(Spanish below) On February 6, 2025, an appeal hearing of the 2018 sentence of the Molina Theissen case was held. This sentence sentenced Benedicto Lucas García, Manuel Callejas y Callejas, and Hugo Zaldaña Rojas to 58 years in prison for crimes against humanity, forced disappearance and aggravated sexual violence, [...]
Wednesday, September 18th, hearing 72 On this day the expert in forensic anthropology Donaldo Arnulfo Castillo Valdez was presented. He ratified 3 expert reports which he conducted when he worked with the Center of Forensic Analysis and Applied Sciences (CAFCA, for its Spanish acronym) and which correspond to the [...]
Next week, a verdict is expected in the retrial of José Mauricio Rodríguez Sánchez, former head of military intelligence under General José Efraín Ríos Montt’s 1982-1983 dictatorship in Guatemala. Rodríguez Sánchez faces charges of genocide and crimes against humanity for the particular role he played in classifying the entire [...]
Nearly a year has passed since the March 2017 indictment of five former high-ranking officers in the Guatemalan military for crimes against humanity. They stand accused of having participated in the illegal detention, torture, and sexual assault of Emma Guadalupe Molina Theissen and the forced disappearance of her 14-year-old [...]
Photo credit: Jose Rodriguez After a holiday recess, the Ixil genocide case retrial will be heard again today. As Ixil witnesses come forward to once more share their experience of genocide publicly, they are surrounded by the supportive presence of members of the AJR. However, the AJR members [...]
On June 7, Judge Claudette Domínguez of Guatemala’s High-Risk Crimes Court “A” ordered eight former military officers to stand trial for crimes against humanity in one of the largest cases of forced disappearance in Latin America’s history. The legal case is built on eyewitness and expert testimonies, documentary evidence, [...]
"We are talking about one of the biggest cases of forced disappearance in Latin America." - Thelma Aldana, Guatemala Attorney General Major arrests were made yesterday morning related to cases of crimes against humanity and forced disappearances committed between 1981 and 1988 by former high-ranking military officers. The remains of 558 people have been [...]