During 1982 and 1983, Ach\u00ed women faced an onslaught of sexual violence and domestic slavery. Their testimonies tell us of the abuses they faced at the hands of the Guatemalan Army and Civil Defense Patrols. Many of their abusers were neighbors or acquaintances from nearby communities.<\/span><\/p>\n In 2011, they decided to break their silence and file a case with the Public Ministry. 36 women reported the violence that they had faced. When the case was filed, they didn\u2019t expect the proceedings to take long. However, the Public Ministry took seven years to bring the case to trial. The Public Ministry presented the accusations of only five out of the 36 women, pursuing only former Civil Defense Patrol members and leaving out soldiers and other perpetrators.<\/span><\/p>\n Since then, the women\u2019s search for justice has been a long journey. On November 30, 2016, the Interamerican Court of Human Rights ruled that Guatemala had to remove the obstacles that supported the impunity of the perpetrators in this case and asked to reopen investigations of all acts of genocide committed against the Ach\u00ed Mayan people. They were going to sanction those responsible for violations of human rights.<\/span><\/p>\n The Ach\u00ed women had been waiting more than 40 years for justice. They met with many obstacles that perpetuated a cycle of impunity, such as the racism and machismo that grip the country, state structures, and the judicial system. For example, take the actions of Judge Claudette Dom\u00ednguez, who let the accused go free and threw out the testimonies of the women. On the other hand, they faced revictimization in 2018. The case was closed in 2019, when three Patrol members were let off: Pedro S\u00e1nchez Cortez, Sime\u00f3n Enr\u00edquez G\u00f3mez, and F\u00e9lix Tum Ram\u00edrez.<\/span><\/p>\n At that point, public defenders in Rabinal, Luc\u00eda Xiloj, a K\u2019ich\u00e9 Mayan; and Hayde\u00e9 Valey and Gloria Reyes Xitumul, Ach\u00ed Mayans; along with the 36 women continued the fight for justice, bringing the case to Judge Miguel \u00c1ngel G\u00e1lvez, who resolved to bring the accused Patrol members to trial for their crimes.<\/span><\/p>\n Despite many obstacles, the trial began on January 5, 2022. Key testimony from five of the 36 women\u2014Margarita Alvarado Enr\u00edquez, Marcela Alvarado Enr\u00edquez, Inocenta Alvarado Enr\u00edquez, Estefana Alvarado Sic, and Pedrina L\u00f3pez de Paz\u2014was elemental throughout the trial. The testimony of experts, family members, and other women who shared the story of what happened in their communities was also presented.<\/span><\/p>\n The case was assigned to the Court of Greater Risk A, presided by Jasm\u00edn Barrios. Witnesses revealed what happened through their testimony, and while the pain in their eyes was notable, so too was their desire for justice. Long days of trial began at 8am and were observed by 31 women who supported the five women whose voices represented what all of them lived through at the hands of the Patrols and soldiers.<\/span><\/p>\n Exhaustion, silence, tears, and at times anguish overcame the women as they listened to the testimonies yet again.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cThey came and raped me. They muzzled me and hit me. I was pregnant and yet they pressed on my stomach\u2026I suffered in the hands of all of the Patrol members,\u201d<\/i><\/b> said one of the plaintiffs.<\/span><\/p>\n The viewing gallery was silent after hearing what had happened. Through a screen, the accused listened to the crimes they had committed, but none wanted to testify to the court. They just said a few words saying that they, Benvenuto Ru\u00edz Aquino, Bernardo Ru\u00edz Aquino, Dami\u00e1n Cuxum Alvarado, Gabriel Cuxum Alvarado y Francisco Cuxum Alvarado, were innocent.<\/span><\/p>\n After these women were raped by these men, they ran into them for years in the community until this judicial process began. Fear was latent. They were not just afraid of the perpetrators themselves, but also their families. Despite this, the women viewed the trials with full attention, sometimes crying in indignation as the defense tried to disprove their testimonies.<\/span><\/p>\n Pedrina L\u00f3pez, one of the youngest witnesses, told the story of how she was abused in her house on August 20, 1984.<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cThese two raped me when I was 12 years old\u2026Benvenuto and Bernardo Ruiz Aquino raped me for two hours in front of my siblings. They robbed me of my childhood and took my parents away.\u201d<\/i><\/b><\/p>\n After her testimony, Ms. Pedrina cried with her brother and aunt, who also testified in the trial.<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cBenvenuto climbed up on my mother, grabbed her red necklace, and later she left, saying \u2018goodbye my son, take care of your siblings.\u2019 She did not come back. Benvenuto grabbed my sister, threw her on the bed, and raped her while she cried.\u201d<\/i><\/b><\/p>\n According to expert testimony by Dr. Aura Cumes and others like Dr. Irma Alicia Nimatuj, about 94% of the rapes of Ach\u00ed Mayan women were gang rape (where between 2 and 20 rapists assaulted them). The youngest victim was just 12 years old. Abuses described by witnesses ranged from torture to domestic slavery: the women were put to work by the military detachment that was stationed in the Chocoj community in Rabinal and were forced to feed the Patrol members and soldiers. The camp also became the site of torture.<\/span><\/p>\n One of the witnesses that was held in the camp testified the following:<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cBoth men and women were raped by the detachment. They hit us and cut us up\u2026I heard the soldiers laughing, saying that everyone was going to get a turn, and they raped us\u201d<\/i><\/b><\/p>\n During the trial, it was decided and proven that the Patrols were created by the Army, and in the case of Rabinal, there were Patrol groups that were armed by the Army. It was also proven that acts of sexual violence were committed as war crimes against humanity. These women were not victims of collateral damage, but rather a political attack, since the Patrols were agents of the State. They were directly responsible for the violence the women faced.<\/span><\/p>\n We want justice<\/i><\/b><\/p>\n The trial took about three weeks, with the Court finally handing down its sentence on January 24th, 2022. As the sentence was read, the women waited with uncertainty and the hope that they would finally achieve justice for the survivors.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cWe are the truth because the truth is in our hearts. What we want is justice. I feel good after testifying because I am the truth. We, the group, are here because we suffered, and what I suffered in my case is the truth and what I said in court was the truth\u2026those men who we named are the ones who erred against us and our bodies,\u201d <\/i><\/b>said Pedrina L\u00f3pez de Paz.<\/span><\/p>\n Pedrina and Margarita rose to speak and ask for justice in front of the Court before the sentencing. They were the voices of the 36 women. The sentence would be justice not only for the five women who testified, but rather for all the Ach\u00ed Mayan women who were subjected to sexual violence and other abuses.<\/span><\/p>\n The Court of Greater Risk A gave its sentence, condemning Bernardo and Benvenuto Ruiz Aquino to 30 years in jail for sexual violence against Pedrina L\u00f3pez. Dami\u00e1n Cuxum Alvarado, Gabriel Cuxum Alvarado, and Francisco Cuxum Alvarado were sentenced to 30 years for sexual violence and slavery. These were crimes against humanity.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n During this years-long search for justice, two of the 36 women passed away without seeing their abusers sentenced. However, this did not stop the fight, as we still have their testimonies. For the second time in the history of Guatemala, acts of sexual violence have been recognized and brought to court, demonstrating that they were used by the Army as a weapon during the Civil War.<\/span><\/p>\n The effort to see sexual violence recognized as a tool of genocide and weapon of war was first seen in the fight by Ixil Mayan women in a genocide trial. It was also seen when the Q\u2019echi Mayan women argued the Sepur Zarco case. Now we see it in the case of the 36 Ach\u00ed women who have held their position at the front of this dignified fight for justice. \u201cThis sentence is the start of the path forward,\u201d they said.<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cWe want justice, not tricks. We want them to keep their word. The rapes and disappearances were unjust. We want them to keep their word and for there to be justice now.\u201d \u201cWe don\u2019t want what happened in our village to be the only case judged. We want justice for all the widows, orphans, and elderly women in all the villages across Baja Verapaz,\u201d claimed Pedrina L\u00f3pez and Maxima Emilina Garc\u00eda as testimonies.<\/b><\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.entremundos.org\/revista\/wp-content\/uploads\/2032\/03\/dsc_5988-con-color.jpg?ssl=1\")
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