Three years after being suspended, reopened the case of Black River in December 2007. In this trial there are six patrol Xococ sitting on the bench indicted for their role in the slaughter of March 13, 1982. In an earlier trial in 1999, three commanders of the patrol were sentenced to 50 years in prison for his involvement in the same slaughter, which had a balance of 70 women and 107 children dead. ACOGUATE has been present in the audience, watching the process in which the Association for the Integral Development of Victims of Violence in the Verapaz, Maya Achi (ADIVIMA), acts as a prosecutor.
According to the Commission for Historical Clarification (CEH), the events of March 13, 1982 represent a stage in a series of operations driven by economic and strategic interests that materialize "the intention of the Army command responsible for destroying all or part of that community (...)." Subsequent violations were committed with the aim of forcibly evict communities residing along the Black River to advance with the construction of the Chixoy dam and flood the Black River Valley in Baja Verapaz. This process took place under the eyes of the oversight institutions, the then National Institute of Electrification (INDE) in terms of fund management and coordination of the project, together with the World Bank and the Inter-American Development who provided loans to promote the project.
The displacement of people started with harassment in 1980 and culminated in four massacres carried out between February and September 1982 by army troops and members of the Civil Defense Patrols Xococ. Most of the survivors now living in the resettlement site provided for the NSDI, Pacux, a model village behind a military outpost on the edge of the town of Rabinal, Baja Verapaz.
The trial is the second to be developed for violations in Black River and is focused on the slaughter of March 13, 1982. In the first phase, the alleged perpetrators made their statements. Some of the defendants denied having been present at the site the slaughter. Others stressed the central role of army soldiers and explained how they had organized patrols and taken to Black River. At the same time did not identify the actors of the army who were in charge of the operation. One defendant admits that he wanted to bring these for fear of repercussions from the military structures. The patrollers say if only the involvement of Captain Solares, who already has several warrants and is currently a fugitive from justice.
The second part of the trial has been characterized by statements of the survivors of the slaughter of Black River. Many of them remember details of events de este día. Cuentan como las mujeres y los niños se habían quedado en la aldea porque se esperaba que no iban a sufrir represalias. Según los testimonios, los habitantes de la aldea que habían permanecido fueron rodeados por los efectivos del ejército y las patrullas civiles y después llevados a un cerro cerca de la aldea, donde muchos fueron torturados, violados y brutalmente asesinados. Pocos lograron escapar la masacre en la cual fueron ultimados 177 mujeres y niños. Una mujer quien logró escapar cuenta lo siguiente: “Vi a mi mamá y a mi abuela en la fila, y las vi morir. Violaron a muchas mujeres. Le dije a mi prima que si se quedara tal vez se salvara. Yo tenía 16 años. Le pedí a mi mamá que se quedara with my girl, but I wanted her to receive. I left because I did not receive it shot and fled. I thought about my daughter, but did not want to die. I was shot as he ran to the ravine. "Also, 18 children were living chosen by the patrollers and Xococ carried on where they were forced to live with the patrolmen who had killed his family and kept them as slaves.
The prosecution said the trial also was marked by a decision of the prosecutor and defense do not seem convincing. Among them was the announcement of wanting to give tax seen as key witness by the prosecution. This witness, who was part of the civil defense patrol Xococ, had been summoned to declare who had given orders to patrol and why. According to lawyers for the prosecution, this contribution could have contributed to the dismantling of the command structure that operated behind the current defendants. In the first argument, the prosecutor determined as abundant making statement by considering it repeatedly. Subsequently, a second explanation, expressed concern for the physical integrity of the witness. Because of the protests of the prosecuting attorneys, the prosecutor said he would find out the possibility of taking measures to ensure witness safety. In terms of the "peculiarities" by the defense was his announcement on the second day of wanting to remove all trial witnesses. Ultimately, this proposal was rejected by the other parties. The prosecution said that these delaying tactics of the prosecution and the defense sought to prevent the identification of the masterminds linked to the massacres. This reading may coincide with the absence of Otto Ponce, commander of the military who was quoted by the prosecution but not presented in court.
Several relatives of the victims mentioned the sense of hostility toward family members in the room for discussion. As noted sources Local is a consequence of the dynamics of armed conflict that created the division of a local context in which victims and perpetrators continue to live without clarifying the intellectual and material responsibility for the massacres.
The last event that reflects the concentration of violence in the local context, which according to various human rights organizations are connected with this trial is the attack against William Chen, director of the New Hope Foundation, located in the municipality of Rabinal. As one witness in the case, the trial shows that for the moment, the possibility of reaching a legal sentence is limited to offenders who are "indigenous and poor alike as victims, but day by day more elements come together and begin to identify the instigators of the violence. Writer
ACOGUATE
Photos: ACOGUATE; 1. People from the communities of Rabinal, Baja Verapaz outside court Salama. 2. Judicial recognition of the place was Black Rio was suspended halfway
1 Commission for Historical Clarification (1999): Guatemala: Memoria del Silencio.
2 Centre on Housing Rights and Evictions in collaboration with Rights Action (2004): Realizing the repairs in the case of Chixoy Repesa.
3 Ibid.
4 http://www.elperiodico.com.gt/es/20080306/pais/49776
5 Ibid.
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