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Guatemala is world’s first country to convict former head of state for genocide in its own national court - bolstering rule of law and proving that their former dictators can be brought to justice
Guatemala’s former dictator Efrain Rios Montt was sentenced last week to 80 years in prison for genocide and crimes against humanity inflicted on the country’s Mayan Ixils indigenous group.
The verdict is a victory for war victims and a justice system in a country still recovering from the legacy of a 36-year civil war (1960-1996) during which around 200,000 people died and 45,000 disappeared. A United Nations-backed Truth Commission set up under the 1996 peace accords concluded that the military was responsible for more than 85 percent of human rights violations during the war.
However, the process is far from over. Rios Montt's lawyers have injunctions pending in other courts that could annul the trial. They have also vowed to appeal his historic conviction, a process that could take months or even years.
Whatever the next step, though, here are reasons why the ruling is so significant for Guatemala and beyond.
NO ONE ABOVE THE LAW
It took nearly 15 years for the case to come to trial, and it was plagued with delays and annulments along the way. In a country with one of the highest murder rates in the world, high levels of impunity and a fragile justice system, Rios Montt’s guilty verdict beat the odds.
Until recently few Guatemalans thought such a trial was possible. The trial has bolstered rule of law in the Central American nation and raised confidence in its justice system.
“It sends a powerful message: no one is above the law and everyone - including indigenous communities long marginalized by discrimination and poverty - has the right to seek justice in the courts,” the International Crisis Group, a Brussels-based think tank said in a statement on Monday.
It’s also a victory for the country’s first female attorney general, Claudia Paz y Paz, who has been pivotal in bringing the case against Rios Montt forward over the years.
PRECEDENT FOR OTHER COUNTRIES
Guatemala made history by becoming the first country in the world to convict a former head of state for genocide in its own national court, as opposed to an international court.
As such, the trial sets a historical precedent and could serve as an example for other countries in Central America seeking to bring former dictators and high-ranking military officers to justice for crimes and human rights violations committed during military dictatorships during the 1970’s and 1980’s.
It offers hope, for example, to those war victims seeking justice in El Salvador, Honduras and Nicaragua because it shows that former dictators can be tried in a national court and put behind bars.
BROKE TABOO OF SEXUAL VIOLENCE
The verdict is a victory for local and international human rights organisations and women rights groups who have campaigned for years to get justice for war survivors.
Moreover, the trial put a spotlight on how sexual violence was used as weapon of war, to sow terror and subjugate indigenous communities as part of a government-led policy of genocide that aimed to wipe out the Mayan population.
The court ordered the state to offer a formal apology to the public for genocide and crimes against humanity, and separately to Maya Ixil women who survived sexual violence.
“Guatemala can now truly begin to heal the wounds of the past, as the suffering of so many people has been formally recognised,” the United Nations’s top human rights official Navi Pillay said in a statement on Monday.
PUTS SPOTLIGHT ON GUATEMALA PRESIDENT
Testimony given during the trial has once again raised questions about the alleged role of Guatemala’s current president and former military commander, Otto Perez Molina, in human rights atrocities while serving in the military during the Rios Montt regime.
Giving evidence at Rios Montt's trial, a former army engineer said that Perez commanded soldiers who burned down homes and killed unarmed civilians during a particularly bloody phase of the war. In response, Perez called the testimony "a lie”.
Perez, who became president in 2011, has acknowledged that atrocities were committed during the country’s civil war but he has denied that the genocide took place.
As president, Perez has legal immunity, but it’s likely there will be much political wrangling about his presidential immunity if charges against him do go ahead.
The verdict could also pave the way for more high-ranking military officers to stand trial for human rights violations committed during the civil war. A judge in the Rios Montt trial ordered prosecutors to investigate any other individuals who might have been involved in the genocide.
GAVE MAYAN WOMEN A VOICE
The trial gave Mayan women - the poorest and most downtrodden in Guatemalan society - a rare opportunity to be heard in a national court.
Their testimonies also have raised awareness about the ongoing plight of Mayans living in poor rural areas. They have far higher rates of infant mortality, malnutrition and illiteracy in comparison to other ethnic groups in the country.
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