A court in Guatemala has imprisoned five former right-wing militia members for a massacre committed in 1982 during the country’s civil war.
The men were members of the Patrullas de Autodefensa Civil, a civilian paramilitary group created by the Guatemalan army to fight left-wing rebels.
They were sentenced to a total of 7,710 years in prison for guiding the army to Plan de Sanchez, a village in northern Guatemala, and taking part in the ensuing massacre.
Judge Jazmin Barrios set a sentence of 30 years for each of the 256 victims in addition to 30 years for crimes against humanity.
The case was brought after the Inter-American Court of Human Rights held the Guatemalan Government responsible for the massacre at Plan de Sanchez in 2004 and demanded the prosecution of those involved.
A United Nations Truth Commission documented 600 massacres that were committed during the civil war.
Nearly 250,000 people were killed during the civil war which raged between 1960 and 1996.
Former Guatemalan soldier sentenced to 6,060 years for massacre (13 Mar 2012)
