Guatemala Solidarity Network

As we reported on 7 January the state of Guatemala was found to have so obstructed the progress of the case against those accused of the Dos Erres massacre that it constituted a denial of the right to justice. Following this verdict from the Interamerican Court of Human Rights the Guatemalan Supreme Court also spoke on 8 February. It has ordered that the case should continue its course through the courts, and that the arrest warrants for the 17 accused be followed up. On 12 February news came through of two arrests of former kaibiles who are accused.

After fifteen years of waiting for justice to be done in Guatemala the survivors and relatives of victims of the Dos Erres massacre have however received a favourable verdict elsewhere: the Interamerican Court of Human Rights found the state of Guatemala failed to live up to its judicial obligations to investigate and prosecute those responsible for the massacre.