Witness: Canada should prosecute man facing Guatemala war crime allegations

[Judi Lynn]

Source: Associated Press

Witness: Canada should prosecute man facing Guatemala war crime allegations
By Associated Press, Published: November 28

CALGARY, Alberta — A Guatemalan immigrant whose entire family was murdered in a notorious massacre said Monday he wants Canada to prosecute an alleged war criminal and not let the man be extradited to the U.S.

Ramiro Cristales said Monday he witnessed Guatemalan soldiers kill nearly everyone in the village of Dos Erres during the country’s bloody civil war when he was 5 years old.

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The government claims in the indictment that on Dec. 7, 1982, he and several dozen soldiers stormed the village of Dos Erres, near Las Cruces, and systematically killed the men, women and children. The unit is accused of slaughtering villagers with sledgehammers and throwing people into a well. Sosa denies the allegations.

In the United States, Sosa is only charged with immigration violations in the U.S. — not carrying out the 1982 massacre. Activists in Canada are pressing their government to try him for crimes against humanity, noting the case has languished in Guatemalan courts.

Read more: http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/americas/canada-should-prosecute-not-extradite-man-facing-guatemala-war-crimes-allegations/2011/11/28/gIQANrvh6N_story.html

[Solly Mack]

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