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'A drastic step backwards': Guatemala considers amnesty for war crimes
Source: The Guardian
'A drastic step backwards': Guatemala considers amnesty for war crimes
Proposal under consideration by congress would free criminals convicted of extrajudicial killings and torture
Nina Lakhani
Thu 7 Feb 2019 06.00 GMT
War criminals convicted of extrajudicial killings, torture and sexual slavery could soon walk free if Guatemalan lawmakers sanction a blanket amnesty for crimes committed during the 36-year armed conflict which left 200,000 people dead or disappeared.
Congress will vote this week to reform the national reconciliation law and give absolute impunity for crimes against humanity including genocide, rape and forced disappearance. The law currently exempts only political crimes and has been regarded as a beacon for postwar justice since coming into force alongside the 1996 peace accords.
The new initiative is backed by former army generals angered by a wave of prosecutions that has resulted in the convictions of at least 33 military officers and militia members since 2008. One former guerrilla leader has also been convicted of human rights abuses.
If approved, all the convicts, and those held on remand awaiting trial would be free within 24 hours; pending trials would be cancelled and ongoing investigations shelved.
Michelle Bachelet, the UN human rights commissioner, condemned the move as a “drastic step backwards for the rule of law and victims’ rights”.
-snip-
Proposal under consideration by congress would free criminals convicted of extrajudicial killings and torture
Nina Lakhani
Thu 7 Feb 2019 06.00 GMT
War criminals convicted of extrajudicial killings, torture and sexual slavery could soon walk free if Guatemalan lawmakers sanction a blanket amnesty for crimes committed during the 36-year armed conflict which left 200,000 people dead or disappeared.
Congress will vote this week to reform the national reconciliation law and give absolute impunity for crimes against humanity including genocide, rape and forced disappearance. The law currently exempts only political crimes and has been regarded as a beacon for postwar justice since coming into force alongside the 1996 peace accords.
The new initiative is backed by former army generals angered by a wave of prosecutions that has resulted in the convictions of at least 33 military officers and militia members since 2008. One former guerrilla leader has also been convicted of human rights abuses.
If approved, all the convicts, and those held on remand awaiting trial would be free within 24 hours; pending trials would be cancelled and ongoing investigations shelved.
Michelle Bachelet, the UN human rights commissioner, condemned the move as a “drastic step backwards for the rule of law and victims’ rights”.
-snip-
Read more: https://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/feb/07/guatemala-war-criminals-crimes-against-humanity-amnesty
