Guatemala’s Constitutional Court Overturns Rios Montt Conviction and Sends Trial Back to April 19
Only ten days after a trial court issued its historic verdict convicting Efrain Rios Montt for genocide and crimes against humanity, and sentencing him to prison for 80 years, Guatemala’s Constitutional Court, in a 3-2 ruling, overturned the verdict and set the trial back to where it was April 19. This verdict had been the ... Continue reading
Little fanfare accompanied the trial court’s release of its 718 page full reasoned judgment on May 17, 2013, one week after the court convicted former de facto head of state Ríos Montt of genocide and crimes against humanity and sentenced him to 80 years in prison. The trial court simply notified the parties to pick up a copy of the ... Continue reading
Constitutional Court apparently divided on whether Rios Montt’s conviction for genocide should stand
Less than one week after the trial court’s conviction of former de facto head of state Efrain Rios Montt, Guatemala’s Constitutional Court has been reviewing challenges to the trial—challenges which the Court’s General Secretary has asserted could lead to an annulment of the trial or the dismissal of some or all of the three trial ... Continue reading
Constitutional Court delays the release of Judgments
The Secretary General of the Constitutional Court just announced that the Court will delay the release of judgments until Monday.
UN Experts’ Statement on Guatemala: “Justice, the best guarantee to prevent the recurrence of atrocities”
GENEVA (15 May 2013) – A group of United Nations experts said today that the establishment of truth and justice in Guatemala, as well as being fundamental elements for reparation for the victims, are essential to ensure the non-recurrence of the heinous crimes that characterized the civil war in the country, including enforced disappearance, arbitrary ... Continue reading
The conviction of former de facto head of state Efrain Rios Montt for genocide and crimes against humanity faces continuing challenges. The verdict was issued on Friday, May 10, with the court imposing an 80-year sentence; a full judgment is due to be released in a hearing on Friday, May 17. However, Guatemala’s Constitutional Court ... Continue reading
Since before the start of the Guatemalan genocide trial, defense counsel filed scores of legal challenges—including some to delay or prevent the proceedings; challenge the impartiality of the presiding judges; or put into question the fairness of the trial. Now, in the week following the guilty verdict of former de facto head of state Efrain ... Continue reading
Court Orders Reparations Following Rios Montt Conviction on Genocide and Crimes Against Humanity Charges
The trial court approved 12 of the reparations requested by civil parties representing the victims in a reparations hearing Monday, May 13, 2012. The hearing was held three days after the conviction of de facto head of state Efrain Rios Montt on charges of genocide and crimes against humanity. Soon after the court’s reparations ruling, ... Continue reading
Rios Montt Convicted of Genocide and Crimes Against Humanity: The Sentence and Its Aftermath
On the afternoon of Friday, May 10, 2013, a Guatemalan trial court (High Impact Court “A”) found General Efrain Rios Montt, former de facto head of state, guilty of genocide and crimes against humanity. The conviction was for crimes committed against Guatemala’s Maya Ixil indigenous population during Rios Montt’s 17-month rule in 1982 and 1983. The judge presiding ... Continue reading
ICTJ: Rios Montt Conviction is a Victory for Justice
New York, NY, April 18, 2013—The International Center for Transitional Justice (ICTJ) welcomes today’s verdict in Guatemala by the High Risk Court in the trial of former military dictator José Efrain Ríos Montt. The 86-year-old ex-general was convicted of genocide and crimes against humanity against the indigenous Mayan Ixil population during Guatemala’s Civil War. He ... Continue reading