Exemplary ruling of the Spanish Audiencia Nacional concerning the Guatemalan Genocide

16/01/2008
Press release
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Today the International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH) and its member organisations in Spain, the Association for Human Rights, and in Guatemala, the Center for Legal Action for Human Rights (CALDH), welcome the decision of the Spanish High Court, the Audiencia Nacional. The Court decided to continue to investigate the crimes of genocide, torture, killings and illegal detentions, committed against Guatemalan civilians , in particular those belonging to the Mayan ethnic group (case n° 331/1999). The decision encourages the submission of any relevant information.

This ruling intervenes after the sentence of the Constitutional Court of the Guatemalan Republic, notified on December 14th, 2007, which refused the extradition to Spain of Angel Anibal Guevara Rodriguez, former Minister of Defense, and Pedro García Arredondo, former Police Chief. FIDH opposed the conclusions of this sentence, in which the Court rejected the jurisdiction of Spain to judge gross violations of human rights committed in Guatemala, including crimes of genocide. The Court also rejected the implementation of the principle of universal jurisdiction therefore, increasing the ongoing impunity of the most serious crimes in Guatemala. [1].

The Audiencia Nacional denounced "a clear dilatory attitude" of the Guatemalan authorities towards the Spanish investigation. Furthermore, it underlined the gross violation of international law and in particular the obligation of "all civilized nations to prevent and punish" the crime of genocide. The Audiencia Nacional denounced as well the Constitutional Court’s judgment that considered the crimes committed against the Mayan as political crimes: "This does not do more than reiterating what has already been sufficiently established, in other words that the Guatemalan State has done nothing to punish such a crime, even when its commission against the Mayan has been established, so that Spain can and must prosecute universally such a crime" [2].

Considering the lack of political will of the Guatemalan authorities to conduct the rogatory commissions that should aim at gathering information in Guatemala for the purpose of the investigation, the Audiencia Nacional considershaving jurisdiction to investigate and prosecute genocide and other crimes and will turn to other sources of investigation. For this reason, the Audiencia Nacional asks "victims, witnesses, and persons under investigation" to provide the Spanish Court with information related to these crimes.

FIDH, the Association for Human Rights and CALDH consider that civil society organisations could facilitate the transmission of such information.

Souhayr Belhassen, the FIDH President, applauds this ruling to try the most heinous crimes that were committed during what was the largest genocide in Latin America in the twentieth century. Souhayr Belhassen asks the new Guatemalan President to break the impunity cycle and to fully collaborate with the Audiencia Nacional.

Furthermore, the organisations call upon the Constitutional Court to promptly resolve the appeal introduced by General Ríos Montt in the Guatemalan process, in favor of the disclosure of military documents to the prosecution .

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