PBI-Guatemala accompanies Human Rights Law Firm at trial of three ex-Kaibil soldiers accused in the Dos Erres massacre

On April 12, PBI-Guatemala posted:

“#PBI accompanies the Human Rights Law Firm (BDH) at the beginning of the #DosErresCase debate in the High Risk Court E.

This is the fourth trial seeking justice for what happened in the Dos Erres community, La Libertad, Petén, where between 6 and 8 December 1982 a [US-trained counter-insurgency force] Kaibil commando of the Guatemalan army carried out a massacre. An estimated 200 people were killed, including men, women, old women, old men, old men and children. After several exhumations, the remains of 162 bodies were found in a well up to 12 metres deep.

In the present trial, the defendants are three ex-Kaibiles who have been identified by the Human Rights Prosecutor’s Office and charged with the crimes of murder and crimes against humanity.

The continuation of the debate will be on Thursday 20 April, where witnesses and experts will continue to be presented.”

On June 16, 2021, the Associated Press reported that Lawyers Without Borders Canada (ASFC) and the Canadian Partnership for International Justice (CPIJ) called on the Canadian government to prosecute Jorge Vinicio Sosa Orantes, who they believe was a senior member of the Kaibil and who they say was involved in the Dos Erres massacre.

On December 7, 2022, the two organizations called on “the Canadian government to reconsider its decision not to pursue criminal charges against Jorge Vinicio Sosa Orantes, who is suspected of having participated in the Las Dos Erres massacre in Guatemala 40 years ago today.”

That statement from also highlighted: “Almost the entire population was murdered. Only a handful of children survived, including Ramiro Osorio Cristales, now a Canadian citizen. LWBC, with the support of the CPIJ, is accompanying him in his quest for justice.”

PBI-Guatemala began to accompany BDH lawyer Édgar Pérez Archila in August 2010 due to several security incidents. In 2013, PBI-Guatemala extended the accompaniment to the other lawyers of the BDH who work on high-profile trials.