Ex-paramilitaries stand trial for Guatemala civil war rape of 36 indigenous women

[TexasTowelie]

GUATEMALA CITY, Jan 5 (Reuters) - Five former Guatemalan paramilitaries went on trial on Wednesday on charges of raping 36 women from the indigenous Achi group from 1981 to 1985 during the Central American country's decades-long civil war.

The paramilitary Civil Self-Defense Patrols (PACs) were created by the Guatemalan army during the conflict to control the indigenous population. Since the signing of peace agreements in 1996, they have been accused of serious human rights violations.

"The debate is going to start today, we can't postpone it," said Judge Yassmin Barrios, who presides over a "high-risk court" dedicated to cases of organized crime and corruption where the hearing is being held. She was speaking in response to a request of one of the defense attorneys that the hearing be delayed for another week.

Such courts were created after a U.N.-backed anti-corruption commission CICIG pushed reforms to investigate organized crime and corruption. CICIG itself was dissolved in 2019 after President Alejandro Giammattei did not renew its mandate.

Read more: https://www.reuters.com/world/americas/ex-paramilitaries-stand-trial-guatemala-civil-war-rape-36-indigenous-women-2022-01-05/

[Ligyron]

1. This is good news.

Don’t know the whole story but with the UN involved it must be somewhat legitimate. Let’s hope they got the right ones but five, only five men and 36 women? You might think there would be others involved.

[Judi Lynn]

2. Five former paramilitaries face trial for rape after 40 years

08 January 2022
Five former Guatemalan paramilitaries are currently on trial for the rape of 36 Indigenous Mayan women during the 1980s.

Indigenous people were often targeted and harassed by the military government for allegedly backing the left-wing guerrillas during the conflict that took place between 1960 and 1996. In 2018, the five former paramilitaries were arrested along with three others. However, the case was dismissed and the magistrate released them. One died before being released. After authorities re-captured the remaining ex-paramilitaries, two were acquitted.

According to prosecutors, victims were as young as twelve years old when the abuse began and were alleged to have taken place around the small town of Rabinal, north of the capital of Guatemala City where a mass gravesite was discovered with over 3,000 bodies.

Lawyer, Lucia Xiloj said that many Mayan women “were raped after the (forced) disappearance of their husbands” by paramilitaries and soldiers.

. . .

The government military stand accused of numerous atrocities during the conflict, including the death and or disappearance of 200,000 civilians in the 36-year civil war. According to The Guardian, more than 100,000 women had been raped during the 36-year long conflict. This is not the first trial of this nature to take place in Guatemala. In 2016, a Guatemalan court sentenced two former members of the military to 360 years in jail for the murder, rape and sexual enslavement of indigenous women. according to The Guardian, more than 100,000 women had been raped during the 36-year long conflict.

More:
https://www.tamilguardian.com/content/five-former-paramilitaries-face-trial-rape-after-40-years-0