Tuesday, April 30, 2013

Genocide on Trial, Day 22: Trial reconvenes and attempts to move forward

NISGUA continues live coverage of the trial in Guatemala of Efraín Ríos Montt and José Mauricio Rodríguez Sánchez for genocide and crimes against humanity.


Read our previous summaries: Day 1, 2, 3, 4/5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11-14, 12, 13/14, 15/16, 17/18, 19, 20-1, 20-2, 21, Constitutional Court decisions, trial suspension and our full archive of ongoing live Twitter coverage.

In a context of legal uncertainty as appeals and resolutions make their way through the Guatemalan courts, Judge Jazmín Barrios reconvened the public hearings of the genocide trial on April 30. Proceedings had been suspended for almost two weeks, during which a whirlwind of legal battles and public demonstrations about the historic genocide trial took place.

The abbreviated proceedings were just over two hours long and focused primarily on fulfilling procedural requirements for the restart of the trial and responding to defense motions. Ríos Montt appeared with defense lawyer Francisco García Gudiel, while Rodríguez Sánchez appeared without his original defense attorneys. The defense counsel for both parties staged a dramatic walkout on April 18, after which the court assigned them public defenders. Court appointed counsel, Lidia Arévalo and Otto Martínez, were present at the defense table on Monday and were officially integrated as Ríos Montt and Rodríguez Sánchez' (respectively) lawyers at the outset of the hearing.

Gudiel, who was expelled from the courtroom on March 19, was officially reinstated as Ríos Montt's defense lawyer, as ordered by the Constitutional Court. He immediately filed a motion to annul all proceedings that had taken place without him, stating he could not adequately represent his client as he was not present for all hearings. The judges rejected Gudiel's motion, citing the resolution of the Constitutional Court that "it would be illegal to reverse [the proceedings] to a prior stage." She also indicated the need to "avoid the re-victimization of the witnesses who have already testified."

Public defender Lidia Arévalo requested and was granted permission to leave Ríos Montt's defense, at which point Rodríguez Sánchez addressed the court. "I believe the law supports me in having trusted counsel," he stated. "This lawyer is not my trusted [counsel]." Public defender Otto Martínez followed with a motion asking to be dismissed from Rodríguez Sánchez' defense, "He didn't want to share anything at all about the case with us because he said we were not his trusted counsel." Public prosecutor Orlando López objected, "This is an excuse to delay the process."

After deliberations, Judge Barrios announced she would not recuse public defender Ramírez. She named the various opportunities Rodríguez Sánchez had to appoint new counsel and reiterated that he could not be left without a defense attorney. Barrios reminded him that when his counsel abandoned the hearing on April 18 he stated he had no financial resources available to contract a new lawyer and therefore the court appointed him a public defender.

Judge Barrios then continued with the procedural point of re-reading the charges to Ríos Montt, in accordance with recent Constitutional Court rulings. The full charges of genocide and crimes against humanity were read, and as a formality Ríos Montt was called to the stand to state his personal information. He was also given the opportunity to respond to the charges. Just as he had on the first day of the trial, Ríos Montt stated he understood the charges and declined to respond.

Judge Barrios then adjourned court for the day and convened all parties to appear on May 2 at 8:30am. She instructed Gudiel to produce the remaining six defense witnesses and video evidence at that time. Defense lawyer Ramírez interjected to repeat his request for a 5 day suspension of the trial in order to familiarize himself with the case. Judge Barrios stated his request would be considered on May 2.

After a tense week and a half of trial suspension, the restart of genocide trial proceedings has been cause for tentative hope on behalf of the survivors and their legal representation. It remains to be seen what impact pending Constitutional Court resolutions and probable motions by the defense will have on the future of the trial.




NISGUA has provided human rights accompaniment to the witness' organization, the Association for Justice and Reconciliation, and their lawyers, the Center for Human Rights Legal Action since 2000. We will continue to bear witness to the truth and bravery of these survivors throughout this historic trial. To bear witness with us, stay tuned to our ongoing live Twitter coverage @NISGUA_Guate, like our Facebook page and sign up for email updates

Monday, April 29, 2013

Genocide trial still suspended: Supporters remain hopeful, public dialogue continues

NISGUA continues ongoing coverage of the trial in Guatemala of Efraín Rios Montt and Mauricio Rodríguez Sánchez for genocide and crimes against humanity.


The air in Guatemala is tensely optimistic as various injunctions and appeals related to the fate of the genocide trial are one by one being resolved in Guatemalan courts. The genocide trial has been suspended for just over one week and both Guatemalan civil society and the international community have reacted with widespread popular response. Energy remains high and hope holds strong that the trial quickly resumes.

Survivors gather in vigil on Thursday, April 18.
Following Judge Flores' shocking resolution on April 18 ordering an annulment of the genocide trial proceedings, survivors gathered together in vigil to call for the trial to continue and also to name the impunity at work behind Flores' decision. In the aftermath of the decision, the CICIG and the Attorney General's office qualified the Flores decision as illegal and the next day Judge Barrios followed suit, stating her court would not comply with illegal resolutions. Barrios was, however, forced to temporarily suspend the trial while the Constitutional Court resolves Flores' resolution and other outstanding issues.

Surrounding these recent events, the hashtag phrase #SiHuboGenocidio (#YesItWasGenocide) has swept the top Guatemalan Twitter trends several days in a row. Guatemalans shared family stories, facts and figures, personal declarations and political statements, in an incredible show of public discourse on the topic of genocide in Guatemala. The international community swiftly followed the example and the topic has become a popular forum for dialogue --see the trend in-action for yourself!



A physical display of tweets pulled from the #SíHuboGenocidio Twitter
trend meets the crowd outside Judge Barrios' courtroom on Friday, April 19.

Survivors and supporters marched to the CC later Friday morning to demand
a quick resolution by the Court. Photo: James Rodríguez.
See more of his beautiful photo-essay of the demonstration here.

While popular opinion on the Guatemalan genocide trial is not new, the Twitter phenomenon highlights a new level of conversation being seen in the public arena. An outpouring of support for the trial proceedings has taken place in the form of statements from international experts, organizations and diplomats, sign-on letters from Guatemalan and international organizations and civil society petitions and pledges, all urging the Guatemalan justice system to allow the trial to conclude.

An off-season rain poured on Guatemala City late Friday night and into the next morning but it did not stop genocide trial supporters from gathering in a press conference on Saturday, April 20 to continue to pressure the Constitutional Court. Rigoberta Menchú Tum described the scene, "We are gathered here together today, a day in which even the sky has cried with us." Others interpreted the unusual rain as a sign of cleansing, especially in the context of impunity and corrupt decision-making. Association for Justice and Reconciliation President Benjamin Jerónimo told the crowd, "We continue our search for justice, a justice that is fair. We don't want a dark or dirty justice."

Since it first became apparent the trial proceedings were at risk, an atmosphere of uncertainty has loomed over the outcome of the genocide case trial. Will the trial continue or not? Will the trial restart from where it left off or will it go back to an earlier date? In spite of these questions, CALDH lawyers assured the public, "This is a setback for justice, for the victims, but this is not a defeat."

On Tuesday, April 21, misinformation won the day when erroneous reports flooded Guatemalan and international press stating the trial had been officially annulled. Tuesday morning, approximately 50 buses brought Ixiles from Quiché to Guatemala City for a protest in denial of genocide. A number of Ixil members of the group reported being manipulated to hold signs and banners in protest of the genocide trial. They had been promised fertilizer and only upon arriving in the capital city were informed of the real motive behind the caravan. Ricardo Méndez Ruíz, director of Guatemala's Foundation Against Terrorism, was visibly present amongst the demonstrators and later gave troubling declarations about imminent violence.

Throughout last week, Guatemalan press and genocide trial supporters rushed to the Constitutional Court at any mention of a resolution announcement. On Thursday, April 23, the prosecution team received a resolution from the CC and met an anxious crowd outside only to explain that Judge Flores still had to rule on evidence that was previously rejected by Judge Gálvez. On Friday, she did just that and accepted said evidence. While the genocide trial is rumored to restart at any moment, there are a multitude of legal motions still in play that need sorting out.

A human wall of women holding "Sí hubo genocidio" signs set
the scene for a demonstration in front of the CC on April 26.
Genocide trial supporters join ceremonies honoring
Bishop Gerardi on the 15th anniversary of his murder.

On Friday, April 26, genocide trial supporters banded together once again in front of the Constitutional Court. In a show of cross-movement solidarity, supporters marched to Guatemala's Metropolitan Cathedral to join the commemoration of Bishop Juan Gerardi's 1998 assassination. Bishop Gerardi was murdered two days after publicly presenting the REMHI truth commission report revealing that state security forces were responsible for 93% of killings and massacres during the internal armed conflict. Bishop Gerardi is honored as a defender of truth and justice.

The Coalition of Immokalee Workers (http://www.ciw-online.org/)
stand in solidarity with justice for Guatemala.
Outside of Guatemala, visual support for the trial keeps flowing in as our ongoing photo campaign in support of justice for genocide continues to grow. In another beautiful demonstration of cross-movement solidarity, the Florida-based worker and immigrant rights organization, the Coalition of Immokalee workers, demonstrate their support for justice for genocide. See the slideshow of the full photo album and take your own photo of support today!

NISGUA has provided human rights accompaniment to the witness' organization, the Association for Justice and Reconciliation, and their lawyers, the Center for Human Rights Legal Action since 2000. We will continue to bear witness to the truth and bravery of these survivors throughout this historic trial. To bear witness with us, stay tuned to our ongoing live Twitter coverage @NISGUA_Guate, like our Facebook page and sign up for email updates

Tuesday, April 23, 2013

Constitutional Court issues rulings, ongoing questions about how they impact genocide trial proceedings

NISGUA continues ongoing coverage of the trial in Guatemala of Efraín Rios Montt and Mauricio Rodríguez Sánchez for genocide and crimes against humanity.


Survivors, lawyers and human rights groups remain hopeful that the Constitutional Court will clear the legal obstacles impeding the conclusion of the genocide case, but lawyers interpreted today's Constitutional Court rulings as a disappointing setback.

The afternoon began with a flurry of unofficial reports in the Guatemalan media that the genocide case trial had been annulled. Within 6 resolutions it appeared the Constitutional Court resolved, one including a ruling to reinstate defense lawyer Francisco García Gudiel, who was expelled from the courtroom on the first day of the trial. At the time of this writing, lawyers for the victims and survivors interpret this ruling to mean that the genocide hearing may return to the first day of the trial, March 19, 2013, when Gudiel was removed. Read more about Gudiel's maneuver in our Day 1 summary.  Returning to this point in the process would essentially require a repetition of the trial proceedings thus far, including over 100 witness testimonies and over 60 expert witnesses.

The Third Appellate Court had previously ruled twice against Gudiel’s appeal to be reinstated as Ríos Montt’s lawyer. On Thursday, April 18, the same day that Judge Patricia Carol Flores ruled to annul the trial, the Appellate Court reversed its own rulings, granting a provisional injunction in favor of Gudiel. This is the decision the Constitutional Court upheld today.

Less clear are the impacts of the Constitutional Court’s response to appeals filed after Judge Flores’ decision to annul the trial hearings and return them to the pre-trial phase. The Court stated today that Flores lacked the necessary paperwork to make her April 18 decision on the submission of defense evidence. The Constitutional Court put the ball back in Flores’ court, highlighting this procedural point. Lawyers for the prosecution continue to analyze the impacts of this decision by the Constitutional Court. It is unclear if this means that Judge Flores will have to re-issue a ruling on defense evidence. A repeat of her ruling to turn the clock back to November 23, 2011 would mean Ríos Montt is no longer formally charged with genocide and crimes against humanity.

Other rulings issued by the Constitutional Court remain under review by lawyers, with other resolutions still to come.

Lawyers representing the victims and survivors of the case reiterated their commitment to seeking justice and breaking down the walls of impunity. CALDH Director Francisco Soto Forno stated, “The struggle against impunity must continue. The witnesses spoke: the country, the world and Ríos Montt heard them. They can’t deny the truth…This would be a setback for the court, for the victims, but we don’t see this as a defeat. We value what we have done and what we have accomplished.”

The Constitutional Court has been the site of daily demonstrations by the survivors and their supporters since the suspension of the trial last Thursday, urging a swift and just resolution to impediments to the continuation of the genocide case trial. Today, an estimated 30 vehicles transported demonstrators from the Ixil region to counter-protest. Luis Méndez Ruíz, of the Foundation Against Terrorism, was visibly directing the protestors. On Guatemalan television this evening, he warned that, “violence is on the verge of breaking out”. When asked by the Guatevision reporter to clarify what kind of violence, Ruíz stated, “the murder of leaders from social movements”.

Stay tuned for further development tomorrow, including statements by the Association for Justice and Reconciliation.


NISGUA has provided human rights accompaniment to the witness' organization, the Association for Justice and Reconciliation, and their lawyers, the Center for Human Rights Legal Action since 2000. We will continue to bear witness to the truth and bravery of these survivors throughout this historic trial. To bear witness with us, stay tuned to our ongoing live Twitter coverage @NISGUA_Guate, like our Facebook page and sign up for email updates

Friday, April 19, 2013

Genocide Trial, Day 21: Trial will continue, Proceedings await decision from Constitutional Court

NISGUA continues live coverage of the trial in Guatemala of Efraín Rios Montt and Mauricio Rodríguez Sánchez for genocide and crimes against humanity.


Read our previous summaries: Day 1, 2, 3, 4/5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11-14, 12, 13/14, 15/16, 17/18, 19, 20 part 1, 20 part 2 and our full archive of ongoing live Twitter coverage.

After the dramatic events impacting the genocide trial proceedings yesterday, there was an air of expectation in the courtroom this morning as a full gallery waited to see what impact yesterday's ruling by Judge Patricia Flores would have and whether the defendants and their lawyers would appear for the hearing.  Defense lawyers abandoned the genocide trial courtroom yesterday morning and in the afternoon Flores ruled the oral public debate be annulled and returned to a prior phase dating back to November 2011.

Ríos Montt and Rodríguez Sánchez did appear in court, although without their defense lawyers. Supporters for the accused were also notably missing from the gallery.

Judge Yasmín Barrios initiated the day's proceedings by immediately addressing the Flores resolution emitted yesterday. The point of controversy was related to defense evidence denied in a previous phase of the process. Barrios made reference to the original Constitutional Court decision, which included:
The rejection of evidence submitted by the amparistas [injunction applicants, in this case the defense] can be processed within the corresponding process without affecting the beginning of the process or regressing it to stages that have already been carried out, which would be illegal.
Judge Barrios had previously highlighted her court's compliance with this decision, when she admitted previously rejected evidence into the genocide case proceedings. Today she ruled, "[Judge Flores] overreached in her resolution. We consider the resolution to weaken our functions. We are not obligated to obey illegal actions...The court will not allow itself to be subject to Judge Flores' ruling." The court ordered that the trial be suspended while awaiting a direct decision from the Constitutional Court on the resolution emitted by Judge Flores, "in which she illegally ordered the debate annulled."

The public prosecutor promptly reiterated their request from yesterday asking that the court assign a court-appointed lawyer to the defendants, given that their lawyers had abandoned the courtroom. The judges found in favor of the request, stating, "The defense lawyers have abandoned the defense of accused Efraín Ríos Montt and José Mauricio Rodríguez Sánchez. They have been notified. The court orders that the public defense names a court-appointed lawyer for the defense."

After a little over an hour of proceedings for the day, Judge Barrios adjourned the court. An outburst of emotion came from the gallery in the form of a standing ovation. In a moving tribute to the emotion experienced in the room, the three judges stood respectfully as thundering applause was punctuated by chants of "Justice! Justice! Justice!" After a few minutes Chief Judge Barrios leaned down to her microphone and said to the court, "I thank you for your confidence in the justice system."

Buoyed by today's ruling, genocide case survivors and supporters remained after the judges left the courtroom, clapping and chanting, "Justice", "Sí Hubo Genocidio" (Yes, It Was Genocide), "We are All Ixiles", "This is a just trial". Groups of supporters spilled out into the plaza outside and marched directly to the Constitutional Court, where the future of the trial rests in their decision regarding Flores' annulment ruling. It is anticipated the court will issue a ruling within three business days.


NISGUA has provided human rights accompaniment to the witness' organization, the Association for Justice and Reconciliation, and their lawyers, the Center for Human Rights Legal Action since 2000. We will continue to bear witness to the truth and bravery of these survivors throughout this historic trial. To bear witness with us, stay tuned to our ongoing live Twitter coverage @NISGUA_Guate, like our Facebook page and sign up for email updates

Thursday, April 18, 2013

Genocide on Trial, Day 20: AJR Survivors Respond to Dramatic Events

NISGUA continues live coverage of the trial in Guatemala of Efraín Rios Montt and Mauricio Rodríguez Sánchez for genocide and crimes against humanity.


Read our previous summaries: Day 1Day 2Day 3Day 4/5Day 6Day 7, Day 8, Day 9, Day 10, Day 12, Days 13/14, Days 15/16, Days 17/18, Day 19 and full archive of ongoing live Twitter coverage.

The Association for Justice and Reconciliation (AJR) represents the witnesses and survivors of Guatemala’s genocide and are co-plaintiffs in the case against Efraín Ríos Montt and José Mauricio Rodríguez Sánchez. For more than a decade the survivors have struggled for the opportunity to have their case heard in a court of law. The last 20 days of public oral debate in the genocide trial have demonstrated to the world their unwavering commitment to truth and justice. Below we share some of their reactions to the day’s proceedings.
Yesterday I was very happy because we were close to having the sentence. Unfortunately, the Courts of Justice have stomped on the constitution. They change the laws to fit their needs; they do whatever they want with them, whatever they crave. But right now I feel excited because the lawyers are not saying that we will stop here. We have to move forward with the struggle until the end. This is not going to be just half way finished.
-Former AJR board member

For me it was difficult because this situation should not take place in court. They are judges that know the law and they are violating our rights as victims. They are trying to invalidate everything we are presenting, the evidence and the entire phase that we have already gone through, as if they do not appreciate anything we have presented. But I think that the judge is playing a dirty game. It is illegal and she does not have legal arguments. The decision was illegal.

[The judge] doesn’t want to uphold the law and that is why we totally reject this decision. [The judge] only wants to help impunity continue to reign in Guatemala and that is why we as victims have to break this noose of impunity, this beast that for so long has ruled Guatemala. We want the judge to uphold the law so that it may strengthen the rule of law in Guatemala so that we can have a different kind of country, a real democracy.
-Member of the AJR

They want the [the process] to be annulled, but that is not how it is. In no moment will [the process] be annulled. I start to think that it is embarrassing for them because they are lawyers. Imagine! They have the law in their hands and they jump right over everything that has to do with us, the indigenous. They jump over it. They don’t want to touch it. 

The thousands and thousands of victims will never abandon this struggle. We have to see it through.

There are multitudes of victims by my side demanding that I speak out for justice and so I am going to speak out. In no moment will this [struggle] be abandoned. We have already made huge strides…

I thank the people from other countries that are here surrounding us. I thank them. We are not alone because there are people that are supporting us. 
--Woman survivor and member of the AJR


Statement by the Center for Human Rights Legal Action (CALDH), the lawyers representing the AJR and co-plaintiffs in the case

HISTORY WRITES ONE MORE PAGE OF IMPUNITY

The women victims of sexual violence, the children stolen from their families, the men and women survivors of the massacres committed by the Guatemalan army during the internal armed conflict, WERE MOCKED, by the resolution issued by the Judge of the First Court for High Risks Crimes “A”, who we consider to have erroneously interpreted all of the decisions issued by the Appeals Court, the Supreme Court and the Constitutional Court.

Their resolution will be named in the pages of Guatemalan history as IMPUNITY, which is why we call on all of the bodies of the justice system to appeal this decision. This judge is attempting to give orders to the Trial Court, when she does not have the authority to do so.


NISGUA has provided human rights accompaniment to the witness' organization, the Association for Justice and Reconciliation, and their lawyers, the Center for Human Rights Legal Action since 2000. We will continue to bear witness to the truth and bravery of these survivors throughout this historic trial. To bear witness with us, stay tuned to our ongoing live Twitter coverage @NISGUA_Guate, like our Facebook page and sign up for email updates.

Genocide on Trial, Day 20: Defense grandstands; Trial proceedings at risk

NISGUA continues live coverage of the trial in Guatemala of Efraín Rios Montt and Mauricio Rodríguez Sánchez for genocide and crimes against humanity.


Read our previous summaries: Day 1Day 2Day 3Day 4/5Day 6Day 7, Day 8, Day 9, Day 10, Day 12, Days 13/14, Days 15/16, Days 17/18, Day 19 and full archive of ongoing live Twitter coverage.

A series of shocking events rocked the genocide trial today, including courtroom theater by the defense and legal proceedings which put the oral and public debate heard thus far at risk. The first upset came in the morning when the defense lawyers walked out of the proceedings, leaving the Efraín Ríos Montt and José Mauricio Rodríguez Sánchez without a defense.  In the afternoon, an injunction hearing before Judge Patricia Carol Flores ended with a ruling that stated the public oral debate should be annulled, regressing the process to November 23, 2011.

One sign of events to come was the presence of prior lawyers involved in the defense. In addition to César Calderon, Marco Antonio Cornejo, Danilo Rodríguez and Francisco Palomo, who have had consistent presence during the trial, lawyers Luis Alfonso Gonzalez Marroquin and Moises Galindo also sat at the defense table.

The morning began with yet another procedural point on the issue of the defense witnesses. The day prior, after the defense failed to produce their witnesses for a second day, the judge requested the addresses of all the witnesses. None of these witnesses were located. The judge had also instructed the defense and prosecution to come prepared with final conclusions; presumably without any additional defense witnesses this would have been the next phase of the day’s proceedings.

Instead, the defense lawyers put their strategy into action. Defense lawyer Danilo Rodríguez began by requesting, once again, that the public debate proceedings be suspended in light of a resolution by the Constitutional Court, which was scheduled to be analyzed later that day by Judge Patricia Flores. “The present debate began without finishing the intermediate phase…Therefore, the defense of Efraín Ríos Montt request that the current debate be indefinitely suspended.”

Ríos Montt's lawyer, César Calderon, reiterated the request, “The day we started this process we stated that there are pending injunctions and that this debate could not start. Against logic and against process the court started this hearing…We ask that the audience, at least for today, be suspended…today we will be returning to the intermediate phase.”

The judges rejected the request, stating the trial would not be suspended. "We wish to reiterate that the court has complied with resolutions emitted by the Constitutional Court…the process cannot be returned to a previous stage." After a second request by Rodríguez, Judge Barrios reiterated the judges' decision not to suspend the trial.

Stating that he was speaking on behalf of all the lawyers of the defense team, Calderon declared:
Since there are no further avenues to pursue and without abandoning the defense…we don’t want to participate in this illegal proceeding. We are participating in peaceful resistance in protest of the illegality of this hearing. We know of our obligations as lawyers but we will be leaving the courtroom.
At which point, all six lawyers for the defense stood up and immediately abandoned the courtroom. Family members of the defendants in the audience began clapping, while an activist threw red carnations at them, a symbol for the assassinated and disappeared.

Judge Jazmín Barrios immediately ordered court security to stop the lawyers, yelling to court officers when her microphone didn't work, "Stop them! Stop them!" Upon hearing the judge's order, the audience in the gallery erupted into deafening cheers and applause.

Following the failure of court security to detain the lawyers, who walked out of the courtroom unobstructed by court officers and police, Judge Barrios ordered them to return, saying, "If they want to exercise peaceful resistance, they will do it in the courtroom."

Ríos Montt at the defense table, without his lawyers. Photo: James Rodríguez
The prosecution lawyers subsequently made a series of requests that a defense lawyer be assigned to the defendants as their lawyers' had abandoned the courtroom. Judge Barrios allowed time for the accused to contact their legal defense, prompting Ríos Montt's first statement since the beginning of the trial, "The lawyers are not answering their telephones. I have another lawyer but he is involved in another case." José Mauricio Rodriguez added, "I do not have the funds to contract another lawyer," to which Judge Barrios replied, "We will give you time to consult your lawyers, your wife and family."

The atmosphere in the courtroom remained electric while waiting to see if the lawyers would be returned to the courtroom. Judge Barrios eventually closed the proceedings for the day, stating "The defense lawyers are ordered to appear tomorrow morning at 8:30am. We will have to move the hearing to tomorrow because unfortunately the defense lawyers have left the accused without a defense. We are preserving the right to defense. We are not suspending the hearing, but moving it to tomorrow."

A survivor from the Association for Justice and Reconciliation (AJR) commented on the morning's events, "They thought that it was a simple trick, but it isn’t. They disobeyed and disrespected the judge that is in charge of this process." Read more firsthand responses from the AJR on our blog, "AJR Survivors Respond to Dramatic Events".

At 2pm, trial participants and observers pressed into a tiny courtroom in the upper floors of the Tribunals Tower next to the Supreme Court of Justice, which has been the scene of the daily public hearings. Witnesses, reporters, and supporters of the defendants jostled for space as they awaited Judge Carol Patricia Flores of the First Court for High Risk Crimes "A", who had announced her intention to rule on a Constitutional Court injunction (“amparo”) previously thought to have been resolved.

While details of the legal proceedings involved are complex and will need to be confirmed by Guatemalan legal experts, in broad strokes the controversy revolves around Judge Carol Patricia Flores' interpretation of an injunction accepted by the Constitutional Court contesting a February decision by Judge Miguel Angel Galvez to reject expert witnesses and documentation proposed by the defense team of Ríos Montt and Rodriguez Sánchez. This injunction was previously thought to have been resolved, as Judge Yazmin Barrios, overseeing the sentencing tribunal, admitted the evidence in compliance with the Constitutional Court's ruling without suspending the proceeding. As Judge Barrios explained during the morning hearing, the defense witnesses had been permitted to testify, with some still scheduled to be heard tomorrow.

Judge Carol Patricia Flores opened the afternoon hearing with a long discussion of previous recusal motions filed at various points in the process against the presiding judges, including Judge Flores herself. These injunctions had previously been thought resolved, and their relevance to the current phase of the trial is unclear. Following this discussion, Judge Flores abruptly delivered her decision regarding the defense evidence, declaring that the admission of evidence during the sentencing phase of the trial was improper, and ordered the trial to be returned to the preliminary phase, annulling all proceedings after November 23, 2011. This would include Judge Carol Patricia Flores' own decision, in January 2012, to formally charge Ríos Montt and Rodriguez Sánchez with genocide and crimes against humanity.

Judge Barrios formally filed a statement with Judge Flores in advance of her decision, reiterating that the court had appropriately complied with the letter of the Constitutional Court's ruling regarding the defense injunction, and calling for the trial to resume at 8:30 tomorrow morning.

In an atmosphere of shock, confusion, and celebration by allies of the defendants, Edgar Pérez, lawyer for the AJR, protested Judge Flores' decision, characterizing it as a grave affront to the rights of the victims stating, "Victims have waited 30 years. A fundamental right is being denied to them, the right to justice." The prosecution accused Judge Flores of illegally exceeding her authority and declared its intent to challenge Flores' decision. The public prosecutor commented, "This decision is a mockery of the victims and a mockery of justice." The Attorney General's office later reiterated the public prosecutors' protest, releasing a statement calling Flores' decision illegal.

Survivors from the AJR were shocked, saddened and later inspired to move forward in the aftermath of this decision.
There are people that are happy because they are against those of us who are demanding justice, but we the victims are many and we hope to see justice. Even though we have suffered setbacks, we have to continue forward. --AJR survivor
Read more AJR reactions to today's event on our blog.


NISGUA has provided human rights accompaniment to the witness' organization, the Association for Justice and Reconciliation, and their lawyers, the Center for Human Rights Legal Action since 2000. We will continue to bear witness to the truth and bravery of these survivors throughout this historic trial. To bear witness with us, stay tuned to our ongoing live Twitter coverage @NISGUA_Guate, like our Facebook page and sign up for email updates.

You can take action to support these brave witnesses! Sign our pledge to commit to following the genocide trial and take a photo for justice with your friends.

Wednesday, April 17, 2013

Genocide on Trial, Day 19: Defense delays resting their case; Statements outside courtroom multiply

NISGUA continues live coverage of the trial in Guatemala of Efraín Rios Montt and Mauricio Rodríguez Sánchez for genocide and crimes against humanity.


Read our previous summaries: Day 1Day 2Day 3Day 4/5Day 6Day 7, Day 8, Day 9, Day 10, Day 12, Days 13/14, Days 15/16, Days 17/18 and full archive of ongoing live Twitter coverage.

With only three witnesses for the defense heard this morning, the genocide case proceedings were truncated for the second day in a row when the defense failed to produce their remaining witnesses.

The defense had difficulty admitting testimony by Gustavo Porras, Harris Whitbeck Sr. and Antonio Arenales Forno when their questions were repeatedly ruled as irrelevant to the material the witnesses were proposed for or too indirect.

Outside the court, paid ads in opposition to the genocide trial have been published every day this week. Of great concern is the paid ad published by the military veterans association AVEMILGUA and the "Movement for Guatemalan Progress", which was falsely signed using the logo of the Association for Justice and Reconciliation (AJR). Read the AJR's full statement in our previous trial summary. Public expressions of support for the genocide trial have also surged on Twitter, with an explosion of the hashtag #SiHuboGenocidio, "Yes, It Was Genocide", amongst the top trending topics today and yesterday. A call for support for the hashtag has resulted in a deluge of tweets that are ongoing at the time of this writing.

UPDATE: The AJR has since filed a formal complaint against AVEMILGUA and the ad was rerun today in Prensa Libre. AJR representative Anselmo Rodan stated, "They [the military] are using the practices of the past to undermine the truth".

Testimony today began with Gustavo Porras, a former insurgent and Peace Accord signatory. Porras testified he had never physically been in the Ixil region during the time period relevant to the case, essentially nullifying his ability to answer defense questions. "I don't know what happened in the Ixil region...I never participated as a militant in that area." After the defense attempted to ask multiple questions outside of the framework Porras has been proposed to testify on, a court representative passed defense lawyer Marco Antonio Cornejo a notecard on behalf of the judges to remind the defense what themes their witness had been proposed to testify on.

Porras was able to answer a series of questions by Cornejo about whether Porras had ever heard of a state policy to exterminate the Ixil, the extermination of Ixil women or forced transfer of Maya Ixil children, to which he repeatedly answered with a simple, "No." His testimony concluded with Porras' much debated position that genocide did not occur in Guatemala, "I don’t deny the atrocities committed during the conflict but I don’t think the attack against the population was ethnic but political."

In reference to his book "Footprints of Guatemala:
The day prior to giving his testimony, a paid ad entitled "Betraying the Peace and Dividing Guatemala" was published. The full page ad was signed by Porras, as well as former Vice President Eduardo Stein, Peace Accord officials and government representatives dating from the Álvaro Arzú administration. The ad claimed the accusation of genocide against Efraín Ríos Montt, José Mauricio Rodríguez Sánchez and the Guatemalan state represents "a serious danger for our country, including a sharpening of the social and political polarization that will reverse the peace achieved to date". President Otto Pérez Molina spoke to the press today saying he openly supported the paid ad.

Second to be called to the stand was Harris Whitbeck Sr., (not to be confused with Harris Whitbeck Jr, journalist and former host of CBS' Amazing Race) former Vice Presidential candidate alongside Ríos Montt and long-standing member of his now defunct party, Guatemalan Republican Front (FRG). Whitbeck spoke primarily of the Ríos Montt "Beans and Bullets" campaign.
RM invited us to lunch at his house. We went, it was the first time I met him. It lasted from 1-4pm and he told me everything he wanted...for the betterment of the country. He told me about "Beans and Bullets", 80% beans and 20% bullets. The occupying army was to change into an army whose principal purpose was to help the people who had been forced to join the guerrilla. 
We received foreign aid, from many churches. The Beans and Bullets program was created and programs trading food for work.
Amongst the churches that have been linked to Ríos Montt's regime are US evangelical ministers Pat Robertson and Jerry Falwell.

Whitbeck testified he travelled 2-3 times per week to the Ixil region via helicopter. Upon cross-examination he denied seeing any burned villages or destroyed crops during these flights.

The defense's final witness of the day was current President of the Presidential Human Rights Commission (COPREDEH) Antonio Arenales Forno. Arenales Forno was one of the first representatives of the Pérez Molina administration to publically proclaim genocide had not occurred in Guatemala. For an in-depth look at his actions in the current government, read GuateSec's "Impunity, or justice for crimes of the past?"

Like Gustavo Porras, Arenales Forno's testimony was beset by the defense lawyers' inability to formulate appropriate or direct questions, to such a degree that very little testimony was heard from the government official. Defense lawyer Cornejo, in an outburst of grandstanding or genuine frustration, stated, "Given the way you [judges] have conducted this hearing, I don’t know what the reasons are for not wanting to hear the opinions of the witness…I have no more questions." It remains to be seen whether the defense is unwilling or unable to formulate legally acceptable questions to their witnesses.

The final evidence presented by the defense today were two videos in which an unidentified man and woman were interviewed by an unidentified person about acts committed by the guerrilla. Shortly after the viewing of the second video began, prosecution attorney Edgar Pérez lodged an objection, stating the defense was illegally entering witness testimony into evidence. In addition, Pérez stated the individuals in the videos were speaking to events taking place during dates and in regions not addressed by the current case. After review of the evidence submitted by the defense, it was decided the videos did not actually correspond to those submitted into evidence.

The day came to a close with none of the remaining defense witnesses having appeared. At different points during today and yesterday's proceedings the court has granted defense lawyers additional time to produce their remaining witnesses, with Judge Barrios going so far as to instruct the media to assist in locating the missing individuals and informing them they must appear in court. Defense lawyers claimed they were unable to produce their witnesses because "they are outside of the capital," in stark contrast to the prosecution's coordination of 100 eyewitnesses from Quiché who gave their testimony at the beginning of the trial. After ordering yet another early close to proceedings, Judge Barrios instructed the prosecution and defense to have their concluding statements prepared for tomorrow.

Once proceedings closed there was a tumult in the court when a notification from the Appeals Court arrived and was presented to the case lawyers. Members of the press ran back and forth in a cluster from the prosecution table to the defense's, recording the official receipt of the documents, as audience members from the gallery looked on. It remains to be seen whether the injunction filed by the defense will have an impact on the hearing tomorrow, set to convene at 8:30am.


NISGUA has provided human rights accompaniment to the witness' organization, the Association for Justice and Reconciliation, and their lawyers, the Center for Human Rights Legal Action since 2000. We will continue to bear witness to the truth and bravery of these survivors throughout this historic trial. To bear witness with us, stay tuned to our ongoing live Twitter coverage @NISGUA_Guate, like our Facebook page and sign up for email updates.

You can take action to support these brave witnesses! Sign our pledge to commit to following the genocide trial and take a photo for justice with your friends.

Genocide on Trial, Days 17 & 18: AJR Responds to Efforts to Delegitimize the Trial

NISGUA continues live coverage of the trial in Guatemala of Efraín Rios Montt and Mauricio Rodríguez Sánchez for genocide and crimes against humanity.


Read our previous summaries: Day 1Day 2Day 3Day 4/5Day 6Day 7, Day 8, Day 9, Day 10, Day 12, Days 13/14, Days 15/16 and full archive of ongoing live Twitter coverage.

Days 17 and 18 of the genocide trial continued with expert testimonies, called by both the prosecution and defense. Expert Héctor Rosada Granados, a Guatemalan political analyst, opened day 17 and testified on the Guatemalan military's structure, ideology and chain of command. Rosada explained, "Guatemala's National Security Doctrine has its basis in the Cold War, in a climate of polarization between capitalism and communism."
University of Arizona Professor, Elizabeth Oglesby, testified on her experience studying displacement in the Ixil region while completing anthropological research with Myrna Mack. Eduardo Vasquez Arriaza followed Oglesby and complimented her testimony with maps of the displacement of the Ixiles during the conflict. Rodolfo Robles, a Peruvian former army general, dominated the afternoon's testimonies for the prosecution. Robles, who has previously testified in the Guatemalan case of the Dos Erres massacre and also against Peruvian ex-President Alberto Fujimori, provided a wealth of information around military terminology and command.
Judge Barrios ended day 17 reminding the defense team to come prepared to present their witnesses the next morning. The defense called two witnesses on Day 18 - Mauricio Illescas García, former lieutenant during Ríos Montt's regime, and Alfred Antonio Kaltschmitt Luhan, director of FUNDAPI (the Foundation to Aid the Ixil Indigenous People) and frequent right wing public commentator. The defense, however, was not prepared with more witnesses. Instead, the courtroom turned their attention to the prosecution's video evidence of 1982 interviews conducted by documentary filmmaker Pamela Yates. Viewing the three interviews with Efraín Ríos Montt, General Luis Gordillo Martínez and General Horacio Maldonado Schaad created a truly eery atmosphere in the courtroom on Tuesday afternoon. Ríos Montt was forced to watch his younger self, projected on the courtroom wall, proclaim, "If I can't control the army, then what am I doing?"

For additional coverage of the trial's expert testimonies from days 17 and 18, we recommend Kate Doyle's excellent summaries from Monday and Tuesday and journalist Xeni Jardin's account from inside the courtroom here.

Outside the courtroom, efforts continue to try to delegitimize the genocide case. A 10-page paid insert titled "The Farce of Genocide in Guatemala: a conspiracy perpetrated by Marxists with the Catholic Church" was published in Guatemala City-based newspaper El Periódico on Sunday, April 14. On Tuesday, two Guatemalan newspapers ran a false paid political advertisement in the name of the Association for Justice and Reconciliation (AJR). We have translated the AJR's statement in response to the ad below. You can view the original statement in Spanish here.


Statement by the Association for Justice and Reconciliation
The false paid political ad, published April 16th, is a new form of “dirty war”
Translation by NISGUA

On Tuesday, April 16, a false paid political advertisement was published in two Guatemalan newspapers, featuring the logo of the Association for Justice and Reconciliation (AJR) and the logo of an alleged "Movement for Guatemalan Progress," unknown to our organization until now. [This paid ad] opens a new chapter in the campaign of disinformation against social organizations that work for justice and against impunity.

The malicious and false publications previously mentioned show the photograph of a woman who is unaffiliated with the AJR, as well as an image of the AJR's logo extracted from a snapshot of the AJR's website where it is published. This implies multiple violations of the law as well as a clear intention to act through all available means with deceptive tricks characteristic of a “dirty war,” illustrating the mentality of its authors.

The AJR categorically rejects this apocryphal publication, which adds to the libel that came to light publicly on Sunday, April 14 of this year, which aims to confuse the Guatemalan population and revive the monsters of the psychological counterinsurgency warfare of the 1980s. Likewise, we announce that we have initiated the corresponding legal actions in order to find who, lacking all ethics, is responsible for publishing these types of documents and to identify what individual or legal entities orchestrated this campaign, which bears the mark—in form and content—of an intelligence operation, anachronistic and outdated, in accordance with the backwards mentality of groups that remain frozen in the past.

The AJR, as the plaintiff in the case accusing José Efraín Ríos Montt and José Mauricio Rodriguez Sánchez of genocide in the Ixil region between 1982 and 1983, deplores the attempt to use dishonest practices to hinder and discredit the current judicial process. We call on the population, organizations and institutions to reject reactionary methods so that we can advance toward a future of reconciliation, with justice and full respect for the individual and collective rights of all Guatemalans.


NISGUA has provided human rights accompaniment to the witness' organization, the Association for Justice and Reconciliation, and their lawyers, the Center for Human Rights Legal Action since 2000. We will continue to bear witness to the truth and bravery of these survivors throughout this historic trial. To bear witness with us, stay tuned to our ongoing live Twitter coverage @NISGUA_Guate, like our Facebook page and sign up for email updates.

You can take action to support these brave witnesses! Sign our pledge to commit to following the genocide trial and take a photo for justice with your friends.

Take Action: Demand Guatemalan Authorities Halt Criminalization and Persecution of Political Prisoner, Rubén Herrera

Rubén Herrera of the ADH Photo: James Rodríguez, mimundo.org
Sign the petition condemning the capture of Rubén Herrera and calling for his immediate release.

Since Friday, March 15, human rights defender and member of the Departmental Assembly of Huehuetenango for the Defense of Natural Resources (ADH), Rubén Herrera, has been unjustly imprisoned for alleged crimes committed in relation to community resistance of the Cambalam hydroelectric dam, operated by Hidro Santa Cruz. Citing 12 charges, including kidnapping and terrorism, a Guatemalan judge denied Herrera's bail, ordering the case move to pretrial proceedings on May 30, 2013.

During the past year, 11 community leaders engaged in peaceful and legitimate resistance to the Cambalam hydroelectric project have been illegally imprisoned on trumped-up charges, while more than 20 individuals continue to have arrest warrants pending against them.

The arrest and imprisonment of Rubén Herrera is the most recent example of the systematic criminalization and persecution of community leaders and human rights defenders working in defense of territory and communities' right to self-determination. Perhaps most notable are the actions of the Public Prosecutor's Office, the entity responsible for prosecuting the case. During the arraignment, they argued the case should not continue as there is insufficient evidence linking him to the alleged crimes. Despite the lack of evidence, the judge ordered that the case against Herrera move forward.

Peaceful, legitimate and ongoing community opposition to the Cambalam hydroelectric project is not new. In fact, the 2007 community consultation in the municipality of Santa Cruz de Barillas, Huehuetenango voted overwhelmingly against foreign-owned large-scale development projects, also known as mega-projects, in their territories. Despite this clear message, in 2010 the Guatemalan government granted an operating license to Hidro Santa Cruz, Guatemalan subsidiary of Spanish-owned Hidralia Energía. Ongoing community resistance to the project was met with state repression in May 2012, when martial law was declared in Barillas. Since then, the criminalization of community leaders has intensified, demonstrating a clear strategy on the part of the Guatemalan Government to delegitimize peaceful resistance in order to push through harmful mega-projects.

For more than five years, Rubén and the ADH have been coordinating the efforts of communities, organizations and local authorities to pursue an alternate vision of development for the highland department of Huehuetenango. In addition to helping organize over 25 community consultations in Huehuetenango alone, the ADH together with the Western Peoples' Council (CPO), presented the groundbreaking legal challenge against the constitutionality of Guatemala's 1997 Mining Law for lack of prior consultation with indigenous peoples.

The ADH’s work to construct alternatives and promote democratic participation in the key issues Guatemala is facing today is a response to a historic wrong committed against indigenous peoples. The current trial of former Guatemalan leaders for genocide highlights the state’s violation of the basic rights of indigenous and rural people in Guatemala. Unfortunately, today’s repression of peaceful and legitimate social movements in defense of territory and towards self-determination is using distinct, yet disturbingly familiar strategies to criminalize and delegitimize the voice of indigenous peoples.

NISGUA works closely with the Departmental Assembly of Huehuetenango (ADH) in their efforts to promote self-determination and alternative visions of development in the highland department of Huehuetenango. The ADH receives international human rights accompaniment from NISGUA through the ACOGUATE project and participated in NISGUA's 2010 tour.

Monday, April 15, 2013

Genocide on Trial, Days 15 & 16: Experts testify, "The Ixil social fabric was destroyed in the attack against their culture"

NISGUA continues live coverage of the trial in Guatemala of Efraín Rios Montt and Mauricio Rodríguez Sánchez for genocide and crimes against humanity.


Read our previous summaries: Day 1Day 2Day 3Day 4/5Day 6Day 7, Day 8, Day 9, Day 10, Day 12, Days 13/14 and full archive of ongoing live Twitter coverage.

The proceedings on April 11, day 15 of the genocide trial, started with a formal protest by the prosecution, with Edgar Pérez filing a formal protest that entrance to the courtroom and public bathroom access has been limited to the indigenous survivors coming to witness the historic trial against Efraín Ríos Montt and José Mauricio Rodríguez Sánchez.
The defense also started their day off with a motion, requesting the trial be suspended for two days so that José Mauricio Rodríguez Sánchez could visit a doctor only available weekdays. Opting not to suspend the trial, Judge Jazmin Barrios ruled he could be absent from the trial on April 12 until 2PM.

The day continued with extensive testimony by expert witnesses, most notably that of political analyst Marco Tulio Álvarez Bobadilla, former director of the Peace Archives, and Ramón Cadena, President of the International Commission of Jurists.

Álvarez submitted a report on the displacement of children in the Ixil region analyzing the military plans Victoria '82, Firmeza '83 and Operation Sofia. He highlighted the broader guidelines established by the military, which translated into operations and actions in the field.
The displacement of children was not an isolated act but a policy followed by the military institution...children were included as an internal enemy [of the state]. ... Children are identified in the army manual, which includes enemies that were not participants in the subversion but supporters. This broadened the definition of internal enemy.
In a particularly disturbing example of children as targets, Álvarez read a military report from the field included in Plan Sofia. A woman was hiding and upon discovery soldiers killed her, "eliminating her and two chocolates". Chocolates, said Álvarez, were the military's designation for children.

Álvarez also named the military strategy targeting children as an attack against the Maya Ixil culture, an element of genocide.
In many cases the transfer of children meant forced disappearance, with family members unable to locate them afterwards. ...These children were denied their identity…the social fabric was destroyed in the attack against the Ixil culture.
Lawyer Ramón Cadena followed Álvarez to testify on human rights violations of the Ixil civil population. Cadena, President of the International Commission of Jurists and an expert in international law, explained Guatemala's responsibility to comply with international law.
The Guatemalan state has certain obligations and commitments to fulfill under international human rights laws. The civil population is protected in armed conflicts by international law and customs of the international community. The Martens Clause, (ratified by the Hague in 1899), says that civil persons and combatants are protected by principles of human right, the principles of humanity and the demands of public conscience. Guatemala has ratified international human rights conventions - Geneva, Hague & Genocide conventions which all have relevance to the violations committed against Ixil people.
Using key passages from military plans, Cadena illustrated not only the military's intention to dismiss international standards of protecting the civil population but also their blatant violation of civilians' rights.
The military Plan Victoria 82 says, “The great masses of indigenous in the highlands of the nation have found an echo in the proclamations of subversives.” Plan Operation Sofia names 100% of the Ixil population as supporters of the subversives.The military doctrine allows justification of cruel attacks against the civil population and genocide against the Ixil population. Plan Firmeza 83 establish on pages 5-8, “The principal objective is to reach their physical and psychological control of the population.”

By 1981, an Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (CIDH) document concluded, "a situation has been created in Guatemala in which a lack of respect for human life and the laws that protect them predominate… The application of physical and psychological constraints of cruel and inhuman treatment has transgressed the limits of being a method of obtaining information or inflicting punishment, and has become a system of killing citizens." 
The military tried to achieve physical and psychological control of the population by using a number of tactics including massive attacks, torture, persecution, rape and forced displacement.
Some 40,000 refugees were displaced to Mexico and 200,000 were internally displaced. We have not yet measured the psychological impacts for the refugees. International human rights law prohibits forced displacement as a method of war and is also a method of genocide. In my opinion, forced displacement of the civil population should be considered an element of genocide.
Genocide is a crime defined by the intention to destroy a group either completely of partially.  In Guatemala, Cadena concludes, "The state designed a system to kill its citizens and it was focused on the Ixil region."

Day 16 included expert testimonies on a range of topics and featured experts: psychologist Nieves Gomez, historian Ángel Valdez Estrada, statistician Patrick Ball and specialist in woman's law Paloma Soria. Nieves Gomez, a psychologist with Guatemala's Community Studies and Psychosocial Support Team (ECAP), testified on the lasting effects of trauma suffered during conflict describing what is known about the psychological impacts of the victims which Cadena referred to.
Lasting effects include post-traumatic stress, living in state of anxiety, strong disorientation and disassociation and extreme continual stress, a lack of trust toward the state. In the case of rape, the lack of recognition of what happened, stigmatizes the victim and further polarizes society.
Fundamentally, "human beings have a desire to belong to a group - they need to feel pertinence and belonging. Humans need mutual support in order to grow.... Elements that identify a group can represent belonging for oneself- In the case of the Maya Ixil - dress, daily rituals, spirituality, daily use of home." One of the most devastating effects of the conflict is the difficulty to preserve culture rituals creating a rupture in the very group that victims had once belonged to, creating a gap from one generation to another. In the conflict, "no one trusted anyone. Often silence was the most sure way to save one's life." Moreover, "Massacres weren't punctual events, they took hours creating prolonged anxiety of death."

However, on a positive note, the example of tribunals in Rwanda has demonstrated that the damage from conflict doesn't have to be permanent or irreversible. "Survivors can overcome trauma." Gomez affirmed that there is much work to be done in the recuperation of the Maya Ixil social fabric but she emphasized, "it's important for the Maya Ixil community itself to decide how they want to achieve justice."  Finally, she concluded with this poignant quote from Mexican poet Javier Sicilia, 
A victim is someone who has returned from death, to a world he no longer entirely belongs to. Being in this world I can understand joy, but I am not entirely here. I am carrying a bit of death inside of me. This is difficult to share with others, but nor am I sure that others are prepared to hear the scale of what I am carrying.

Ángel Valdez Estrada
, historian and professor at the San Carlos University in Guatemala, testified on the systematic attack against the Maya Ixil people. He explained, the attack "required planning and intention…The military's tactic was to use short but repeated attacks because that's what helped them maintain constant fear and create distrust." Valdez qualified Ramón Cadena's observation of the military's intent to control the Ixil, as explained in military plans.

Why would the military target the Ixil?
The Ixil culture is in direct conflict with the nation's historical project of one singular culture. Cultural indicators like the dress, language & cosmovision, are relevant because they allowed the military to identify the Maya Ixil. If we all speak one language, then we have to share the same culture. Through the colors, the weaving, the Ixil's dress identifies them as an object of war… Culture is an element of resistance in conflicts. It represents courage to not break or be divided. Some indigenous people don't speak Spanish, they don't want to and it's a defense mechanism.

Was there intent to destroy the Ixil ethnicity?
Yes.

Patrick Ball
, a statistician and US citizen, gave quantitative support to earlier expert's conclusions. Ball, in his technical analysis, concludes the Guatemalan military killed indigenous people 8 times more than non-indigenous. During the period of April 1982 - July 1983, a narrowed range of the full dates implicated in the trial (March 23, 1982 to August 8, 1983), Ball found that of all the deaths committed by the military, they killed 5.5% of the indigenous population while they killed  only .7% of the non-indigenous population.

Ball's objective as a statistician is to identify bias in testimony. While there is a small margin of error, he claims "statistics knows no bias." Ball has spent more than twenty years conducting quantitative analysis for truth commissions, the UN, and international criminal tribunals. Read his full report, "State Violence in Guatemala 1960-1996" here.

Paloma Sorias, a specialist in international law and gender, rounded out day 16's riveting expert testimonies. Sorias currently works at Women's Link Worldwide in Madrid. Sorias's expert testimony focused on the specificity of women victims in the conflict. Warning: this section might be triggering due to descriptions of extreme sexual violence.
Maya women were systematically raped. Practice of discrimination toward women is part of destroying the social fabric. While men can also be subject to sexual violence, certain aspects like forced pregnancy and forced abortion exclusively affect women. Of all victims of sexual violence, 99% of cases included women victims of which 35% were girls under the age of 18 and 3% elderly.

I had access to Plan Victoria 82, in it there were plans for sexual violence. A passage from Annex F determines that soldiers on military bases were guaranteed have free days in which they could "eat, clean, wash clothes, and have access to the opposite sex". In other words it alluded to sexual slavery.
The definition of sexual violence however doesn't include just rape. Soria explains, "threats of rape or the threat of having to witness family member be raped can be considered an act of sexual violence. I also consider denying access to sexual and reproductive health also as act of sexual violence."

All in all, "sexual violence is way to impose power over another." Soria concluded, "I think that all the acts to disrupt the reproduction of a group through sexual violence, provide proof of the intention to destroy the Maya Ixil people. There was intention to commit genocide."


NISGUA has provided human rights accompaniment to the witness' organization, the Association for Justice and Reconciliation, and their lawyers, the Center for Human Rights Legal Action since 2000. We will continue to bear witness to the truth and bravery of these survivors throughout this historic trial. To bear witness with us, stay tuned to our ongoing live Twitter coverage @NISGUA_Guate, like our Facebook page and sign up for email updates.

You can take action to support these brave witnesses! Sign our pledge to commit to following the genocide trial and take a photo for justice with your friends.