riosmontt-trial.org): Although it is unclear whether the trial of Efrain Rios Montt and Mauricio Rodriguez Sanchez will be resumed, it is worth evaluating the only document that specifically examines the question of guilt… Read More ›
Land Grabs, the Latest Form of Genocide in Guatemala
Leonor Hurtado of the Institute for Food and Development Policy – Food First writes about the genocide being carried out in Guatemala with land and food as the means. “In today’s Guatemala, land and resource control is increasingly in the… Read More ›
Confused about Genocide in Guatemala?
After the conviction and subsequent (illegal?) overturning of the verdict against Ríos Montt on genocide and crimes against humanity, there is apparently a deal of debate as to whether genocide was actually committed in Guatemala during the Ríos Montt de… Read More ›
Ríos Montt Trial
Pamela Yates (When the Mountains Tremble and Granito) has posted a great series of short films from the genocide trial of General Ríos Montt. The 19 episodes of Dictator in the Dock can be found here. The Washington Office on… Read More ›