Human Rights Trial in Guatemala Could Set Global Precedent

April 26, 2013

The continuing legal complications that threaten to annul the Guatemalan trial of a former military dictator have brought renewed attention to the difficulties of prosecuting high-profile human rights cases in developing countries. The genocide trial of former Guatemalan dictator General Efrain Rios Montt was greeted as a major step forward in accountability when it opened earlier this year, but its procedural problems have led to frustrations.

Chanting "justice, justice," protesters in Guatemala City reacted angrily to the suspension of the trial earlier this month.

The protesters, mainly indigenous people, want the 86-year-old former dictator punished for the massacres of Mayan Indians during the early 1980’s that were part of a US-backed "scorched earth" campaign against leftist guerrillas.

An estimated 200,000 people were killed in the 36-year conflict that ended in 1996, most of them victims of Guatemala’s security forces.

General Rios Montt seized power in a 1982 coup and presided over the bloodiest period of the war during his 17-month rule.

Jose Miguel Vivanco heads the Americas program at Human Rights Watch. "The military tactics that he used during that period were clearly in violation of the basic standards of humanitarian law by not making any effort in distinguishing combatants from the civilian population," he said.