Guatemalan Genocide Case before the Spanish Courts
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Genocide Case Witnesses Testify in Guatemalan Court
CAIG/NISGUA
4/24/2008

To date, seven witnesses from three regions (Baja Verapaz, Quiche, and Huehuetenango) have testified to Judge Eduardo Cojulun Sanchez in the genocide case hearings. Their excruciating testimonies describe massacres and torture committed by the Guatemalan military.

While three of the witnesses - Jesus Tecu, Tiburcio Tiuy, and Domingo Raymundo - had already testified in Spain this February, for the rest of them this was the first time that they have been able to present themselves in front of a judge and describe the heinous crimes that they witnessed.

Dates and witnesses:

April 17, 2008

Jesus Tecu Osorio

Jesus gave testimony about the massacre in Rio Negro, Rabinal, Baja Verapaz on March 13, 1982 that left 177 people dead. He explained how he was captured by a civil patroller who took him to work as a slave in his home. When Jesus refused to be separated from his younger brother, the patroller killed his brother by slamming him against a rock. 

Media links:

http://www.prensalibre.com.gt/pl/2008/abril/18/232831.html

http://www.elperiodico.com.gt/es/20080418/pais/52890/

April 21, 2008

Tiburcio Tiuy - Mr. Tiuy is an eyewitness to the massacre committed in Xix, Chajul, Quiche on February 16, 1982. He explained that in one case the soldiers cut a pregnant woman's stomach open to remove her baby. Mr. Tiuy was captured by the army and tortured in different military bases over two long years. He described how the officers burned his eyes, neck, and stomach. He lifted his shirt to show the judge the marks of torture that he bears to this day on his body.  

Francisco Bop - Mr. Bop witnessed the massacre in Ilom, Chajul, Quiche on March 23, 1982. Mr. Bop recalled the arrival of the army to his town, the burning of homes and the killing of the civilian population. He noted that the massacre survivors had to leave their homes and live in Finca Santa Delfina in harrowing conditions.

Domingo Raymundo - Mr. Raymundo is a survivor of the massacre in San Francisco Javier in which over 30 people died and homes were burned on August 16, 1982. He described similarities between this massacre and those of Ilom and Xix.

News coverage:

http://www.lahora.com.gt/notas.php?key=29311&fch=2008-04-21

April 22, 2008

Pedro Juan Marcos - Mr. Juan Marcos is an eyewitness of the massacre in Puente Alto, Barrillas, Huehuetenango. He spoke of the movements of the army from the military barracks in Barillas and described how the army burned his parents and wife alive.

Mateo Perez Juan Perez Pablo - Mr. Perez Pablo is eyewitness to the massacre in Petanac, Huehuetenango. He gave his testimony through a Chuj Mayan interpreter and spoke about his responsibility to tell his story in order to see justice done.

Edwin Canil Vicente - Mr. Canil Vicente is eyewitness to a massacre committed in Santa Maria Tzeja, Ixcan, Quiche on February 15, 1982 when he was six years old. His testimony lasted over an hour as, with tears pouring down his face, he recounted the massacre that took the lives of his mother, four siblings, grandmother, and cousins.  

Press coverage:

http://www.prensalibre.com.gt/pl/2008/abril/23/233773.html