Jose Efrain Rios Montt the 86 year old former de facto President of Guatemala, dictator, army general, and former president of the Congress, who came to public office through a coup d'etat in1982 is currently on trial for Genocide and crimes against humanity. Amy Ross in an Aljazeera article titled ‘Wading uncharted waters: The trial of Rios Montt’ discusses how the events in Guatemala are exceptional because they are happening at home, in the nation where the crimes occurred. Ross states “When a judge ruled … Montt will, finally, stand trial for the crime of genocide, the news resounded profoundly at home and abroad. These events in Guatemala mark the first time a national court, anywhere, prosecutes its own former head of state for the crime of genocide. Several international courts established in the last 20 years have prosecuted people involved in genocide. …the judge ordered the former army general confined to his home - represented an extraordinary break with impunity in the Central American country; the decision to proceed with the trial, despite attempts to have the charges dropped, is of even greater significance. No ranking officer has been held responsible for the violence in which some 200,000 people, almost all civilians, lost their lives. …Holding trials "away" has been deemed appropriate when conducting a trial at home carries considerable risks. The rationale behind establishing international tribunals for the former Yugoslavia in The Hague, The Netherlands, and for Rwanda in Arusha, Tanzania, was that holding trials in the country where the violence occurred would put participants at risk and potentially disrupt other fragile socio-political conditions.  …We should pay close attention to these legal proceedings in Guatemala. In the US, evidence of torture, disappearances and other crimes against humanity committed by US service members is denied, ignored or disposed of with minimal punishment. We might well need lessons from the brave lawyers in Guatemala.”  Inspired by Amy Ross, Aljazeera ow.ly/hMHhZ Image source The Kooza ow.ly/hMHEM Wading uncharted waters: Trial of Rios Montt (March 1 2013)

 

Jose Efrain Rios Montt the 86 year old former de facto President of Guatemala, dictator, army general, and former president of the Congress, who came to public office through a coup d’etat in1982 is currently on trial for Genocide and crimes against humanity. Amy Ross in an Aljazeera article titled ‘Wading uncharted waters: The trial of Rios Montt’ discusses how the events in Guatemala are exceptional because they are happening at home, in the nation where the crimes occurred. Ross states “When a judge ruled … Montt will, finally, stand trial for the crime of genocide, the news resounded profoundly at home and abroad. These events in Guatemala mark the first time a national court, anywhere, prosecutes its own former head of state for the crime of genocide. Several international courts established in the last 20 years have prosecuted people involved in genocide. …the judge ordered the former army general confined to his home – represented an extraordinary break with impunity in the Central American country; the decision to proceed with the trial, despite attempts to have the charges dropped, is of even greater significance. No ranking officer has been held responsible for the violence in which some 200,000 people, almost all civilians, lost their lives. …Holding trials “away” has been deemed appropriate when conducting a trial at home carries considerable risks. The rationale behind establishing international tribunals for the former Yugoslavia in The Hague, The Netherlands, and for Rwanda in Arusha, Tanzania, was that holding trials in the country where the violence occurred would put participants at risk and potentially disrupt other fragile socio-political conditions.  …We should pay close attention to these legal proceedings in Guatemala. In the US, evidence of torture, disappearances and other crimes against humanity committed by US service members is denied, ignored or disposed of with minimal punishment. We might well need lessons from the brave lawyers in Guatemala.”

 

Inspired by Amy Ross, Aljazeera ow.ly/hMHhZ Image source The Kooza ow.ly/hMHEM