When I do school visits and get the chance to talk in detail about the history of violence in Guatemala, students are always interested to know what happened to the people who committed these crimes. If you’ve been following the trial of General Ríos Montt, you know it’s been a dramatic, twisted thing. Last week, even more so. The Guatemalan Human Rights Commission has a good write-up of the day.
Here’s a quote from their piece:
Yesterday, Jan. 5, the retrial against both Efraín Ríos Montt and José Mauricio Rodríguez Sánchez was set to begin. However, after a series of delays, the proceedings against Guatemala´s former dictator and his head of national intelligence were suspended almost as soon as they began.
The retrial, which was set to begin at 8:30 AM on January 5, was initially delayed as Ríos Montt’s defense team sought to excuse him on medical grounds. Ordered by Judge Valdéz to present himself or be declared in contempt of court, Ríos Montt was eventually wheeled into the packed courtroom on a gurney. His defense team attempted to further delay the trial by filing a last minute recusal against Judge Valdéz, arguing that an academic thesis written by Valdéz on genocide in 2004 meant she could not preside fairly over the trial. With two of the three judges from the tribunal accepting the recusal, the trial is now suspended until a new tribunal can be formed.
For the sake of all who suffered during that time and those who suffer still, I hope justice can soon be served.