Dear members of BTS and friends of Guatemala,

I would like to share an incredible moment I was privileged to witness this past Monday, January 28, 2013. On that day, former de facto president and retired general Efraín Ríos Montt and José Mauricio Rodríguez Sánchez, also a retired general and former director of military intelligence (G-2) during Ríos Montt’s presidency, were sent to trial on charges of genocide and crimes against humanity. The two men’s short stint in power from 1982 to 1983 coincides with the pinnacle of the scorched earth policy conducted by the Guatemalan military against the “internal enemy”, namely guerilla movements and those identified as their supporters. They are accused of having ordered 15 massacres against Maya Ixil communities of the municipalities of Santa María Nebaj, San Gaspar Chajul and San Juan Cotzal, department of Quiché, in the course of which some 1,771 children, women and men were slaughtered.

To say there was anticipation in the courtroom on the 14th floor of the Torre de Tribunales (the Guatemala City Courthouse) on Monday would fail to convey the energy in the room. That morning, Judge Miguel Angel Gálvez, magistrate of the High Risk Crimes Court, was about to render the court’s decision to send, or not, the two generals to trial on charges of genocide and crimes against humanity. Hearings had been held throughout the previous week; the Public Prosecutor’s office, the Association for Justice and Reconciliation (AJR), the Centre for Human Rights Legal Action (CALDH) (the latter two acting as third-party prosecutors), and the defence had debated the question of whether sufficient evidence exist to indicate that a genocide may have been perpetrated in the Ixil region under Rios Montt’s government, thus engaging his and Rodríguez Sánchez’ criminal responsibility and warranting a trial. After 13 years of efforts by the AJR and CALDH, 75 legal recourses filed by Ríos Montt’s defence and a petition to avail himself of the protection afforded by a controversial amnesty law, this was it.

The hearing was scheduled to begin at 11 a.m., but early on survivors, victims’ relatives, supporters and witnesses had entered the courtroom or gathered outside, holding banners, celebrating ceremonies and waiting. Having made my way into the courtroom around 10 a.m., I observed as more survivors, members of the press, international observers, relatives and supporters of the accused trickled in and took their seats. It was a strange and vivid sight to behold Ixil women and men sitting right behind Zury Ríos, Ríos Montt’s daughter, and former members of the military; they were surrounded by activists and international observers, all under the watchful eye of numerous police officers and security guards. Survivors from other regions had also come in solidarity, also to see one of the main intellectual authors of the horrors they themselves have experienced finally in the dock. A few minutes before the hour, Rodríguez Sánchez made his entrance in a wheelchair, mobilized by a nurse in full attire; then Ríos Montt himself walked in and took his seat. By the time the judge appeared and the audience started around 11:30 a.m., the room was full to the brink.

Outside, survivors, supporters and allies waited among banners, flowers and pictures of their disappeared.

The hearing lasted over two hours and a half. The judge took his time to lay down the legal foundation of the decision, grounding the resolution in both domestic and international law. After discussing the criminal offences of genocide and crimes against humanity, which were added to domestic criminal legislation in fulfillment of Guatemala’s international obligations, Judge Gálvez spent much time discussing the potential responsibility of the accused in light of the Guatemalan Army’s Constitutive Act (Ley Constitutiva del Ejército de Guatemala). This piece of legislation lays out the powers, mandate and structure underlying the armed forces’ chain of command; it reveals the tremendous decision-making authority conferred on Guatemala’s military high command through the institutionalization and enforcement of the foundational principles of military discipline, obedience and verticality. The judge made it clear that in light of this piece of legislation, the defence’s affirmation that the accused did not know about the massacres, had not participated materially, and therefore could not be held criminally responsible, did not hold much water. Their authority over their subordinates, flowing from vertical structure of authority and the military principles of discipline and obedience, engaged their administrative and disciplinary authority, and thus their responsibility for the latter’s criminal actions. This was particularly true in the case of Ríos Montt, who cumulated the duties and responsibilities of President of the Republic, Minister of Defence and Commander-in-Chief of the Guatemalan Armed Forces.

The judge then moved on to discuss the application of international humanitarian law and international human rights law in Guatemala, which flows from the state’s ratification of international conventions and treaties. He then analyzed the definitions and constitutive elements of the crime of genocide and crimes against humanity, as stipulated in the Guatemalan criminal code, and explained how these could apply to the facts of this case. Citing declassified C.I.A. documents, military plans, counter-insurgency manuals and the findings of two major truth commissions and historical memory projects, he pointed to elements indicative of the identification of the entire Ixil population as subversive; of the planning and implementation of systematic attacks against Ixil communities; and of the existence of evidence pointing to an intention to destroy, in whole or in part, the Ixil people. Finally, he requested complete silence as he read excerpts of survivors’ declarations for the audience. These stories described some of the atrocities the witnesses had undergone, and illustrated the systematic character of the armed forces’ attack in the region. They spoke of dead women, men and children, of destroyed houses and food reserves, of stolen cattle, of raped women and of children taken away. They stood in stark contrast with the military officials’ war narrative and its accounts of necessary counter-insurgency operations against a dangerous internal enemy.

After a while, it became clear that the court’s resolution would be favorable to the survivors. Smiles, timid at first, were stretching wider and wider across the faces of more and more people in the room. Behind the dock, the accused’s family members held hands and prayed fervently. When the judge finally stated that the evidence revealed serious grounds to believe that genocide had been perpetrated in the Ixil region, he was barely able to finish his sentence: outside, firecrackers were exploding, triggered by text messages sent from inside the courtroom to deliver the good news. The reading of the remaining part of the resolution was punctuated by unrelenting series of blasts and boisterous music, in a collective explosion of joy.

As the judge was about to end the session, one of Ríos Montt’s defence lawyers requested permission to speak and attempted to lodge an appeal for reversal of the decision, challenging its legality and the value of the evidence submitted. After allowing him to speak, the judge rejected the appeal on the grounds that no recourse was available at this stage of the process. Once the hearing was over, the majority of the crowd burst into applause, barely contained joy now flooding the room as people hugged, shook hands and exchanged congratulations. Then, onlookers slowly made their way out of the packed courtroom to join those who had stayed outside. After enjoying a few celebratory moments, many of the survivors and witnesses headed back to their communities, with the perspective of a long journey home.

On Thursday, January 31st, the trial started with the presentation of the evidence by the parties; it took more than two hours for prosecutor Orlando López to list the evidence presented in support of the accusations, some 900 elements which include 142 testimonials against Ríos Montt and 84 against Rodríguez; 64 military, anthropological, forensic and psychological expert opinions; and a number of military plans, documents and reports. The defence, labelling the trial a “lynching”, has made very public its intention to appeal the court’s resolution and to challenge in every possible way the admission of the evidence presented. It is therefore likely that an already extremely complex process will be further delayed by these tactics.

Survivors of repression who are fighting for justice and the end of impunity are very well aware that this resolution only marks the beginning of a long, arduous process, and that many more challenges lie ahead. They also know, from daily experience, that the root causes of the conflict are still well anchored in Guatemalan society, which is recurrently shaken by violence and discrimination. They know that the ideology of war is still very present in the minds of many, and in the public discourse. In the name of public security, they are experiencing first-hand the renewed militarization of their communities and the return of military detachments all over the country, in direct contravention of the Peace Accords. They are directly affected by the multiplication and intensification of conflicts over increasingly scarce land, which continues to be concentrated in fewer and fewer hands, set aside for export-oriented monocultures, mineral resource exploitation and other corporate interests. They are suffering the consequences of a degrading environment on their means of livelihood and their communities’ health and spirituality. For most of them, reparation and restitution for all that was lost during the conflict is anything but forthcoming; and so many of their dead are still missing, left without a proper burial and without that most sacred space where the living light a candle to reconnect with their loved ones.

But regardless, at that moment, on that historical Monday, Efraín Ríos Montt, the face of genocide in Guatemala, was sent to trial. For many survivors, this long-awaited moment looked and felt like the beginning of justice. And that, despite everything else, is worth celebrating.