Guilty verdicts in Guatemala's sexual enslavement trial
On Friday afternoon, a Guatemala court delivered a guilty verdict in the Sepur Zarco case that addressed crimes of a sexual nature during the country's civil war. Eleven women from Sepur Zarco in the eastern department of Alta Verapaz testified against soldiers who sexually enslaved them in 1982 and 1983. The defendants were found guilty of crimes against humanity and sentenced to over 100 years in prison.
I spoke with the Christian Science Monitor earlier this week about transitional justice developments in both Guatemala and El Salvador. Activists in El Salvador, Guatemala, the United States, and Europe have been investigating civil war era crimes for the last two decades. They have been speaking with witnesses, conducting exhumations, collecting other evidence, and taking governments and individuals to court in the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights and Spain. The Obama administration has deported individuals tied to human rights atrocities to Guatemala and El Salvador.
These pursuits have begun to pay dividends in the last few years as Guatemalans have achieved some measure of justice in the Dos Erres, Spanish Embassy, Rios Montt, and Sepur Zarco trials. The "leftist" governments in Guatemala (Alvaro Colom) and El Salvador (Funes and Sanchez Ceren) apologized for crimes that the governments committed during the armed conflicts and took some additional measures to recognize their State's culpability (stepped up reparations in Guatemala and awarding of the country's highest civilian award to the UCA Jesuits).
However, these developments have also exposed the continued weaknesses of the political and judicial systems in Guatemala and El Salvador. In Guatemala, there's the shenanigans that occurred in the Rios Montt trial both in the verdict and in the way in which certain groups mobilized to threaten all those involved in pursuing justice. In El Salvador, the military protected soldiers wanted in connection with the UCA murders when an Interpol order sought them out in 2011. El Salvador took a recent step forward with the arrests of four of the soldiers but there are concerns that the other soldiers were tipped off and used the advanced knowledge to go into hiding. Statements made by PDC, PCN, and ARENA officials demonstrate that they will not support any additional transitional justice measures than what has already been offered.
"It’s impressive what’s been accomplished, even if the results so far have been mixed.”
I spoke with the Christian Science Monitor earlier this week about transitional justice developments in both Guatemala and El Salvador. Activists in El Salvador, Guatemala, the United States, and Europe have been investigating civil war era crimes for the last two decades. They have been speaking with witnesses, conducting exhumations, collecting other evidence, and taking governments and individuals to court in the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights and Spain. The Obama administration has deported individuals tied to human rights atrocities to Guatemala and El Salvador.
These pursuits have begun to pay dividends in the last few years as Guatemalans have achieved some measure of justice in the Dos Erres, Spanish Embassy, Rios Montt, and Sepur Zarco trials. The "leftist" governments in Guatemala (Alvaro Colom) and El Salvador (Funes and Sanchez Ceren) apologized for crimes that the governments committed during the armed conflicts and took some additional measures to recognize their State's culpability (stepped up reparations in Guatemala and awarding of the country's highest civilian award to the UCA Jesuits).
However, these developments have also exposed the continued weaknesses of the political and judicial systems in Guatemala and El Salvador. In Guatemala, there's the shenanigans that occurred in the Rios Montt trial both in the verdict and in the way in which certain groups mobilized to threaten all those involved in pursuing justice. In El Salvador, the military protected soldiers wanted in connection with the UCA murders when an Interpol order sought them out in 2011. El Salvador took a recent step forward with the arrests of four of the soldiers but there are concerns that the other soldiers were tipped off and used the advanced knowledge to go into hiding. Statements made by PDC, PCN, and ARENA officials demonstrate that they will not support any additional transitional justice measures than what has already been offered.
"It’s impressive what’s been accomplished, even if the results so far have been mixed.”
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