Sexual Crimes in Conflict Database

A collection of relevant literature and case law

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  • Jurisprudence judicial mechanism

    Guatemala, High Impact Court ‘A’ - Efraín Ríos Montt (“Montt and Menchu”)

    Issues
    Socio-cultural Context of Sexual Violence Procedural Rules Advancing Sexual Violence Prosecutions Achievements and Challenges of Sexual Violence Prosecution Sentencing and Reparations Sexual Violence as a Weapon of War
    Country
    Guatemala
    Keywords
    Ethnic Cleansing Spoil of War Retrial Indigenous Population Mental Incapacity of Accused

    Reference link
    http://www.ijmonitor.org/2018/04/the-legacy-of-rios-montt-guatemalas-most-notorious-war-criminal/
    Type of mechanism
    Domestic court
    Name of mechanism
    Guatemalan High Impact Court 'A', Constitutional Court
    Name of accused
    Efraín Ríos Montt
    Charges
    Montt was charged with genocide and crimes against humanity, including sexual violence, under command responsibility.
    Trial chamber verdict
    On 10 May 2013 he was found guilty by a Guatemalan trial court (High Impact Court ‘A’) of genocide and crimes against humanity, including sexual violence, under command responsibility. The conviction was for crimes committed against Guatemala’s Maya Ixil indigenous population during Montt’s 17-month rule in 1982 and 1983. According to the Court, women were raped, not only as the ‘spoils of war’, but as part of the systematic and intentional plan to destroy the Ixil ethnic group by exercising violence on women’s bodies as a way to destroy the social fabric and thereby ensure the destruction of the Ixil population. Specific reference was made to the testimony of one woman, who narrated how she was raped by more than 20 soldiers while she was held prisoner in a military base. The tribunal noted that sexual violence results in pain and suffering that is still experienced by many of the women, and that the violence has an inter-generational effect, noting that women reproduce life as well as culture.
    sentencing
    At first instance only: Montt, 86 years old, was sentenced to 80 years in prison (50 years for genocide and 30 years for crimes against humanity, served consecutively). Furthermore, as part of the reparation requirements, the judges ordered personal apologies to be made to the survivors of sexual violence.
    Appeals chamber verdict
    However, on 20 May 2013, Guatemala’s Constitutional Court annulled the trial judgment on procedural grounds and a retrial was subsequently ordered. In 2014, the retrial was suspended when the defense sought the removal of one of the judges on the case. On 11 January 2016, the retrial was suspended again for the court to resolve outstanding legal petitions. The hearing was held behind closed doors and Montt did not attend because of ‘mental incapacity’, which the court had decided he was suffering from in 2015 already. On 1 April, 2018, the lawyer of Ríos Montt reported that he had died of a heart failure.
    Status
    2715
    Case number
    Exp 1904-2013

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