Ex-strongman Ríos appears before Guatemala court Posted: Thursday, January 26, 2012 - By AFP The former dictator could face charges for his government’s scorched earth policy that left tens of thousands dead. GUATEMALA CITY – Guatemala’s former strongman Efraín Ríos Montt, 85, appeared in court Thursday to face accusations of genocide and other human rights crimes allegedly committed during his 17-month long rule.
Ríos Montt, known for his “scorched earth” campaign against Guatemala’s leftist rebels, may have to answer charges that his regime was responsible for the massacre of tens of thousands of people. Thursday’s hearing was to determine whether the former dictator should be formally charged with alleged atrocities that occurred during his regime from 1982 to 1983, prosecutors said. The hearing is the first since Ríos Montt lost the congressional immunity that for years had shielded him from prosecution for human rights crimes. Guatemala’s truth commission, which has been tasked with investigating the bloodletting, estimates that there have been some 200,000 casualties from the country’s 36-year civil war that ended in 1996. Some of the worst atrocities are said to have taken place during Ríos Montt’s rule. The UN-backed group – the Historical Clarification Commission – found that the government was guilty of a deliberate campaign of genocide against the mostly poor, indigenous massacre victims, many of whom were caught in the crossfire as the government battled leftist rebels. >From Wiki: Given Ríos Montt's staunch anticommunism and ties to the United States, the Reagan administration continued to support the general and his regime, paying a visit to Guatemala City in December 1982.[11] During a meeting with Ríos Montt on December 4, Reagan declared: "President Ríos Montt is a man of great personal integrity and commitment. ... I know he wants to improve the quality of life for all Guatemalans and to promote social justice."1 Reagan claimed Guatemala's human rights conditions were improving and overturned the arms embargo imposed on Guatemala by president Carter in 1977, by agreeing, in January 1983, to sell millions of dollars worth of military hardware, including weapons and vehicles, to the country's government. The decision was taken in spite of records concerning human rights violations, by-passing the approval from Congress.[12][13][14][15][16] Meanwhile, a then-secret 1983 CIA cable noted a rise in "suspect right-wing violence" and an increasing number of bodies "appearing in ditches and gullies."[17] In turn, Guatemala was eager to resurrect the Central American Defense Council, defunct since 1969, to join forces with the right-wing governments of El Salvador and Honduras in retaliations against the leftist Sandinista government of Nicaragua. -- Thanks for being part of "PoliticalForum" at Google Groups. For options & help see http://groups.google.com/group/PoliticalForum * Visit our other community at http://www.PoliticalForum.com/ * It's active and moderated. Register and vote in our polls. * Read the latest breaking news, and more.
