Friday, January 18, 2008

Guatemala accused of "discrediting" human rights

Judge Santiago Pedraz of Spain's National Court had a bit of a hissy fit this week when he finally had to abandon plans to prosecute eight Guatemalan nationals, including Efraín Ríos Montt and Óscar Humberto Mejía Victores, for their supposed involvement in 'genocide' during the civil war years. He has found himself prevented from interviewing witnesses by the Guatemalan judiciary.

I can't help thinking that the recently-deceased Romeo Lucas García has got off rather lightly here. He certainly has a smaller Wikipedia entry than Ríos Montt.

And as I have noted before, it's odd that this persistent hounding of Guatemala's military should originate from one of the few countries where some individuals still think it's OK to hang a picture of Adolf Hitler above their fireplace.

Meanwhile, Nobel Laureate Rigoberta Menchú has filed a discrimination lawsuit against the five Guatemalan high court justices who threw out warrants for the arrest of the former military officials. "The magistrates ruled in a way that was both biased and discriminatory," Menchú said at a news conference, adding in a supporting document that the ruling "was based on biased idological considerations and probably even racist feelings ... and is a grave offense to our dignity."

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