On 10 March, in the Criminal Court for Chimaltenango opened the trial of former military commissioner, Felipe Cusanero Coj. The defendant must defend against accusations about the alleged disappearance of six people in the community Choatalum, San Martín Jilotepeque, Chimaltenango, between 1982 and 1984. It is the first case in Guatemala against the army staff for a crime of this kind committed during the armed conflict. ACOGUATE has been accompanying Choatalum people since 2001 and has been present at the hearings.
Felipe Cusanero, Choatalum current mayor, is facing trial for the disappearance of five people. Between November 5, 1982 and October 28, 1984 at various times were missing / as Lorenzo Avila, Alejo Culajay Ic, Filomena Chajchaguin López, Encarnación López, Santiago and Mario Augusto Tay Sutuj Cajti all / as residents Choatalum village.
These cases occurred in the period in which Cusanero was the military commissioner in that village. In the oral arguments that took place in April this year, the relatives said they Cusanero military accompanied the patrol that led people to the military detachment Choatalum and then never reappeared. Since then, nothing is known of the whereabouts of persons while the family continued to demand justice and the investigation of the disappearances in which, according to witnesses in this case, Mr. Cusanero participated.
If a conviction, prosecutors achieved to create an important precedent and history. Would the first time a Guatemalan court issues a sentence for the crime of enforced disappearance. The Commission for Historical Clarification (CEH) has 6.159 registered disappearances during the armed conflict, at the same time indicates that this number could rise to 45,000. Most of these crimes were committed between 1979 and 1984, under the governments led by Fernando Romeo Lucas García, Efraín Ríos Montt and Oscar Humberto Mejia Victores. Some of the most affected communities are located in the region of Chimaltenango.
also in other regions of the country were missing, above all, leaders and community leaders. According to CEH, any local conflict or suspicion by the Civil Defense Patrols,, Army or the Army could result in more names added to the blacklist.
Currently, the trial, which opened in April 2005, is stopped by an injunction filed by the defense challenging the constitutionality of a prosecution of the crime of enforced disappearance. The main argument used by the defense is the retroactivity of the law of enforced disappearance, based on the fact that Guatemala criminalized forced disappearances as a crime only in 1996 when the crimes alleged against Cusanero which were committed between 1982 and 1984.
Lawyers the plaintiff rejected the argument brought by the defense, noting that the nature of the offense is a continuous one. So explained that until they find the whereabouts of the victims, their families continue to suffer uncertainty and pain for not knowing the fate of their relatives. This means that the "continuity" of the offense is based on the fact that the accused in cases of enforced disappearance are withholding information and thereby prolong the suffering of the families of the victims.
addition, the complainants alleged that Guatemala is a signatory to various international laws that clearly establish the illegality of the crimes for which you are being charged Cusanero with special reference to the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and Article 3 of the Geneva Convention. They noted the integrated national foundations in the National Reconciliation Act of 1996 to explicitly define that "the extinction of criminal liability to which this Act shall not apply to crimes of genocide, torture and enforced disappearance, as well as those crimes that are inalienable or not allow the extinction of criminal liability in accordance with domestic law or international treaties ratified by Guatemala. "
April 22 held a public hearing where both sides presented their arguments on the constitutionality of the substantive application of retroactivity to the judges of the Court of Criminal Sentencing Chimaltenango. After the judges of that court decided in favor of the prosecuting attorneys and the public prosecutor, the defense exercised its right to appeal. So the case went to the Constitutional Court (CC) on 29 April. It is legislated that the judges of the CC have five days to make a decision on the matter but according to plaintiff attorneys, in practice the issuance of this ruling may take up to one year.
Meanwhile the families of the victims of Choatalum remain hopeful that the CC resolved in his favor and that justice can continue their way to create a precedent for other persons affected by forced disappearances in the country.
... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... .... Written by ACOGUATE
References 1) Commission for Historical Clarification (1999): Guatemala: Memoria del Silencio
2) Ibid.
3) Article 8, Law of National Reconciliation, Decree 145-96, 1996.
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