Spanish Judge Tries Guatemalan Genocide Case, Operation Sofía
The Guatemala Times reports that there has been a new development in the Guatemala Genocide Case—a case that began in 1999, arising from “a period in that country’s long civil war where violence against non-combatant, indigenous Mayans rose to the level of genocide” with over 200,000 Guatemalans disappearing or being murdered in the 1960-1996 internal conflict. The case began when “victims filed a criminal complaint in Spain against senior Guatemalan government officials charging them with terrorism, genocide and systematic torture”—charges that were made “in the wake of the arrest in London of former Chilean dictator Augusto Pinochet.” Though arrest warrants were issued in 2006, the Guatemalan Constitutional Court reversed its decision in 2007, saying that the extradition requests and arrest warrants were invalid. In response, witnesses were brought to Spain in 2008—“the first time a national court had heard evidence from Mayan survivors on one of the largest genocides of the last century.” In the latest development, a set of internal records on “Operation Sofía”—what The Guatemala Times describes as “an alleged ‘scorched earth operation’ which targeted Mayan communities in the Quiché region during July and August, 1982”—have been presented to the Spanish National Court as evidence. This is the first time prosecutors in a human rights case have had “original Guatemalan military records about a specific operation” made available to them. The original records have been posted on the National Security Archive’s website.
- From 1982-1983, “the State justified the extermination of an estimated 440 Mayan communities by claiming that they were part of a communist plot against the government.” Over 600 Mayan villages were attacked, their inhabitants murdered and tortured. The Guatemala Times writes that “this two-year period became known as the ‘Silent Holocaust.’ ” What is the definition of a Holocaust? Why do you think the period was called the “Silent Holocaust”?
- More than 27 years after the height of the genocide—“one of the largest genocides of the last century”—Mayan survivors offered evidence in national court for the first time. If you witnessed or experienced something you felt was wrong, would you want to tell someone about it? How would you feel if no one listened?
- What evidence is necessary to prove that a government participated in acts of genocide—the systematic murder of its own citizens because they belong to a particular ethnic, national, religious, or racial group?
- Documentary film director Pamela Yates, co-founder of Skylight Pictures, filmed in Guatemala in 1982 and produced the documentary “When the Mountains Tremble” in 1983. Yates gave eyewitness testimony before the Spanish National Court about “military combat missions into the Mayan regions of the country,” interviews with generals, and “footage of a massacre site in Chajul, Quiché.” What does it mean to be an eyewitness? What can eyewitness testimony provide for a case that other evidence cannot?
- The Guatemala Times notes that in 2005, the Constitutional Court said “it was the legislators’ intention to make Spain a country that observes the principles of ‘universal jurisdiction’ for certain egregious crimes. The decision stated that Spanish Courts will have jurisdiction over crimes of international importance—crimes prosecutable in any jurisdiction as prescribed by international treaties including the Geneva Conventions—regardless of the nationality of the victims and the perpetrators. Such crimes include torture, crimes against humanity and genocide.” Do you think countries should be able to have “universal jurisdiction”? How can universal jurisdiction be implemented if not every country agrees to it? Are there situations when a foreign nation should intervene in another government’s affairs? If so, when?
- What does justice look like after genocide or other acts of violence? What should be the goal of the justice system? To punish perpetrators? Expose the truth? Obtain reparations?
