WITNESS Media Archive's Blog

Paramilitaries sentenced in Rio Negro massacre

Regions: Guatemala

Issues: Genocide, Mass killings

Tags: Atrocities, impunity, Maya Achi, Rio Negro, trials, verdicts

After years of trials, delays, and obstruction, five civil patrollers (Patrullas de Autodefensa Civil) have been found guilty by a Guatemalan court of the horrific mass murders on March 13, 1982 at Rio Negro. The Rio Negro massacre was just one among many massacres which characterized the height of the genocidal campaign against the indigenous Maya during the 36-year Guatemalan civil war.