Guatemalan ex-soldiers on trial in landmark war case

[Judi Lynn]

Guatemalan ex-soldiers on trial in landmark war case
21 mins ago

Three former soldiers will go on trial for the 1982 massacre of more than 250 people, a judge ruled on Wednesday in the first such court case in Guatemala for crimes committed in its dark civil war past.

Human rights investigators and victims' family members have accused 17 soldiers, nine of them elite Special Forces, of entering the hamlet of Dos Erres in northern Guatemala and killing unarmed peasants after accusing them of supporting leftist guerrillas.

A United Nations-backed Truth Commission found the troops killed babies by throwing them against tress or bashing in their heads with hammers and then dumping their bodies into a well. The troops then proceeded to rape and murder the rest of the inhabitants over several days.

Only three of the accused soldiers have been apprehended in Guatemala and will go on trial next week, the judge said. Four others are in custody in the United States after immigration officers found they lied in their applications for U.S. citizenship and Guatemala requested their extradition.

While some military officials have been jailed for individual war-era crimes, this is the first time members of the armed forces will stand trial for a massacre.

More:
http://uk.news.yahoo.com/22/20100909/tpl-uk-guatemala-trial-61a15b8.html