Guatemala

In the early 1980s, military dictatorships in Guatemala conducted a “scorched-earth” counter-insurgency that included the genocide of five indigenous Mayan groups, including the Maya Ixil. On January 28, 2013, a judge in Guatemala ordered the man who had been the country’s president in 1982-83, General José Efraín Ríos Montt, to face trial for genocide. He is the first former head of state to be tried for genocide in the Americas. His successor as president of Guatemala, General Oscar Mejía, had also been indicted for genocide, but then deemed unfit for trial. On March 19, 2013, the court began hearing the case against Ríos Montt, namely, that he committed genocide against Maya Ixil while he held office between March 1982 and August 1983.

In the left sidebar you will find readings, databases and maps and satellite images pertaining to the genocide in Guatemala.