Case Study: The Guatemalan Genocide (1975-1980) [613981]

Case Study: The Guatemalan Genocide (1975-1980)

–
January 2020 –

Laura Elena Ilisii

3rd Semester, SLA II

Master Program of Latin American Studies

“Holocaust, Genocide and Mass Violence: an European Comparative Perspective”

Lect. univ. dr. Andrei Muraru

Table of Contents

I.
Introduction: concept of
​
genocide,
​
definition, judicial framework

II.
Context: key elements and facts

●
Guatemalan military & US role

●
Guatemalan Civil War & The repression of the Mayans

III.
The systematic use of terror against the indigenous population:1975-1980s

●
Genocide stages

●
The Operation Sofia – 1982

IV.
National Reparations Program & Commemoration

V.
Guatemalan Genocide Trial & the Pursuit of Justice

VI.
Conclusions

VII.
Bibliography

I.
Introduction

This
paper
proposes
to
treat
the
process
towards
the
genocide
case
of
Guatemala
that

began
in
1975
and
peaked
during
the
first
half
of
the
1980s.
Before
going
into
an

extensive
analysis,
it
is
important
to
provide
more
information
on
the
concept
of

genocide,
​
so
the
reader
can
understand
how
exactly
this
series
of
events
falls
into
this

category and how these crimes are further judged.

Therefore,
according
to
the
United
Nations
Office
on
Genocide
Prevention
and
the

Responsibility
to
Protect,
​
the
word
​
genocide
​
originates
in
the
written
work
named

“Axis
Rule
in
Occupied
Europe”
by
Polish
lawyer
Raphäel
Lemkin
in
1944.
His
work

and
implicitly,
the
concept
of
genocide,
were
a
response
to
the
systematic
extincion

led
by
the
Nazi
policy
towards
the
Jewish
people
and
it
also
refers
to
all
murders
that

happened
along
the
history
and
which
involved
targeted
actions
aimed
at
the

destruction
of
particular
groups
of
people.
Having
genocide
recognized
as
an

international crime is also due to Lemkin’s work.

Etymologically,
the
word
​
genocide
it
is
formed
from
the
Greek
prefix
​
genos
​
,
meaning

race or tribe, and the Latin suffix
​
cide
​
, meaning killing.

The path to recognition of genocide as a crime that falls under international law:

●
1946:
recognized
by
the
United
Nations
General
Assembly

(
​
A/RES/96-I
​
).

●
1948:
codified
as
an
independent
crime
in
the
​
1948
Convention
on
the

Prevention
and
Punishment
of
the
Crime
of
Genocide
(the
Genocide

Convention)

1
–
ratified by 149 States (as of January 2018).

1
​
Convention
on
the
Prevention
and
Punishment
of
the
Crime
of
Genocide
Approved
and
proposed
for
signature

and
ratification
or
accession
by
General
Assembly
resolution
260
A
(III)
of
9
December
1948
Entry
into
force:

12
January
1951,
in
accordance
with
article
XIII,
available
at

https://www.un.org/en/genocideprevention/documents/atrocity-crimes/Doc.1_Convention%20on%20the%20Pre
vention%20and%20Punishment%20of%20the%20Crime%20of%20Genocide.pdf

–
International
Court
of
Justice
(ICJ)
has
stated
that
the

Convention
embodies
principles
that
are
part
of
general

international law.

–
whether
or
not
States
have
ratified
the
Genocide
Convention,

they
are
all
bound
as
a
matter
of
law
by
the
principle
that

genocide is a crime prohibited under international law.

–
ICJ
has
also
stated
that
the
prohibition
of
genocide
is
a

peremptory
norm
of
international
law
(
​
or
ius
cogens
​
)
and

consequently, no derogation from it is allowed.

Definition

The
definition
of
the
crime
of
genocide
as
contained
in
Article
II
and
punishable
acts
as
on

Article III of the
​
Genocide Convention
​
:

Article
II
In
the
present
Convention,
genocide
means
any
of
the
following
acts

committed
with
intent
to
destroy,
in
whole
or
in
part,
a
national,
ethnical,
racial
or

religious group, as such:

(a) Killing members of the group;

(b) Causing serious bodily or mental harm to members of the group;

(c)
Deliberately
inflicting
on
the
group
condit
​
ions
of
life
calculated
to
bring
about
its

physical destruction in whole or in part;

(d)
Imposing
measures
intended
to
prevent
births
within
the
group;
(e)
Forcibly

transferring children of the group to another group.

2

Article III
​
The following acts shall be punishable:

(a) Genocide;

(b) Conspiracy to commit genocide;

(c) Direct and public incitement to commit genocide;

(d) Attempt to commit genocide;

(e) Complicity in genocide.

3

2
Idem.

3
Idem.

Genocide
is
defined
in
the
same
terms
as
in
the
Genocide
Convention
in
the
​
Rome
Statute
of

the
International
Criminal
Court
(Article
6),
as
well
as
in
the
statutes
of
other
international

and hybrid jurisdictions.

Article
6
Genocide
For
the
purpose
of
this
Statute,
"genocide"
means
any
of
the

following
acts
committed
with
intent
to
destroy,
in
whole
or
in
part,
a
national,

ethnical, racial or religious group, as such:

(a) Killing members of the group;

(b) Causing serious bodily or mental harm to members of the group;

(c)
Deliberately
inflicting
on
the
group
conditions
of
life
calculated
to
bring
about
its

physical destruction in whole or in part;

(d) Imposing measures intended to prevent births within the group;

(e) Forcibly transferring children of the group to another group.

4

The
above
definition
was
the
result
of
a
negotiating
process
and
reflects
the
compromise
that

the
members
of
the
United
Nations
Member
States
in
1948
has
reached
at
the
time
of
drafting

the
Convention.
It
is
important
to
mention
that
many
states
have
also
criminalized
genocide

within domestic law, but there are also some who did not take this action yet.

II.
Context – key elements and facts:

According
to
Minorities
Rights
Group
International,
Guatemala
is
the
only
country
in

Central
America
that
has
the
majority
of
the
population
composed
from
Mayans;
around
51%

of
the
total
population.
The
same
source
is
stating
that
there
are
more
than
21
different

Mayan
communities
and
they
can
be
found
mostly
in
the
rural
North
and
West
highlands
of

Guatemala
(Alta
Verapaz,
Sololá,
Totonicapán
and
Quiché).
Mayan
people
can
be,
also,

found
in
Belize,
Honduras
and
Mexico,
although
the
highest
number
when
reported
to
the

population
is
in
Guatemala,
where
approximately
26
indigenous
Mayan
languages
are
still

spoken (Q’eqchi’, Cakchiquel, Mam (Maya), Tzutujil, Achi and Pokoman).

5

4
Rome
Statute
of
the
International
Criminal
Court,
Part
2.
Jurisdiction,
Admissibility
and
Applicable
Law
​
,

available at
​
https://www.icc-cpi.int/resource-library/Documents/RS-Eng.pdf

5

​
Guatemala. Maya. Profile
​
, available at
​
https://minorityrights.org/minorities/maya-2/
​
.

Historical Context

In
order
to
understand
the
tradition
of
crimes
against
the
Mayans,
one
must
seek
to

understand the foundation and the historical suffering of the Mayan population.

Before
the
Spanish
conquest
of
Guatemala,
the
Mayan
civilization
was
already
in
decline,

and
with
the
new
process
of
colonization,
the
Mayans
have
become
a
target
of
systematic

enslavement.
It
was
not
until
the
19th
century
that
these
people
would
finally
be
free
of

Spanish
reign,
but
at
that
time
a
new
hegemony
was
installing
on
the
continent
–
the
United

States
with
its
Monroe
Doctrine
implementation.
With
the
help
of
Guatemalan
dictators,
the

US
managed
to
secure
its
interests
and
create
a
special
relationship
of
cooperation
with
the

Guatemalan
military/police.
This
special
relation
will
help
us
understand
further
on
the
role

that the US played in the Guatemalan genocide.

In
the
period
before
our
events
of
reference,
somewhere
around
1920,
Prince
Wilhelm

of
Sweden,
wrote
a
book
after
his
visit
in
Guatemala,
named
​
Between
two
continents,
notes

from
a
journey
in
Central
America,
1920,
​
where
he
pointed
out
the
characteristics
of
the

Guatemalan
classes;
therefore,
Prince
Wilhelm
identified
three
classes
at
that
time:
criollos

(upper
class,
politicians,
land
owners),
ladinos
(middle
class,
storekeepers,
artisans)
and

indians (
​
slow of wit, uneducated and disinclined to all forms of change
).

6

What is the importance of his work for our research?

First,
it
paints
a
picture
on
how
the
population
was
categorized
in
the
20s
and
here

one
can
underline
the
fact
that
this
kind
of
stigmatization
upon
the
indigenous
people
is
still

valid
in
many’s
perception,
regardless
of
all
the
efforts
undertaken
to
not
refer
to
indigenous

people as “uneducated”, “low class”, “obeyed”.

Second,
the
categories
that
he
underlined
are
a
good
source
of
understanding
of
the

conflict
that
escalated
and
also
provides
a
clear
image
of
the
class
inequalities
which
will

further
be
pointed
out
in
the
fuel
for
the
massive
protests
against
them
and
so,
the

Guatemalan Civil War has started.

6
​
P
​
rince
Wilhelm
of
Sweden,
​
Between
two
continents,
notes
from
a
journey
in
Central
America,
1920

p.
154,
available
at

https://ia600905.us.archive.org/14/items/journeycentral00wilhrich/journeycentral00wilhrich.pdf
​
.

A.
Guatemalan military & US implication

The chain of savage dictatorships

Based
on
the
above
information,
one
can
observe
the
differentiation
in
the
conditions

of
living
of
all
classes.
Also,
how
some
privileged
families
which
were
also
ruling

Guatemala,
let
US
gain
influence
and
expand
its
interests
inside
the
country
only
to
have

political
advantage
at
the
expense
of
the
rest
of
Guatemalan
population.
Considering
this,
one

can
further
understand
why
someone
like
Jorge
Ubico
became
leader,
only
that
his
brutal
and

repressive
regime
(1931-1944)
was
backed
by
the
American
United
Fruit
Company
–
which

in 1930 was the largest landowner in Guatemala.

Ubico
met
resistance
in
1944,
when
through
the
Revolution,
Juan
José
Arévalo

(1945–1951)
won
the
fight
over
presidency.
Even
though,
the
latter
brough
​
t
social
reforms,

including
minimum
wage
laws,
increased
educational
funding,
near-universal
suffrage

(excluding
illiterate
women),
and
labor
reforms.
The
problem
in
this
scene
is
that
these

changes
only
benefited
the
upper-middle
classes
and
neglected
the
peasant
agricultural

laborers
who
were
actually
forming
the
majority
of
the
population.
Also,
he
was
disliked
by

the
United
States
and
the
United
Fruit
Company
and
during
his
leadership,
there
were
25

attempts of coup d'etat.

List
of
the
dictators
in
reverse
order
​
which
provides
us
information
of
how
dominant

7
was
the
political
scene
by
the
military
–
the
National
Liberation
Movement
(MLN)
was

basically
the
political
platform
of
the
military
junta.
The
list
starts
with
the
formation
of
MLN

and the peak of the conflict, when the genocide level was reached under Efrain Rios Montt.

1
Efraín Ríos Montt

Huehuetenango, Guatemala

23 March 1982 – 8

August 1983

Military

1
Fernando Romeo

Lucas Garcia

San Juan Chamelco,

Guatemala

1 July 1978 – 23 March
1982

Institutional Democratic

Party/Revolutionary Party

7

1
Kjell Eugenio

Laugerud García

Guatemala City, Guatemala

1 July 1974 – 1 July

1978

National Liberation

Movement/Institutional Democratic

Party

(
​
a program of political and social

reforms to co-opt the opposition. He

permitted a level of labor and popular

organizing not seen since before the

1954 invasion
)

8
1
Carlos Arana Osorio

Barberena, Santa Rosa

Guatemala

1 July 1970 – 1 July

1974

Military/National Liberation Movement

(torture, disappearances, killings to

remove the political and military

opponents)

1
Julio César Méndez

Montenegro

Guatemala City, Guatemala

1 July 1966 – 1 July

1970

Revolutionary Party

1
Enrique Peralta

Azurdia

Guatemala City, Guatemala

31 March 1963 – 1 July

1966

Institutional Democratic Party

(after a report of the killing was

published, "death-squad" attacks on

the AEU and on the University of

San Carlos began to intensify. Many

law students and members of the

AEU were assassinated.)

1
Miguel Ydígoras

Fuentes

Retalhuleu, Guatemala

2 March 1958 – 31

March 1963

National Democratic Reconciliation

Party

1
Guillermo Flores

Avendaño

Guatemala City, Guatemala

26 October 1957 – 2

March 1958

Military

1
Óscar Mendoza

Azurdia

Guatemala City, Guatemala

24 October 1957 – 26

October 1957

Military

1
Luis Arturo González

López

Zacapa, Guatemala

27 July 1957 – 24

October 1957

National Liberation Movement

1
Carlos Castillo

Armas

Santa Lucía

Cotzumalguapa, Guatemala

8 July 1954 – 26 July

1957

National Liberation Movement

(founder)

The
close
collaboration
between
US
and
military
Guatemalan
regime
was
based
on

economic
matters
for
the
US,
as
United
Fruit
Company
was
the
major
landowner
in

8
Patrick
Ball
Paul
Kobrak
Herbert
F.
Spirer,
​
A
Narrative
of
State
Violence
​
,
1960-1996:
A

QUANTITATIVE
REFLECTION,
American
Association
for
the
Advancement
of
Science,
1999
p.

19, available at
​
https://hrdag.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/01/state-violence-guate-1999.pdf
​
.

Guatemala,
therefore
their
economic
interests
prevail;
and
on
political
matters
for

Guatemalan
political
class
it
is
well
know
that
the
company’s
involvement
in
the
national

politics
of
Guatemala
were
reflected
in
the
numerous
actions
of
support
for
various
coup

d’etats that would serve ultimately their economic interests.

Regarding
the
Guatemalan
genocide,
one
can
wonder
what
was
the
US
role
and
it

participated
in
it.
Hence,
there
are
two
ways
in
which
the
US
has
its
share
in
encouraging

these
events.
First,
by
raising
tensions
regarding
the
land
distribution
since
it
was
dominated

by
with
European-descended
and
foreign
companies
such
as
the
​
United
Fruit
Company
and

which
was
conflicting
with
the
rural
poor.
Second,
by
providing
arms
and
training
to
various

groups
that
felt
useful
in
defending
their
interests,
some
of
which
organized
in
insurgent

movement
or
commited
mass-crimes.
Third,
by
fueling
the
tensions
as
a
result
of
its
global

campaign against communism.

B.
Guatemalan Civil War & repression of the Mayans

The
​
Guatemalan
Civil
War
was
a
fought
between
the
​
g
​
overnment
of
Guatemala

and
various
​
leftist
rebel
groups
supported
by
some
the
ethnic
​
Maya
indigenous
people
and

Ladino
peasants.
As
mentioned
before,
these
two
groups
were
forming
the
poor
located
in
the

rural areas from 1960 to 1996.

The
MR-13
–
principal
component
of
the
insurgent
movement
in
Guatemala
and

associated
later
with
the
outlawed
PGT
(
​
Guatemalan
Labour
Party
​
;
​
middle-class
​
intellectuals

and
students)
and
a
student
organization
called
the
Movimiento
12
de
Abril
(12
April

Movement).
The
three
actors
merged
into
a
coalition,
a
guerilla
organization
called
the
​
Rebel

Armed
Forces
(
​
FAR
​
)
in
December
1962,
plus
FGEI
(Edgar
Ibarra
Guerrilla
Front).
Each

9
organization activated in a different region of Guatemala.

Initially,
the
intensive
use
of
terror
by
the
military
and
police
forces
in
Guatemala
has

started
in
mid
60s
and
the
main
tactic
was
to
use
“disappearances”
and
it
became
a
custom

9
​
Former
members
of
the
1960
army
revolt,
who
had
previously
been
trained
in
counterinsurgency

warfare by the United States.

ever
since.
What
it
started
as
an
attempt
to
dismantle
the
infrastructure
of
the
PGT

(Guatemalan
Party
of
Labour)
and
MR-13
guerrillas
(leftist
movement
–
in
1963,
MR-13

joined
the
Rebel
Armed
Forces
(FAR),
it
became
a
normality
in
elimination
of
anyone
who

was
mentioning
these
actions
and
ultimately
the
indigenous
population
became
the
selected

target.

On
16
July
1966,
the
AEU
(Association
of
University
Students)
published
a

detailed
report
on
abuses
in
the
last
months
of
the
Peralta
regime
in
which
it
named

thirty
five
individuals
as
involved
in
killings
and
disappearances,
including
military

commissioners
and
members
of
the
Ambulant
Military
Police
(PMA)
in
coordination

with
the
G-2
(military
intelligence
service).
After
the
publication
of
this
report,

"death-squad"
attacks
on
the
AEU
and
on
the
University
of
San
Carlos
began
to

intensify. Many law students and members of the AEU were assassinated
​
.

10

The
year
of
1977
is
described
by
a
series
of
popular
strikes
of
the
workers
–
​
The

Glorious
March
of
the
Miners
of
Ixtahuacán
​
,
formed
by
Indian
and
Ladino,
against
the

government;
one
year
later
the
students
that
were
involved
got
killed
or
disappeared
and
so

the
killings
got
more
selective
focusing
on
labor
activists
and
militants.
The
situation

intensified
in
the
next
period
and
culminated
with
the
publication
of
a
death
list
of
38

opponents by Secret Anticommunist Army (ESA).

11

Oliverio
’s
death
typified
state
terror
in
the
early
years
of
the
Lucas
García

12
government:
a
selective
assassination
by
heavily
armed,
non-uniformed
men,
often
performed

in
broad
daylight
in
a
crowded
urban
location,
for
which
the
government
would
then
deny

any
responsibility.
But
the
government;s
message
was
clear:
it
would
silence
anyone
who

dared speak against it and do so with complete impunity.

13

10
​
Patrick
Ball
Paul
Kobrak
Herbert
F.
Spirer,
STATE
VIOLENCE
IN
GUATEMALA,
1960-1996:
A

QUANTITATIVE
REFLECTION,
American
Association
for
the
Advancement
of
Science,
1999,

available at
​
https://hrdag.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/01/state-violence-guate-1999.pdf

11
Idem
​
.

12
Secretary general of the University Student Association.

13

​
Patrick Ball Paul Kobrak Herbert F. Spirer,
​
op.cit
​
., p.21.

From
this
moment
the
killings
intensified
and
so
the
insurgent
response,
which
moved

their
operations
in
the
highlands
where
the
Maya
communities
were
living.
The
fact
that
the

insurgents
moved
in
the
Indigenous
areas
was
of
high
importance
as
the
military
did
not

make
the
difference
between
the
guerilla
groups
and
civilians,
considering
them
equally

involved in the rebellion.

III.
The
systematic
use
of
terror
against
the
indigenous

population:1975-1980s

While
massacres
of
indigenous
peasants
had
occurred
earlier
in
the
war,
the

s
​
ystematic
use
of
terror
against
the
indigenous
population
began
around
1975
and
peaked

during
the
first
half
of
the
1980s.
A
report
by
a
United
Nations-backed
truth
commission
after

the
36-year
civil
war
formally
ended
in
1996
found
that
security
forces
had
inflicted

“multiple acts of savagery” and genocide against Maya communities.

At
a
time
of
​
promotion
of
industry
and
mining,
especially
nickel
and
petroleum
​
(see

the
table
below),
the
trade
unionists
activities
have
grew
and
so
the
crisis
regarding
the

leadership.
Later
on,
everything
intensifies,
more
strikes,
more
workers
taking
the
streets
and

more violence from both guerilla groups and the army.

The
copies
of
CEH
report
attached
below
are
showing
the
exact
timetable
of
events

where
it
is
shown
how
the
situation
worsen
and
how
it
evolved
in
the
thinking
of
that
the

civilian
indigenous
people,
mostly
peasants,
were
trapped
in
the
middle
of
the
cross-conflict

between military vs. guerilla, trade unionists vs. arbitrary leadership.

In
1978,
the
Guatemalan
government
began
a
concerted
effort
of
attacking
​
indigenous

villages,
says
Victoria
Sanford,
Lehman
College
professor
of
anthropology.
"A
series
of

massacres
began
that
ultimately,
​
by
1982,
was
a
genocide
—
626
villages
were
destroyed,

and 200,000 people were killed”.

14
14
Victoria
Sanford,
​
Guatemala
Genocide
​
,
2011,
available
at

​
.

Source:
​
Patrick Ball Paul Kobrak Herbert F. Spirer,
​
op. cit
​
.

As
seen
in
Figure
1.1,
the
number
of
killings
and
disappearances
reached
the
highest

peak during General José Efraín Ríos Montt’s program of pacification.

Basically,
between
1982
and
1983
the
administration
was
totally
militarized.

According
to
the
CEH’s
report,
the
general
policies
were
defined
by
moralising
discourse,

corporate
model,
failure
in
reforming
global
tax,
support
for
evangelical
church.
The
latter,

encouraged growth and expansion of evangelical sects.

However,
in
1982
the
National
Security
and
Development
Plan
was
to
be

implemented
and
in
the
same
year
the
military
plan
named
Victory
82
started
to
massacrate

the
communities
that
were
in
the
areas
of
confrontations.
These
massacres
led
to
a
growing

large
scale
displacement
of
people
seeking
shelter
in
the
mountains
where
they
were
still

haunted
by
the
military.
These
people
organized
themselves
into
the
Communities
of

Population in Resistance (CPR) in the IXIL area.

15

A.
Genocide stages

The most targeted locations were the Ixil villages, located in Quiche province.

15
GUATEMALA
MEMORY
OF
SILENCE,
Report
of
the
Commission
for
Historical
Clarification

Conclusions
and
Recommendations
​
,
p.
75,
available
at

https://hrdag.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/01/CEHreport-english.pdf

●
1975:
after
the
assassination
of
prominent
landowner
José
Luis
Arenas
by
the

community-infiltrated-EGP,
all
peasant
workers
associated
with
the
cooperativas

were seen as part of the insurgency, and started to disappear;

●
1978:
Panzos
massacre,
the
abuses
on
the
Indian
workers
expanded
beyond
Quiche

area
towards
North,
where
the
people
who
went
in
the
main
square
to
express
their

discontent for the arbitrary landowners were all shot;

●
September
1978:
kidnappings
of
peasants,
murder
of
women
and
children
in
the

Olopa area:

All
told,
more
than
100
villagers
of
Olopa
were
murdered
by
the
Mobile
Military

Police
in
1978,
including
several
religious
workers,
15
women
and
more
than
40

children.
The
PMA
were
reported
by
peasants
to
murder
small
children
in
Olopa
by

grabbing them and breaking their backs over the knees.

●
same
year,
numerous
victims
have
been
targeted
by
the
death
squads
in
the
Guatemala

City, mostly students, intellectuals, trade unionists.

●
in
1979
–
1981:
PGT,
FAR,
EGP
come
together
as
a
tripartite
alliance
and
agree
to

activate
all
their
forces
–
this
year
is
of
high
importance
as
it
fuels
the
conflict
and
it
is

reaching
a
maximum
point
in
1981
when
occupation
of
municipal
capitals,
sabotage,

road blockades, executions.

By
taking
a
close
look
at
the
map
of
the
massacres,
one
can
notice
the
high
number
in
the

Quiche region, where 344 massacres listed by the Commission for Historical Clarification.

16

The
level
of
militarization
in
the
countryside
increased
after
1979
when
conservative

elders in the Ixil triangle began requesting the Army's support in eliminating communists.

B.
The Operation Sofia – 1982

The
ruling
military
junta
viewed
the
highland
Indians
—
descendants
of
the
Mayas
—

as
natural
allies
of
the
Marxist
guerrillas
fighting
to
overthrow
it.
An
important
element
that

led
to
this
perception
was
the
fact
that
EGP
moved
in
the
Ixil
area
between
1974
and
1978

(and
in
Guatemala
City).
This
is
was
the
central
justification
for
all
the
massacres
that

16
​
GUATEMALA
MEMORY
OF
SILENCE,
Report
of
the
Commission
for
Historical
Clarification

Conclusions
and
Recommendations
​
,
p.
83,
available
at

https://hrdag.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/01/CEHreport-english.pdf

followed.
Security
forces
launched
a
massive
counterinsurgency
against
selected
populations,

especially the Ixil ethnic enclave especially in Quiche province.

Source: Wikipedia

Genocide
against
four
specific
groups:
the
Ixil
Mayas;
the
Q'anjob'al
and
Chuj
Mayas;
the

K'iche' Mayas of Joyabaj, Zacualpa and Chiché; and the Achi Mayas.

Under
General
Fernando
Romeo
Lucas
García
(1978-1982),
there
were
strategies

meant
to
eliminate
the
counterinsurgency
and
that
meant
to
eliminate
the
mayan
population

from the Ixil region (department of Quiche), which was seen as assisting the guerrillas:

The
scorched-earth
policies
resulted
in
mass
killings
of
the
noncombatant
population

and
in
the
total
destruction
of
Mayan
villages
deemed
to
be
enemy
territory.
The
army
viewed

the
Ixil
region,
which
is
based
in
the
department
of
Quiche
and
includes
the
towns
of
Nebaj,

Chajul, and Cotzal, as guerrilla territory.

17
17
Former
Guatemalan
Army
Chief
Accused
of
Genocide,
Crimes
Against
Humanity,
and
Forced

Disappearance,
​
International
Justice
Monitor,
available
at

https://www.ijmonitor.org/2019/11/former-guatemalan-army-chief-accused-of-genocide-crimes-again
st-humanity-and-forced-disappearance/
​
.

As
seen
in
the
Figure
6.1
,
the
number
of
killings
and
disappearances
dominated
the
Garcia

18
and
Montt’s
regimes.
In
1982,
Gn.
Rios
Montt
became
the
president
of
Guatemala
after
a

coup
and
he
immediately
continued
the
elimination
of
the
Ixil
population
–
​
Under
Ríos

Montt’s
dictatorship,
the
army
and
its
paramilitary
units
systematically
annihilated
over
600

villages.
​
The
counterinsurgency
was
named
​
Operation
Sofia
​
and
was
activated
on
July
16,

19
1982 by the Guatemalan Army El Quiché.

Over
the
next
three
years,
the
army
destroyed
626
villages,
killed
or
“disappeared”

more
than
200,000
people
and
displaced
an
additional
1.5
million,
while
more
than
150,000

18
​
Patrick
Ball
Paul
Kobrak
Herbert
F.
Spirer,
S
​
t
​
ate
of
Violence
in
Guatemala
​
,
1960-1996:
A

QUANTITATIVE
REFLECTION,
American
Association
for
the
Advancement
of
Science,
1999,

p.37, available at
​
https://hrdag.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/01/state-violence-guate-1999.pdf
​
.

19
​
The
Guatemala
Genocide
Case,
The
Center
for
Justice
and
Accountability,
available

The Guatemala Genocide Case

​
.

were
driven
to
seek
refuge
in
Mexico.
Forced
disappearance
policies
included
secretly

arresting or abducting people, who were often killed and buried in unmarked graves.

20
According
to
​
Excerpt
from
an
analysis
of
the
Operation
Sofía
documents
by
Kate

Doyle
,
the
purpose
of
the
offensive,
according
to
the
original
Plan,
was
to
carry
out

21
"Counter-subversive
and
psychological
operations
in
the
FT
Operations
Area
[Force
of
Task]

Gumarcaj
”to“
exterminate
the
subversive
elements
in
the
area
”.
The
campaign
lasted
until

August 19 and involved officers and troops of several units of the Armed Forces.

Descriptive
fragment
of
the
offensive:
​
The
campaign
included:
bombing
villages
and

attacking
fleeing
residents;
impaling
victims;
burning
people
alive;
severing
limbs;
throwing

children
into
pits
filled
with
bodies
and
killing
them;
disemboweling
civilians
and
slashing

open the wombs of pregnant women.

22
Below
there
is
a
file
from
the
Operation
Sofia
secret
record
held
by
the
Armed

Forces, which describes psychological operations.

20
Genocide
in
Guatemala,
​
Holocaust
Museum
Houston,
available
at

https://hmh.org/library/research/genocide-in-guatemala-guide/

21
Excerpt
from
an
analysis
of
the
Operation
Sofía
documents
by
Kate
Doyle
​
,
available
at

https://nsarchive2.gwu.edu/NSAEBB/NSAEBB297/index.htm

22
​
Los
Angeles
Times,
​
Guatemala’s
civil
war
devastated
the
country’s
indigenous
Maya
communities
​
,

available
at

https://www.latimes.com/world/mexico-americas/la-fg-guatemala-war-aftermath-20180903-story.htm
l

VIII.
National Reparations Program & Commemoration

Guatemalan
Historical
Clarification
Commission
–
created
on
the
occasion
of
the

23
Oslo
Peace
Accord
and
directed
by
the
United
Nations.
It
began
work
in
July
1997,
funded

by
a
number
of
countries,
including
the
United
States.
The
commission
operated
under
a
two

year
mandate,
from
1997
to
1999,
and
employed
three
commissioners:
one
Guatemalan
man,

one male non-national, and one
​

​
Mayan
​
woman.

The
GHCC
was
meant
to
bring
on
the
truth,
to
clarify
human
rights
violations
to

foster
tolerance
and
preserve
memory
of
the
victims
and
it
did
not
act
as
a
judicial
instance,

but the report provided a fundamental starting point for the pursuit of justice.

By
February
1999,
the
Commission
released
the
“
​
Guatemala:
Memory
of
Silence”

report
which
stated
that
a
governmental
policy
of
genocide
was
carried
out
against
the

Mayan
Indians.
The
CEH
concluded
the
army
committed
genocide
against
four
specific

23
PRESS
CONFERENCE
BY
MEMBERS
OF
GUATEMALAN
HISTORICAL
CLARIFICATION

COMMISSION, available at
​
https://www.un.org/press/en/1999/19990301.guate.brf.html
​
,

groups:
the
Ixil
Mayas;
the
Q'anjob'al
and
Chuj
Mayas;
the
K'iche'
Mayas
of
Joyabaj,

Zacualpa and Chiché; and the Achi Mayas.

In
total,
the
Commission
conducted
7,200
interviews
with
11,000
persons
cataloging

the
interviews
in
a
database,
and
has
3,400
pages,
out
of
which
around
2,000
pages
are

devoted to cases, and 1,400 pages of systemic analysis.

24

One
important
document
was
also
revealed
by
the
Commission
and
that
is
the

“Operation
Sofia”,
a
book
containing
the
secret
records
of
the
crimes,
dated
on
July
15,
1982.

While
presenting
the
above
documentation
as
evidence
in
filling
the
accusation,
another

25
important
document
was
released
for
the
public
–
Death
Squad
Dossier,
Guatemalan
military

logbook of the disappeared
​
by Kate Doyle.

The
death
squad
dossier,
smuggled
out
of
Guatemalan
military
intelligence
files
in

1999,
is
the
only
known
document
of
its
kind,
revealing
the
fate
of
scores
of
Guatemalan

citizens
who
were
“disappeared”
by
the
army
during
the
mid-1980s.
The
military
logbook
is

now
the
focus
of
collective
legal
action
being
brought
by
more
than
a
dozen
of
the
families
of

victims before the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights.

26

Decree
06-2004
–
by
Guatemalan
Congress,
meant
to
establish
a
national

remembrance
day
for
the
victims
of
the
conflict.
On
February
25,
the
“
​
Day
of
Dignity
for

Victims of the Internal Armed Conflict” i
​
s a day of commemoration.

IX.
Guatemalan Genocide Trial & the Pursuit of Justice

24
​
Truth
Commission:
Guatemala,
​
United
States
Institute
of
Peace,
available
at

https://www.usip.org/publications/1997/02/truth-commission-guatemala
​
.

25
Copy
of
​
Operation
Sofia
​
,
available
at

https://nsarchive2.gwu.edu/NSAEBB/NSAEBB297/Operation_Sofia_lo.pdf
​
.

26
​
The
National
Security
Archive,
the
George
Washington
University,
available
at

https://nsarchive2.gwu.edu/guatemala/logbook/index.htm
​
.

After
the
peace
accord
in
1996,
it
came
the
time
to
hold
accountant
the
criminals
of

the
genocide.
As
such,
in
1999
there
was
the
first
legal
move;
the
criminal
complaint
was

made
by
Rigoberta
Menchú
Foundation
at
the
Spanish
National
Court
against
Ríos
Montt
and

the
senior
officials
with
whom
he
collaborated.
Seven
year
later,
in
2006,
the
Court
of
Center

for
Justice
and
Accountability
facilitated
the
gather
of
testimonies
by
bringing
40
indigenous

Guatemalans
to
Madrid
t
​
o
testify
about
the
atrocities
they
faced,
marking
the
first
time
a

national
court
had
heard
evidence
from
Maya
survivors
on
Guatemala’s
“Silent

Holocaust.

27
Fragment
from
the
Summary
from
the
round
one
of
trial:
of
the
first
witness
from
the

Ixil triangle:

The
In
1980,
the
Army
began
to
raid
villages
systematically,
kill
those
inhabitants

suspected
of
subversion,
and
corral
the
remaining
resident
s
into
controlled
villages.
As

increasing
numbers
of
the
Ixil
abandoned
their
homes
for
the
mountains,
the
Army
sent

helicopters
to
drop
thousands
of
pamphlets
over
the
area,
warning
that
if
the
people
were
not

living
in
the
Army-controlled
villages,
“You
are
animals
living
in
the
mountain,
and
we
will

treat
you
like
animals.”
The
witness’s
house
was
occupied,
and
he
was
interrogated
and

tortured. He joined residents fleeing their villages;

28

In
2008,
​
“
​
Application
to
the
Inter-American
Court
of
Human
Rights
in
the
case
of

The
Las
Dos
Erres
Massacre
(Case
11.681)
against
The
Republic
Of
Guatemala”
was

29
submitted.

In
2009,
in
Guatemala
there
were
open
high-risks
courts
where
personal
safety
was

provided
for
the
judicial
actors
involved
in
those
cases
that
focus
on
“grave
crimes,
including

judges,
prosecutors,
defense
attorneys,
and
witnesses,
and
thus
protect
judicial
independence.

The
cases
overseen
by
these
courts
are
related
to
the
alleged
commission
of
genocide,
war

27
The
Guatemala
Genocide
Case,
CJA,
available
at

The Guatemala Genocide Case

28
Summary
of
Genocide
Proceedings
before
the
Spanish
Federal
Court;Round
One
February
4-8,

2008, available at https://nsarchive2.gwu.edu//guatemala/genocide/round1/summary1.pdf

29
​
“
​
Application
to
the
Inter-American
Court
of
Human
Rights
in
the
case
of
The
Las
Dos
Erres

Massacre
(Case
11.681)
against
The
Republic
Of
Guatemala”,
available
at

https://cja.org/downloads/IACHR_application_to_IACtHR_Dos_Erres_2008.pdf.

crimes,
crimes
against
humanity,
grave
and
complex
corruption
crimes,
and
drug
trafficking,

amongst others.”
There are three of this kind.

30

The
criminal
trial
against
former
dictator
Efraín
Ríos
Montt
and
his
former
intelligence
chief

Mauricio Rodríguez Sánchez resumed on October 13, 2017.

●
In
March
2013,
the
trial
against
former
president
and
dictator
​
Jose
Efrain
Ríos
Montt

for the genocide of at least 1,771 members of the Maya Ixils;

●
The
footage
from
​
Pamela
Yates
​
’
1983
documentary
​
When
the
Mountains
Tremble
​
,

about
the
war
between
the
Guatemalan
Military
and
the
Mayan
Indigenous
population

of
Guatemala,
was
used
as
forensic
evidence
in
the
genocide
case
against
Jose
Efrain

Ríos Montt.

●
On
10
May
2013,
Ríos
Montt
was
convicted
by
the
High-Risk
Court
A
of
genocide

and
crimes
against
humanity.
He
was
sentenced
to
80
years
in
prison
(50
for
genocide

and 30 years for crimes against humanity).

●
He
was
the
first
former
head
of
state
to
be
convicted
of
genocide
by
a
court
in
his
own

country.
However,
ten
days
later,
the
Constitutional
Court
of
Guatemala
overturned

the verdict.

On
7
July
2015,
Former
Guatemalan
dictator
​
Efrain
Ríos
Montt
has
been
declared

mentally unfit to stand trial for committing genocide. In 2018 he passed away.

30
​
G
​
uatemala
Opens
a
New
Court
to
Hear
Cases
Related
to
Grave
Crimes,
​
2015,
available
at

https://www.ijmonitor.org/2015/11/guatemala-opens-a-new-court-to-hear-cases-related-to-grave-crim
es/

X.
Conclusions

The
paper
seeked
to
find
the
roots
of
the
genocide
that
put
the
Guatemalan
population

to
suffer.
The
source
of
all
suffering
was
the
inequalities
and
abuses
that
the
population
met

during
the
long
dictatorships.
Therefore,
the
genocide
that
was
mentioned
in
the
above
pages

is
not
a
process
that
extended
only
on
the
the
decade
previous
to
the
massacres
but
it
has
a

long
history.
The
enslavement,
the
ruling
of
the
Spanish
descendants,
the
awful
military

regimes,
the
US’s
economic
interests,
the
fight
against
communism,
all
these
elements

contributed
equally
to
what
became
a
bloody
battlefield.
And
all
these
horrors
happened

because
the
privileged
families
that
were
ruling
Guatemala,
let
US
gain
influence
and
expand

its
interests
inside
the
country
only
to
have
political
advantage
at
the
expense
of
the
rest
of

Guatemalan population.

The
military
had
carried
out
626
massacres
against
the
Maya
during
the
conflict.
The

Guatemalan
army
itself
acknowledged
destroying
440
Mayan
villages
between
1981
and

1983.
​
Regarding
the
Guatemalan
genocide,
one
can
wonder
what
was
the
US
role
and
it

participated
in
it.
The
total
number
of
people
killed
was
over
200,000;
83%
of
the
victims

were
Mayan
and
17%
were
Ladino.
Social
mobilization
was
at
its
peak
from
1978
to
1982

and so too was the rate of killings and human rights abuses.

Hence,
there
are
two
ways
in
which
the
US
has
its
share
in
encouraging
these
events.

First,
by
raising
tensions
regarding
the
land
distribution
since
it
was
dominated
by
with

European-descended
and
foreign
companies
such
as
the
​
United
Fruit
Company
and
which

was
conflicting
with
the
rural
poor.
Second,
by
providing
arms
and
training
to
various
groups

that
felt
useful
in
defending
their
interests,
some
of
which
organized
in
insurgent
movement

or
commited
mass-crimes.
Third,
by
fueling
the
tensions
as
a
result
of
its
global
campaign

against communism.

The
GHCC
was
meant
to
bring
on
the
truth,
to
clarify
human
rights
violations
to

foster
tolerance
and
preserve
memory
of
the
victims
and
it
did
not
act
as
a
judicial
instance,

but the report provided a fundamental starting point for the pursuit of justice.

New
judicial
cases
are
opening
in
order
for
the
indigenous
people
of
Guatemala
to

restore
their
values
and
dignity.
The
ongoing
research
is
providing
valuable
information
on

the
people
who
fell
as
victims
and
the
use
of
anthropological
technology
is
playing
a

significant part.

XI.
Bibliography

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General
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