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 / The long road to justice

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from various departments from the southern coast and were 

therefore not an ethnically and linguistically distinct group, 

unlike the Ixil Mayans in Quiché.

Pérez argues that by erroneously classifying the case, Flores 

has opened the door for the defense team to successfully ar-

gue that Dos Erres was not an act of genocide and secure 

Ríos Montt’s acquittal. 

“According to international law, an act of genocide is the 

elimination of a national group, which means a distinct pop-

ulation within a country, such as the French speaking popu-

lation of Quebec, in Canada. Guatemala has more than 20 

different ethnic groups and there can be more than one act 

of genocide in one country but the inhabitants of Dos Erres 

were peasants, a group of Guatemalans who were striving to 

reach economic development and who were given land by 

the State so that they could seek better prospects. That same 

State then robbed them of their future. However, they can-

not be considered to be a national group,” said Pérez.

He added that in the next hearing, which will take place on 

September 11, the prosecution will call a series of experts on 

genocide and war crimes, in an effort to prove that the cor-

rect charge is murder.

Saúl Arévalo walked out of the court building and stopped 

next to a big placard placed by survivors from the Dos 

Erres massacre and human rights organizations which read: 

“Those who gave the orders are as guilty as those who fired 

the shots. Those who gave the orders should be punished.” 

He stood there for several minutes thinking about the many 

obstacles that must be overcome in the long road to justice.

Guatemala City. May 21, 2012.