"Justicia!"

 

General Efraín Ríos Montt,

former leader of Guatemala, 

described by former President Ronald Reagan as

 "a man of great personal integrity and commitment,"

has been sentenced to 80 years in prison

for genocide 

and crimes against humanity.

The verdict marked the first time a former head of state had been found guilty of genocide in his or her own country.

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/05/11/world/americas/gen-efrain-rios-montt-of-guatemala-guilty-of-genocide.html?_r=1&


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Update: May 25, 2013
 
Guatemala City - The overturning this week of former military dictator Gen. Efrain Rios Montt’s conviction on charges stemming from Guatemala’s brutal civil war has created a surprising consensus among critics on both the left and the right: Prosecutors badly overreached when they tried to pin accusations of genocide on the 86-year-old former president. . . .

A fellow former guerrilla leader, Gustavo Porras, said Rios Montt had deployed soldiers in a scorched-earth campaign in the remote Ixil Triangle region because rebels had a strong presence in the area, not because he sought to wipe out the Ixil Maya, one of 21 ethnic Mayan groups in the nation. ...

After weeks of wrenching testimony from Ixil witnesses about mass rapes, disembowelments and rampant murders during the Rios Montt regime, a three-judge panel handed down convictions May 10 on charges of genocide and crimes against humanity, giving Rios Montt an 80-year jail sentence.

But in a dramatic reversal, Guatemala’s Constitutional Court overturned the verdict Monday, citing procedural errors.

http://www.truth-out.org/news/item/16583-reversal-of-rios-montt-verdict-in-guatemala-sparks-criticism-of-genocide-charge

Men on Camels

Caspar, Melchior, Balthasar

they may have come by camel, or horse, or on foot

but most scenes depict them as riding in on camels

they came, bearing gifts

to honor an infant

who would grow up to promote Peace

and an end to violence and hatred

 

Three weeks ago in South Darfur

300 armed men on camels attacked two villages, killing 11

they come, bearing arms

to rape, murder, pillage,

spread violence, instill fear.

Only 18 more days left till Christmas.
Parties, carols ... shopping ... gifts ... family
300 armed men on camels

_________________________________________________

According to the UN, Sudan has blocked peacekeeping patrols in Darfur on 42 separate occasions this year amid fears of a new conflict in the region. Around three million Darfuris have been displaced by government forces and allied janjaweed militia since 2003.  In Darfur, over 300,000 have died since the conflict began in 2003.

Six humanitarian aid organizations including the International Committee of the Red Cross and French group Doctors Without Borders have suspended work in eastern Chad after Laurent Maurice, an agronomist for the ICRC and his five Chadian colleagues were abducted near the Sudanese border. [1]

Three UN peacekeepers were killed in Darfur on Friday, three UN peacekeepers were killed on Saturday.  [2]

Peace on Earth
Goodwill to men

when?
when will there be
peace