PBI-Guatemala observes hearing of former paramilitary members accused of sexual violence against Mayan Achi women
PBI-Guatemala has posted:
“On Monday [April 14] PBI observed a hearing in the #MujeresAchí case.
During the hearing, the procedural parties were given the opportunity to present new evidence before beginning with the conclusions. The defense requested the incorporation of new evidence that sought to point out the invalidity of previously presented expert opinions. Finally, the court considered these means of evidence impertinent, among other things, because they did not meet the necessary requirements.
The court set April 24 at 8:30 a.m. for the beginning of the conclusions of the trial.”
CRN Noticias has previously explained: “The defendants [three former members of the Civil Self-Defence Patrols paramilitary force] face charges of sexual violence against more than 30 Mayan women of the Achí people during the 1980s, in the context of the internal armed conflict. [The Prosecutor’s Office has presented evidence] that the defendants sexually abused at least five women. These women were detained for more than 25 days in a military barracks in Rabinal, Baja Verapaz.”
Memoria Virtual has noted that the Civil Self-Defence Patrols (las Patrullas de Autodefensa Civil or PAC) “were paramilitary organizations … organized, armed, supervised, and directed by the military forces … [established] to monitor and defend the villages, to pursue and detect suspects of belonging to the guerrillas and to participate in military actions or punishment of the [mostly Indigenous] population.”
The internal armed conflict killed an estimated 200,000 people and displaced more than one million people between 1960 and 1996.
45,000 people are still unaccounted, including 5,000 children.
The conflict between state military forces and guerilla combatants was underpinned by the poverty, marginalization and racism against Indigenous peoples.
The United Nations-backed Commission for Historical Clarification established in June 1994 determined that the Guatemalan military was responsible for 93 per cent of the atrocities – including forced disappearances, massacres and torture – and that 83 per cent of the victims were Indigenous Maya peoples.
The Commission concluded that acts of genocide occurred during the war.
Radio FGER has noted: “The ‘Mujeres Achi’ case is emblematic of sexual violence during the internal armed conflict, evidencing the use of rape as a weapon of war by the Army and paramilitary groups to attack women and subjugate indigenous communities. …Violations in these contexts were particularly degrading, as many victims were abused while in detention, and at times, in front of family members, which intensified their suffering.”
We continue to follow this.
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