The verdict is “Guilty” in the genocide trial of Guatemala’s former fascist dictator Efrain Rios Montt who oversaw the massacres of more than 1,700 Ixil natives in the 1980s.  He was immediately sentenced to 80-years in prison.  He will appeal, but at 86 years old, it’s a virtual guarantee Rios Montt will die in prison. 

The verdict is a milestone in Guatemalan politics because it is the first official acknowledgment that genocide occurred in the civil war.  Earlier, the current administration had reportedly put pressure on the judge to drop the case for fear of unrest.  But the verdict was greeted with cheers and relief in the courtroom, as was the sentence.

Nobel Peace Prize winner Rigoberta Menchu was in the courtroom and said "Today we are happy, because for many years it was said that genocide was a lie, but today the court said it was true".

“With this conviction, Guatemala leads by example in a region where entrenched impunity for past crimes sadly remains the norm,” said Sebastian Elgueta of Amnesty International.  “Guatemala must now follow up on this historic moment by ensuring that all those who took part in the murder, torture, rape and disappearance of tens of thousands of people are brought to justice.”

During the two years Rios Montt was in power, the military claimed a threat of leftist rebels as a guise to exterminate native Ixil villages, which Rios Montt suspected of harboring insurgents.  But it was just one bloody facet in a 36-year civil war that did not end until 1996.   By that time, more than 200,000 people were killed and a million people were refugees.

(Learn more about why Rios Montt was convicted here, here, and here)