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INSIDECOSTARICA.COM
| CENTRAL
AMERICA NEWS | Sunday
05 June 2011 |
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Guatemala:
Remains
Exhumed
of
Victims
of
Army
Violence
Guatemala
-
The
remains
were
disinterred
of
four
people
killed
by
the
Army
in
1966
in
eastern
Guatemala,
completing
a
process
started
in
the
area
one
week
ago.
According
to
the
Grupo
de
Apoyo
Mutuo
(Mutual
Support
Group,
or
GAM),
these
were
the
first
victims
of
military
forces
in
the
region
during
the
internal
armed
conflict
of
1960-1996,
which
ended
with
the
signing
of
peace
agreements.
The
exhumations
in
Chiquimula
department,
bordering
Honduras
and
El
Salvador,
were
carried
out
by
experts
of
the
Forensic
Anthropology
Foundation
in
Olota
municipality,
at
the
site
of a
massacre
of
peasants.
The
massacre
took
place
under
Julio
Cesar
Mendez
(1966-1970)
and
GAM
termed
historic
this
first
find
in
eastern
Guatemala.
At
least
225
GAM-promoted
exhumations
have
been
carried
out
in
several
areas
of
Guatemala
since
1988,
uncovering
the
remains
of
700
victims
of
army
violence.
The
relatives
of
the
victims
continue
suffering
from
the
uncertainty
of
the
fate
of
their
beloved
ones
and
the
impunity
enjoyed
by
their
killers,
because
authorities
have
never
investigated
these
deaths.
The
GAM
said
it
hopes
that
the
Justice
Minister
carries
out
appropriate
investigations
to
at
least
find
out
the
truth,
because
45
years
later,
many
of
the
people
responsible
for
these
deaths
are
still
alive
and
free.
It
is
important
that
the
people
of
Guatemala
do
not
forget
what
happened
because
this
is
the
only
way
to
prevent
it
from
happening
again,
said
GAM.
At
least
250,000
victims,
including
45,000
detained/disappeared,
were
registered
during
the
36
years
of
internal
conflict
in
Guatemala.
Many
of
the
victims
of
army
and
security
force
massacres
were
thrown
into
mass
graves,
the
great
majority
of
them
secret. |
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