Guatemala’s former dictator, Efrain Rios Montt, has been charged with genocide and crimes against humanity by Judge Carol Patricia Flores on Thursday.
Rios Montt ruled the country in 1982-83, after a military coup. A 36 -year civil war with leftist guerrillas, which ended in 1996, cost more than 200,000 lives, of which 93% were caused by state and paramilitary forces, according to a UN report.
The former dictator is accused of being involved in the deaths of over 1,700 and the displacement of 29,000 indigenous Guatemalans during his reign.
The forces under his command are accused of wiping out entire Mayan villages through murder, abductions and rape because they were perceived to be supportive of the leftist insurgency.
Human Rights groups welcomed the charges and hailed it as a historic day.
"The justice system is settling debts it had with indigenous people and society for grave human rights violations," said Eduardo de Leon of the Rigoberta Menchú foundation.
However the defence counsel accused the judge of violating due process and passing judgement without hearing testimony on the allegations.
"The judge's duty was to report the resolution. The fact is that she talked for an hour as if the case had already been prosecuted," said Danilo Rodriguez Galvez, the defence lawyer of Rios Montt.
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