| rdfs:comment | - José Efraín Ríos Montt (; born June 16, 1926) is a former de facto President of Guatemala, dictator, army general and former president of Congress. A General in the Guatemalan Army, Ríos Montt came to public office through a coup d'état on March 23, 1982. In turn, he was overthrown by his Defense Minister, Óscar Humberto Mejía Victores, in another coup d'état on August 8, 1983. In the 2003 presidential elections, he unsuccessfully ran as the candidate of the Guatemalan Republican Front (FRG). In 2007 Ríos Montt returned to public office as a member of Congress, gaining prosecutorial immunity, including from a pair of long-running lawsuits alleging war crimes against him and a number of his former ministers and counselors during their term in the presidential palace in 1982-83. His immunity
|
| abstract | - José Efraín Ríos Montt (; born June 16, 1926) is a former de facto President of Guatemala, dictator, army general and former president of Congress. A General in the Guatemalan Army, Ríos Montt came to public office through a coup d'état on March 23, 1982. In turn, he was overthrown by his Defense Minister, Óscar Humberto Mejía Victores, in another coup d'état on August 8, 1983. In the 2003 presidential elections, he unsuccessfully ran as the candidate of the Guatemalan Republican Front (FRG). In 2007 Ríos Montt returned to public office as a member of Congress, gaining prosecutorial immunity, including from a pair of long-running lawsuits alleging war crimes against him and a number of his former ministers and counselors during their term in the presidential palace in 1982-83. His immunity ended on January 14, 2012, when his term in office ran out. On January 26, 2012 Ríos Montt appeared in court in Guatemala and was formally indicted for genocide and crimes against humanity. Huehuetenango-born Ríos Montt remains one of the most controversial figures in Guatemala. Two Truth Commissions, the REMHI report, sponsored by the Roman Catholic Church, and the CEH report, conducted by the United Nations as part of the 1996 Accords of Firm and Durable Peace, documented widespread human rights abuses committed by Ríos Montt's military regime, including widespread massacres, rape, torture, and acts of genocide against the indigenous population. Supporters maintain that there was no genocide, just a bloody civil war. Ríos Montt, at times, had close ties to the United States, receiving direct and indirect support from certain of its agencies, including the CIA. Ríos Montt is best known outside Guatemala for being tried for heading a military regime (1982–1983) that was partly responsible for having defeated the guerrillas through the "guns and beans" campaign, maintaining "If you are with us, we’ll feed you, if not, we’ll kill you". Guatemala's 36-year civil war ended with the signing of a peace treaty in 1996. The civil war pitted Marxist rebels against the Guatemalan state, including the army, with huge numbers of civilians, both indigenous Mayas and mestizo Ladinos, caught in the crossfire. Up to 200,000 Guatemalans were killed and missing during the conflict, making it one of Latin America's most violent wars in modern history. Indigenous Mayas suffered disproportionately during Ríos Montt's rule, and it is documented that his government deliberately targeted thousands of indigenous people since many were suspected of harboring sympathies for, supporting, or participating in the guerrilla movement. Under the Cold War-era strategy of containment the Guatemalan state sought to eliminate the spread of communism inside its borders. The UN-backed Historical Clarification Commission found that the resulting counterinsurgency campaign, significantly designed and advanced during Ríos Montt's presidency, included deliberate "acts of genocide" against the indigenous population. On 28 January 2013, judge Miguel Angel Galves opened a pre-trial hearing against Rios Montt and retired General José Mauricio Rodríguez Sánchez for genocide and crimes against humanity. On 10 May 2013, Ríos Montt was convicted of genocide and crimes against humanity, and was sentenced to 80 years imprisonment. On 20 May 2013, the Constitutional Court of Guatemala overturned the conviction.
|
