Ian Bunn | Political & Popular Culture Arts

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

Otto Fernando Pérez Molina the 62 year old Guatemalan politician and retired military officer who has been President of Guatemala for the past twelve months has been the subject of an article published by Mike Allison on Aljazeera titled ‘Guatemalan President Otto Perez Molina’s first year in office’. Allison states ‘Otto Perez Molina of the Patriotic Party stepped onto the international stage in February 2012, after announcing to Guatemala and to the world that he would support the decriminalisation of marijuana and other illegal drugs. While his proposal brought accolades abroad, his first year in office has been much more of a mixed picture, at best, for the people of Guatemala. Upon his inauguration on January 14, 2012, President Perez confronted a challenging environment following four tumultuous years under Alvaro Colom. Fifty-four percent of the population lived in poverty, a three percentage point increase from the start of Colom’s term. …For the last few weeks, all the Guatemalan newspapers have been running stories about social unrest throughout the country over land conflict, mining, and indigenous rights. The massacre in Totonicapan, the earthquake and devastation in San Marcos, repression against civil society, tensions surrounding the poorly conceptualised, planned and executed end of the world celebrations, and Otto Perez Molina’s military history make for poor relations between a large number of Guatemalans and the government. These are real concerns about the situation here as Guatemalans head into 2013 and the second year of this administration. I’m afraid that adverse decisions with regards to the prosecution of human rights violators and the increased reliance on the military to resolve problems that do not have military solutions will only stoke the flames of discontent which is unfortunate and dangerous for the people of this beautiful country.”

Inspired by Mike Allison, Aljazeera ow.ly/gXCq5 Image source Twitter ow.ly/gXCpm