Former Guatemalan dictator Efraín Ríos Montt has been found guilty of genocide and crimes against humanity by a Guatemalan court on Friday and sentenced to 80 years imprisonment.
The sentence marks the first time a former head of state has been convicted of genocide inside his or her country.
Judge Yasmin Barrios announced the sentence to cheers of “justice, justice!” inside and outside of the courtroom, packed full of survivors and relatives from Montt’s time in office.
Barrios stated in her sentencing,
The sentence marks the first time a former head of state has been convicted of genocide inside his or her country.
Judge Yasmin Barrios announced the sentence to cheers of “justice, justice!” inside and outside of the courtroom, packed full of survivors and relatives from Montt’s time in office.
Barrios stated in her sentencing,
"We are convinced that the acts the Ixil suffered constitute the crime of genocide… He had full knowledge of everything that was happening and did not stop it,"
"The Ixils were considered public enemies of the state and were also victims of racism, considered an inferior race,"
"The violent acts against the Ixils were not spontaneous. They were planned beforehand."The verdict was praised by human rights groups, including Human Rights Watch, with their Americas director José Miguel Vivanco stating that the conviction,
“sends a powerful message to Guatemala and the world that nobody, not even a former head of state, is above the law when it comes to committing genocide”.Relatives of victims and survivors also hailed the sentencing, with Elena Paz, who was a two year old when Guatemalan security forces raided her village and killed her parents commenting,
"I feel happy. May no one else ever have to go through what I did. My community has been sad ever since this happened".Nobel Peace Prize winner Rigoberta Menchu was amongst the celebrating crowd, stating,
"Today we are happy, because for many years it was said that genocide was a lie, but today the court said it was true".
