Guatemala Prisons former Prisons Parameel for 40 years on rape during the Civil War | Crimes against humanitarian news

Lawyers of the six victims say that the “historic” court decision recognizes the plight of the survivors who have demanded justice for decades.

A major Guatemali court has sentenced three previous years to 40 years in prison after she was convicted of raping six indigenous women between 1981 and 1983, and she is one of the most bloody periods of Central America The civil war of the nation.

On Friday, condemnation and referee indicate an important step towards achieving justice for the original Maya Achi women, who have been sexually abused by the pro -government armed groups, during a period of severe bloodshed among the military rebels who left up to 200,000 dead or missing.

Judge Maria Eugenia Castilian said that former civilian self -defense patrol members, Pedro Sanchez, Sno, Enriquez, and Felix Touma, had been convicted of crimes against humanity for sexual assault on six members of the Maya Ashi group.

“The women realized the perpetrators, and confessed to the places where the events occurred. They were victims of crimes against humanity,” she said, praising the courage of women in coming to the court to testify on repeated occasions.

The judge said: “These are the crimes of isolation that put the stigmatization of the woman. It is not easy to talk about.”

Native population lawyer Heidi Valley, who represented women, said that the punishment is “historic” because she finally realized the struggle of the survivors of the civil war they have. Topic of justice for decades.

Many Maya Achi women praised the courtroom at the end of the trial, where some of her clothes in traditional clothes and others heard the ruling through a translator.

One of the victims, a 62 -year -old woman, told Agence France -Presse news agency that she was “very happy” with the ruling.

“I am innocent of what they accuse me,” Pedro Sanchez, one of the three convicted men, told the court before the ruling.

But Judge Marling Mayla Gonzalez Arinvillaga, another member of the All -Bannel Court, said there is no doubt about the woman’s testimony against the suspects.

The convictions came second in the Maya Ashi case for women against former military personnel and paramilitary forces. The first trial, which took place in January 2022, witnessed five years old, who was sentenced to 30 years in prison.

The invitation group for impunity said that the case “highlights how the Guatemali army used sexual violence as a war weapon against indigenous women” during Civil conflict.

In 2016, the Guatemali Court sentenced two former military officers for the detention of 15 women from the Q’eqchi community, who are also of Maya origin, as sexy slaves. Both officers were sentenced to 360 years in prison.