Rigoberta Menchu et al. v. Rios Montt et al. ('Guatemala Genocide case')

Country of proceedings: Spain
Context of crimes: Guatemala
Date: 1999 - present
Keywords: Genocide, murder, jurisdiction (universal)

Court documents (in Spanish)
02-12-1999 - Complaint
13-12-2000 - Audiencia nacional: Auto (see downloadable documents at right top of this page)
25-02-2003 - Tribunal supremo: Sentencia (see downloadable documents at right top of this page)
26-09-2005 - Tribunal constitucional de España : Sentencia (see downloadable documents at right top of this page)
03-11-2005 - Audiencia nacional: Interpretación de la sentencia del tribunal constitucional
11-10-2006 - Writ of Indictment
22-11-2006 - Request for extradition
10-12-2007 - Constitutional Court of Guatemala decision on jurisdiction of Spanish courts [Part 1] [Part 2]
14-03-2008 - Order to arrest the accused
24-04-2013 - Constitutional Court of Guatemala decision [in Spanish]
10-05-2013 - Summary version of the tribunal’s ruling [Audio file in Spanish]

Other documents
Report of the Historical Clarification Commission (CEH) [in Spanish] [in English]
Summary of Testimony before Spanish Courts (February 2008)
Juicio de Genocidio en Guatemala - Resumen de Kate Doyle
Press release: Guatemala ex-dictator found guilty of genocide

Presentation of the case
The ‘Guatemala Genocide case’, also known as Rigoberta Menchu et al. v. Rios Montt et al., concerns a complaint filed in 1999 against former Guatemalan head of state, General Efraín Ríos Montt and other senior officials. The complaint alleges that the accused are guilty of terrorism, systematic torture, as well as genocide against the indigenous Mayan population between 1960 and 1996. The filing of the complaint was influenced by the arrest of Augusto Pinochet in London.

On 13 December 2000, the Spanish National Court ruled that the plaintiffs had not adequately exhausted their legal remedies in Guatemala, accepting a motion to dismiss by the Public Prosecutor. After an appeal against the decision, the Spanish Supreme Court ruled to partly overturn the National Court’s decision in February 2003. The Supreme Court allowed only those claims with a connection to Spain to proceed, thus excluding the claims by the Mayan plaintiffs.

However, on 26 September 2005 the Spanish Constitutional Court reversed the Supreme Court’s decision, citing the intention of legislators to allow for universal jurisdiction in Spain over certain international crimes. The Court stated that Spanish courts have jurisdiction to prosecute crimes including genocide, crimes against humanity and torture, regardless of the nationality of the victims or accused. Arrest warrants for eight accused were issued in July 2006 and accepted by the Guatemalan Constitutional Court. Nevertheless, in December 2007 the Guatemalan Court reversed its decision, holding that the warrants and extradition requests were invalid.

Despite the Guatemalan Court’s decision, an international call to invite witness testimony was issued, with testimonies taking place at various stages in 2008 and 2009. In February 2009, Christian Tomuschat, President of the Historical Clarification Commission (CEH) for Guatemala testified before the Spanish courts.

After being elected in 2007 for a seat in Congress, Montt again enjoyed immunity. But, with the end of his term in office on 14 January 2012, this immunity was lifted. Subsequently, on 26 January 2012, Montt had to appeare before a court in Guatemala. On 1 March 2012, a Guatemalan judge declined to grant Ríos Montt amnesty from genocide charges, paving the way for a trial. 

The trial started on March 19, in Guatemala City. Montt stood trail for genocide and other charges related to atrocities committed against members of the country’s Mayan Ixil population. On April 18 2013, the trial was annulled by a first-instance judge, Carol Patricia Flores, who had been suspended from the case in 2011 and then reinstated by a judgment of the Constitutional Court. Attorney General Claudia Paz y Paz declared the ruling “illegal” and vowed to use every measure available to stop it. A few days later, the Constitutional Court issued decisions regarding some of the major legal challenges which caused the trial to be temporary suspended. After two weeks the suspension was lifted and the trial was re-convened.

On May 10 2013, the 86-year-old Montt was sentenced to 50 years in prison for the crime of genocide and 30 years for crimes against humanity by el Tribunal Primero A de Mayor Riesgo. Judge Yassmin Barrios stated that Rios Montt was fully aware of plans to exterminate the indigenous Ixil population during his 1982-83 rule. The Court canceled any alternative measures and ordered his immediate detention. The Montt judgment has been called historic, because it is the first trial where a former head of state has been prosecuted and sentenced to jail by a national court for the crime of genocide

Related cases
Other cases related to Guatemala
Other cases before the Spanish Courts
Other cases related to the universal jurisdiction doctrine