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Judi Lynn

(160,219 posts)
Wed May 28, 2014, 09:59 PM May 2014

As Guatemala replaces attorney general, some see setback to rule of law

As Guatemala replaces attorney general, some see setback to rule of law
By Benjamin Reeves
McClatchy Foreign StaffMay 28, 2014 Updated 21 minutes ago


[font size=1]
Claudia Paz y Paz, appointed the attorney general in December 2010, who won the first convictions against officers
accused in some of the worst massacres, sits in her office in February 2013 in Guatemala City, Guatemala. She has now
been replaced by a new attorney general who is closely aligned with Guatemala's former dictator.
VICTOR J. BLUE — NYT [/font]

Antigua, Guatemala — The installation of a new attorney general with close ties to the party founded by former dictator Jose Efrain Rios Montt likely signals the end of any effort to pursue a genocide conviction against the retired general.

Former Supreme Court judge Thelma Esperanza Aldana Hernandez took office May 17 as attorney general, generating pessimism among judicial rights analysts who fear that she may cease prosecuting human rights and organized crime cases and focus on lesser street crime.

The selection process leading up to Aldana’s appointment as attorney general was "irregular," said Angelina Godoy, director of the Center for Human Rights at the University of Washington. "Guatemala faces a huge challenge … It’s hard not to see recent events as setbacks."

News reports in Guatemala say Aldana may favor amnesty for crimes committed during the 1960-1996 civil war, and her selection is seen by many as a death knell for the genocide prosecution of Rios Montt, who ruled 1982-1983 in a particularly brutal phase of the war.

More:
http://www.theolympian.com/2014/05/28/3154251/as-guatemala-replaces-attorney.html#storylink=cpy

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