This article is from the source 'nytimes' and was first published or seen on . It last changed over 40 days ago and won't be checked again for changes.
You can find the current article at its original source at http://www.nytimes.com/2013/04/19/world/americas/judge-in-guatemala-annuls-genocide-trial.html
The article has changed 3 times. There is an RSS feed of changes available.
| Version 0 | Version 1 |
|---|---|
| Judge in Guatemala Annuls Genocide Trial of Ex-Dictator | Judge in Guatemala Annuls Genocide Trial of Ex-Dictator |
| (about 1 hour later) | |
| MEXICO CITY – A Guatemalan judge on Thursday annulled the genocide trial against the former dictator Gen. Efraín Ríos Montt, a stunning ruling that could force prosecutors to begin the case all over again. | |
| The decision, by Judge Carol Patricia Flores, brought an abrupt halt to a trial that has become a test case of Guatemala’s judicial system and has reopened painful memories of the bloodiest chapter in the country’s long-running civil war. | The decision, by Judge Carol Patricia Flores, brought an abrupt halt to a trial that has become a test case of Guatemala’s judicial system and has reopened painful memories of the bloodiest chapter in the country’s long-running civil war. |
| Judge Flores was involved in the case early on but was not the trial judge hearing the evidence. Her ruling appeared to be based on a Suoreme Court decision first to recuse her, in late 2011, and then to reinstate her a few months later. But the judge said Thursday that the reinstatement decision was never communicated to lower courts, which she said nullified all the court proceedings related to the case, including the decision to send it to trial. | |
| “I want to be clear that I am not ruling at my whim,” she said. | |
| The trial judge, Yasmin Barrios, summoned the defense and the prosecution to her courtroom on Friday morning. | |
| Guatemala’s attorney general, Claudia Paz y Paz called Judge Flores’s ruling illegal and said her office would appeal. | |
| The decision was a blow to prosecutors and lawyers for survivors’ groups that have worked for 20 years to bring high-ranking military commanders to trial for the atrocities committed in the early 1980s. | The decision was a blow to prosecutors and lawyers for survivors’ groups that have worked for 20 years to bring high-ranking military commanders to trial for the atrocities committed in the early 1980s. |
| “We won’t be able to convince many witnesses to testify again,” said Andy Javalois, a legal adviser to the Myrna Mack Foundation, a human rights group. | “We won’t be able to convince many witnesses to testify again,” said Andy Javalois, a legal adviser to the Myrna Mack Foundation, a human rights group. |
| Over the past month, survivors of brutal massacres committed 30 years ago have testified how soldiers rampaged through Mayan villages, killing those who did not flee and destroying houses and crops. | Over the past month, survivors of brutal massacres committed 30 years ago have testified how soldiers rampaged through Mayan villages, killing those who did not flee and destroying houses and crops. |
| For many, it was the first time they had spoken publicly about their suffering. Women who had been raped covered their faces with shawls as they testified. Men who had been children at the time described seeing their parents or siblings killed. | For many, it was the first time they had spoken publicly about their suffering. Women who had been raped covered their faces with shawls as they testified. Men who had been children at the time described seeing their parents or siblings killed. |
| Mr. Ríos Montt, 86, seized power in March 1982 and ruled over Guatemala for 17 months during a time when the army intensified its scorched-earth operations in the Mayan highlands to try to flush out leftist guerrillas. Villagers who were not killed fled into the mountain forests, where many died of illness and starvation. | Mr. Ríos Montt, 86, seized power in March 1982 and ruled over Guatemala for 17 months during a time when the army intensified its scorched-earth operations in the Mayan highlands to try to flush out leftist guerrillas. Villagers who were not killed fled into the mountain forests, where many died of illness and starvation. |
| A United Nations truth commission formed after the 1996 peace accord that ended the war found that the state had committed “acts of genocide” against certain groups of Mayans, including the Mayan-Ixil. | A United Nations truth commission formed after the 1996 peace accord that ended the war found that the state had committed “acts of genocide” against certain groups of Mayans, including the Mayan-Ixil. |
| In addition to the survivors, the prosecution had presented dozens of expert witnesses, including forensic anthropologists and experts on the military chain of command who analyzed planning documents from the period. The defense presented a handful of witnesses, some of whom testified that Mr. Rios Montt did not have direct command over military units in the region. | |
| Lawyers for Mr. Ríos Montt and his co-defendant and former intelligence chief, Gen. José Mauricio Rodríguez Sánchez, have repeatedly sought injunctions in an effort to postpone or halt the trial. In a new maneuver Thursday morning, they all walked out of court, leaving Mr. Ríos Montt sitting alone, but they later returned for the hearing at which Judge Flores issued her ruling. . | |
| It had seemed that testimony was nearly completed because earlier this week Judge Barrios told lawyers for both sides to prepare for closing arguments. | |
| After Judge Flores’s ruling, the despair among survivors and their lawyers was palpable.The chief prosecutor, Orlando López, told the judge, “This resolution makes a mockery of the victims.” | After Judge Flores’s ruling, the despair among survivors and their lawyers was palpable.The chief prosecutor, Orlando López, told the judge, “This resolution makes a mockery of the victims.” |
Mike McDonald contributed reporting from Guatemala City. |