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<div class="subheadlinestyle"><b><big>Despite Annulment, Genocide Trial
a Breakthrough for Justice and Truth</big></b><br>
<br>
<a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="http://www.counterpunch.org/2013/05/24/the-strange-trial-of-rios-montt/">http://www.counterpunch.org/2013/05/24/the-strange-trial-of-rios-montt/</a><br>
</div>
<h1 class="article-title">The Strange Trial of Ríos Montt</h1>
<div class="mainauthorstyle"><big><big>by LUZ MENDEZ</big></big></div>
<div class="main-text"><big><big> </big></big>
<p><big><big>The sentence of 80 years in prison against former de facto
president Efraín Ríos Montt for genocide and crimes against humanity
committed during Guatemala’s armed conflict, emitted on May 10, 2013,
was annulled by the Constitutional Court ten days later.</big></big></p>
<big><big></big></big>
<p><big><big>The court’s decision is a judicial aberration, since it
not only exceeded its jurisdiction but also openly violated legal
precepts and endorsed the underhanded mechanisms that uphold a system
of impunity in Guatemala. It also demonstrates the lack of independence
of the court to the powerful economic and political groups.</big></big></p>
<big><big></big></big>
<p><big><big>Guatemala is also one of the countries with the deepest
social inequalities, where the dominant economic elite and the military
and political powers have acted with the assurance of immunity and
impunity. The genocide trial against a former head of state put an end
to that assurance. Today we know that at some moment justice can be
attained. That is why they tried to stop the trial and once the
sentence was handed down, joined forces to have it annulled.</big></big></p>
<big><big></big></big>
<p><big><big>For members of the dominant groups–profoundly racist and
used to discriminating and belittling indigenous peoples–it is
inconceivable that indigenous people have accused and taken to court a
general, who exercised brutal power precisely to defend the economic
privileges of these groups.</big></big></p>
<big><big></big></big>
<p><big><big>Nonetheless, the genocide trial represents a breakthrough
for justice and truth, the fundamental bases for building peace.</big></big></p>
<big><big></big></big>
<p><big><big>In the public hearings the truth emerged in all its
rawness–the truth that government and military officials had sought to
bury at all cost. This has meant an opportunity for younger generations
to learn about an essential chapter in Guatemala’s history, an
indispensable prerequisite for tracing a different future.</big></big></p>
<big><big></big></big>
<p><big><big>During the trial, the Tribunal marked that the sexual
violence committed against Ixil women was a constituent element of the
genocide. Testimonies and investigations presented during the trial
proved that the rapes were directed not only to harm women, but also to
destroy the social fabric of the communities, with the clear objective
of annihilating the Ixil people.</big></big></p>
<big><big></big></big>
<p><big><big>The trial fortifies struggles for gender justice for
crimes of the past and the present, which has a huge potential impact
on the rampant impunity that surrounds the violence against women in
Guatemala today, particularly femicide.</big></big></p>
<big><big></big></big>
<p><big><big>Another of the valuable experiences of the trial was the
construction of broad alliances to support the victims that included
human rights groups and women’s, indigenous people’s, peasant farmers
organizations, along with intellectuals and progressive individuals and
generated strong international solidarity. All this left the lesson
that the unity of diverse sectors of society on a common objective is
possible and indispensable to advance in just causes.</big></big></p>
<big><big></big></big>
<p><big><big>This emblematic trial is not over. The struggle for
justice continues. The progress made is the result of the untiring
efforts of women and men of the Maya-Ixil people, who will never stop
until they attain justice. In this long road they have had the help of
human rights organization and legal professionals, who also deserve
recognition.</big></big></p>
<big><big></big></big>
<p><big><big>Special recognition should go to Yasmin Barrios, President
of the Court of Great Risk who decided the case, along with two more
members of this judicial organ. Also critical in the process was
attorney general Claudia Paz y Paz, and the legal team responsible for
the case in the public ministry.</big></big></p>
<big><big></big></big>
<p><big><big>Faced with a campaign of threats and intimidations
unleashed by the most backwards groups in the country, it is necessary
and urgent to guarantee the security and integrity of the victims,
those who brought the case, the judges and prosecutors, and the human
rights defenders who have accompanied the struggle for justice.</big></big></p>
<big><big></big></big>
<p><big><big><em><strong>Luz Mendez</strong> is president of the
Advising Council of the National Union of Guatemala Women (UNAMG). She
participated in the peace negotiations as a member of the Diplomatic
Political Team of the Guatemalan National Revolutionary Unit. In the
international arena, she was a member of the Team of Experts on Gender
for the peace talks in Burundi organized by UNIFEM, and of the Advising
Council of the Global Fund for Women. She is a contributor to the CIP
Americas Program, <em><a href="http://www.cipamericas.org/es"
onclick="javascript:_gaq.push(['_trackEvent','outbound-article','http://www.cipamericas.org']);">www.cipamericas.org</a></em><br>
</em></big></big></p>
<big><big></big></big>
<p><big><big><em>Translation: Laura Carlsen</em></big></big></p>
<big></big></div>
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<div class="moz-signature">-- <br>
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