Guatemala Trials: Domestic Prosecution of International Crimes

Dear Reader,

Welcome to the new “Guatemala Trials” channel of IJMonitor.org.

Please visit for regular updates on significant prosecutions of international crimes taking place in Guatemala, building on the monitoring of the trial in Guatemala of Efrain Rios Montt and Mauricio Rodriguez Sanchez that we launched in early 2013.

The new effort will include reporting on the trial of Pedro Garcia Arredondo, a former senior police officer. He is currently charged crimes against humanity in connection with the storming of the Spanish embassy in Guatemala City in 1980, which left 37 people dead. His trial opened on October 1.

We also be following the Sepur Zarco case, which  involves charges against two former army officers, Col. Esteelmer Francisco Reyes Girón and Heriberto Valdez Asij, who are accused of crimes against humanity at the Sepur Zarco military base, including rape and sexual slavery, murder and forced disappearances.

Monitoring reports from the Rios Montt trial, currently suspended, are now archived and can be accessed under the “All-Trials/Inactive Trials” tabs above.

If you want to follow new postings on Guatemala, please sign up below for our email updates. You can also follow news about Guatemala on our @GuateJustice Twitter feed.

Many thanks for reading,

Open Society Justice Initiative