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2d ago

Guatemala court sentences three ex-paramilitaries to 40 years for rape of Maya Achi women

The ruling follows a 2022 trial that first held Civil Self-Defense Patrol members to account for sexual violence against Indigenous women.

Indigenous women stand next to an altar they created outside the Supreme Court as they wait for an expected ruling, by a different court, in a case against three former paramilitary fighters who were trained by the military and are accused of raping 36 women four decades ago during Guatemala's civil war, in Guatemala City, Friday, May 30, 2025. (AP Photo/Moises Castillo)
Indigenous women wait outside the Supreme Court to wait for an expected ruling, by a different court, in a case against three former paramilitary fighters who were trained by the military and are accused of raping 36 women four decades ago during Guatemala's civil war, in Guatemala City, Friday, May 30, 2025. (AP Photo/Moises Castillo)
Indigenous women arrive outside the Supreme Court to wait for an expected ruling, by a different court, in a case against three former paramilitary fighters who were trained by the military and are accused of raping 36 women four decades ago during Guatemala's civil war, in Guatemala City, Friday, May 30, 2025. (AP Photo/Moises Castillo)
Indigenous women hold the sign in Spanish "Justice for women" outside the Supreme Court as they wait for an expected ruling, by a different court, in a case against three former paramilitary fighters who were trained by the military and are accused of raping 36 women four decades ago during Guatemala's civil war, in Guatemala City, Friday, May 30, 2025. (AP Photo/Moises Castillo)

Overview

  • On May 30, 2025, a court in Guatemala City convicted three former Civil Self-Defense Patrol members of crimes against humanity for raping six Maya Achi women during the civil war and handed each a 40-year prison term.
  • Prosecutors presented testimony from six survivors and more than 160 pieces of evidence to document systematic sexual violence by army-backed paramilitary units between 1981 and 1983.
  • The Maya Achi case originated in 2011 when 36 Indigenous women reported wartime rapes to seek justice decades after the abuses occurred.
  • In January 2022, five other former paramilitaries were sentenced to 30 years each in the first Maya Achi trial, marking the initial convictions for these wartime crimes.
  • No soldiers have been prosecuted for their role in directing the Civil Self-Defense Patrol despite evidence of military involvement in the abuses.