Guatemala court to decide on genocide trial

A court in Guatemala has begun a pre-trial hearing into a genocide case against former dictator Efrain Rios Montt, in potentially the first trial for genocide of the country’s indigenous tribes.

The 86-year-old former general who ruled from 1982-83, stands accused of overseeing hundreds of killings of Mayan indigenous tribes whom he claimed were linked to leftist rebels.

He was accompanied by generals Jose Rodriguez and Hector Lopez, who also stand accused. Rios Montt’s lawyers argue that he is protected by an amnesty law.

A UN-backed Historical Clarification Commission found the Guatemalan government guilty of genocide committed against indigenous tribes.

Add new comment

Plain text

  • No HTML tags allowed.
  • Lines and paragraphs break automatically.
  • Web page addresses and email addresses turn into links automatically.
  • Global and entity tokens are replaced with their values. Browse available tokens.

Restricted HTML

  • You can align images (data-align="center"), but also videos, blockquotes, and so on.
  • You can caption images (data-caption="Text"), but also videos, blockquotes, and so on.
  • Global and entity tokens are replaced with their values. Browse available tokens.
  • You can embed media items (using the <drupal-media> tag).

We need your support

Sri Lanka is one of the most dangerous places in the world to be a journalist. Tamil journalists are particularly at threat, with at least 41 media workers known to have been killed by the Sri Lankan state or its paramilitaries during and after the armed conflict.

Despite the risks, our team on the ground remain committed to providing detailed and accurate reporting of developments in the Tamil homeland, across the island and around the world, as well as providing expert analysis and insight from the Tamil point of view

We need your support in keeping our journalism going. Support our work today.

link button