About the story
General José Efraín Ríos Montt headed the Guatemala military government from 1982-83, a period during which the government carried out extensive human rights violations. He remains an influential and powerful politician and currently holds a seat in the Guatemalan Congress after being elected in September 2007.
Ríos Montt’s brief presidency was probably the most violent period of the 36-year internal conflict in Guatemala, which resulted in thousands of deaths of mostly unarmed indigenous civilians. A United Nations-sponsored truth commission concluded that acts of genocide had been committed “through methods whose cruelty has outraged the moral conscience of the civilized world.”
Led by Nobel Prize laureate Rigoberta Menchú, survivors frustrated by severe delays, obstruction and harassment in Guatemalan courts petitioned Spain’s National Court to hear a case charging Ríos Montt and other former officials with serious crimes under international law - using the principle of universal jurisdiction. In July 2006, Spain’s National Court charged Ríos Montt and the other former senior officials with genocide, terrorism, torture and illegal detention. The SNC subsequently issued warrants for their arrest, and Guatemalan authorities took some of the accused into custody in order to ensure that they would not flee the country.
In December 2007, however, the Guatemalan Constitutional Court granted the appeal of two of the suspects wanted by the Spanish court, ruling that they were not extraditable to Spain for trial. Although the appeal was brough forward by only two of the suspects, the decision makes it unlikely that the Guatemalan Court will move to extradite Ríos Montt to Spain to face the chrages against him.
The good news is that the case in Spain will continue. In the winter and spring of 2008, courageous witnesses gave testimony to courts in both Guatemala City and Madrid despite grave personal risk. The court in Guatemala was acting on behalf of the Spanish court. In short, the international warrants for the arrest of Ríos Montt and the other high level officials wanted by the Spanish Court won’t go away. However, experts have observed that unless one of the defendants leaves Guatemala and is arrested, the case in Spain will not come to trial because Spain does not recognize a trial in which the defendant is not present for court proceedings.
- Take action today to protect the safety of all witnesses and human rights defenders involved in the cases to bring former high level officials in Guatemala to trial. Print this action and share with others (pdf).
- Send letters of solidarity and support to human rights defenders featured in the film. Your cards of solidarity can renew hope and raise spirits as CALDH and the Rigoberta Menchú Foundation continue their important work for justice in Guatemala. Take this action with your class or group.
