Implementation of Punishment and Justice Initiatives: Guatemala
The December 1996 “Law for National Reconciliation” ironically granted amnesty from
crimes committed during the conflict, except for crimes of genocide, forced disappearance, and
torture. It was critical, then, that the CEH proved that genocide had been committed in
Guatemala. It provided hope that those responsible could still be tried. Unfortunately, however,
88there have been no legal consequences for the genocide committed.
240
As a signatory of the
Genocide Convention of 1948, the State of Guatemala is required to prosecute cases of genocide
against responsible persons inside their state territory.
241
The Guatemalan judicial system
remains weak. At the time of the CEH publication, only one proceeding was pending.242 This
was the case of the horrifying 1982 massacre at Las Dos Erres, where nearly 300 people had
been killed, mostly women and children. The proceedings have never been completed; however
President Portillo offered $1.8 million dollars in compensation to the families in a ceremony of
apology in December of 2001. 243
Civil society has pushed public prosecutor’s office to take up several cases. On May
3rd
2000, forty-eight survivors of massacres in the Baja Verapaz and Quiche departments filed a
complaint against the former President Romeo Lucas Garcia, his brother Benedicto Lucas
Garcia, and Luis Rene Mendoza Palomo, the former Chief Commander of the Army and former
Minister of Defense. 244 Human rights organizations and families of the victims, rather than the
State, have pushed forward the trials of the 1990 extrajudicial execution of Myrna Mack and of
Bishop Juan Jose Gerardi in 1998. 245 The military officers accused of the crimes were convicted
but now are pending appeals. 246
Due to Guatemala’s weak justice system, legal proceedings outside of the country have
provided the most hope. The Spanish Audencia Nacional on March 27th, 2000 against former
head of State Rios Montt. (Nobel Prize Winner) When Rigoberta Menchil submitted the factual
evidence of the ineffectiveness of the Guatemalan judicial system, the Spanish judge felt
motivated to start an investigation.
The recommendations that address reform of the Guatemalan army constitute nearly twenty
percent247 of the eighty-four included in the CEH report, making it a pivotal issue for
89implementation progress. As mentioned above, the eradication of the presidential military staff —
Estado Mayor Presidencial — was critical as it would get rid of one of the major sources of
human rights violations in Guatemala. President Portillo had begun the process of dismembering
this military body when a few months later he suddenly decided against it. He was, no doubt,
pressured to do so “as a hostage to the militarized past.” 248