{"code":"26751","sect":"Central America","sect_slug":"central-america","hits":"1107","link":"https:\/\/elfaro.net\/en\/202303\/centroamerica\/26751","link_edit":"","name":"Disassembling the Death Squad Dossier Case","slug":"disassembling-the-death-squad-dossier-case","info":"With Judge Miguel \u00c1ngel G\u00e1lvez in exile, the court have begun dismantling the historical case of disappearance, extrajudicial execution and torture.","mtag":"Impunity","noun":{"html":"Jo-Marie Burt and Paulo Estrada","data":{"jo-marie-burt-and-paulo-estrada":{"sort":"","slug":"jo-marie-burt-and-paulo-estrada","path":"jo_marie_burt_and_paulo_estrada","name":"Jo-Marie Burt and Paulo Estrada"}}},"view":"1107","pict":{"cms-image-000037428-jpg":{"feat":"1","sort":"37428","name":"cms-image-000037428.jpg","link":"https:\/\/elfaro.net\/images\/cms-image-000037428.jpg","path":"https:\/\/elfaro.net\/images\/cms-image-000037428.jpg","back":"","slug":"cms-image-000037428-jpg","text":"<p>Marco Antonio Gonz\u00e1lez Taracena in civilian attire alongside the general and de facto President Humberto Mej\u00eda V\u00edctores, who took power in 1983 in a military coup against Efra\u00edn R\u00edos Montt. Prosecutors say the crimes named in the Diario Militar case were carried out by the Guatemalan military and police from 1983 to 1985, under the government of Mej\u00eda V\u00edctores. Photo:\u00a0Jean Marie Simon, courtesy of Verdad y Justicia Guatemala.<\/p>","capt":"\u003Cp\u003EMarco Antonio Gonz\u00e1lez Taracena in civilian attire alongside the general and de facto President Humberto Mej\u00eda V\u00edctores, who took power in 1983 in a military coup against Efra\u00edn R\u00edos Montt. Prosecutors say the crimes named in the Diario Militar case were carried out by the Guatemalan military and police from 1983 to 1985, under the government of Mej\u00eda V\u00edctores. Photo:\u00a0Jean Marie Simon, courtesy of Verdad y Justicia Guatemala.\u003C\/p\u003E"},"cms-image-000037425-jpg":{"feat":"0","sort":"37425","name":"cms-image-000037425.JPG","link":"https:\/\/elfaro.net\/images\/cms-image-000037425.JPG","path":"https:\/\/elfaro.net\/images\/cms-image-000037425.JPG","back":"","slug":"cms-image-000037425-jpg","text":"<p>Demonstrators left a tribute to victims outside of the Palace of Justice in Guatemala City on June 7, 2021 during a hearing for the Diario Militar case, also known as the \"Death Squad Dossier.\" Photo: V\u00edctor Pe\u00f1a\/El Faro<\/p>","capt":"\u003Cp\u003EDemonstrators left a tribute to victims outside of the Palace of Justice in Guatemala City on June 7, 2021 during a hearing for the Diario Militar case, also known as the \"Death Squad Dossier.\" Photo: V\u00edctor Pe\u00f1a\/El Faro\u003C\/p\u003E"}},"pict_main__sort":37428,"date":{"live":"2023\/03\/03"},"data_post_dateLive_YY":"2023","data_post_dateLive_MM":"03","data_post_dateLive_DD":"03","text":"\u003Cp dir=\"ltr\"\u003EFor decades, survivors and the families of the victims of the \u003Ca href=\"\/en\/202204\/centroamerica\/26139\/Trial-for-%E2%80%9CDeath-Squad-Dossier%E2%80%9D-Ties-Guatemalan-Wartime-Atrocities-to-Current-Criminal-Networks.htm\" target=\"_blank\"\u003E Death Squad Dossier case \u003C\/a\u003E have been demanding truth and justice. After years of no answers about the perpetrators or the whereabouts of their loved ones, who were arbitrarily detained, tortured, killed or disappeared between 1983 and 1985, the tail end of Guatemala\u2019s 36-year internal armed conflict, a pathway to justice opened: in May 2021, eleven retired military and police officials were arrested. The detention of four others, including one civilian, followed. The families dared to hope that, at last, they might see justice done.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cbr\/\u003E\u003Cbr\/\u003E\u003Cp dir=\"ltr\"\u003EBut with an increasingly \u003Ca href=\"https:\/\/www.wola.org\/analysis\/distortion-justice-guatemala\/\" target=\"_blank\"\u003E co-opted justice system \u003C\/a\u003E and a majority of judges exiled or beholden to mafias and corrupt politicians, that hope is fading fast.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cbr\/\u003E\u003Cbr\/\u003E\u003Cp dir=\"ltr\"\u003EThe Death Squad Dossier, or \u003Cem\u003EDiario Militar\u003C\/em\u003E case, is the most important transitional justice case in Guatemala since the 2013 Maya Ixil genocide trial. It involves the forced disappearance, extrajudicial execution, arbitrary detention, torture and sexual abuse of at least 195 Guatemalans during the military government of Humberto Mej\u00eda V\u00edctores (1983-1986).\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cbr\/\u003E\u003Cbr\/\u003E\u003Cp dir=\"ltr\"\u003EOne of Guatemala\u2019s most well-known and respected judges, Miguel \u00c1ngel G\u00e1lvez, formerly of High Risk Court \u201cB,\u201d presided over the preliminary phase of the case. He broke new ground in 2016 when he seized critical military documents relevant to it. He began hearing the evidence against the first suspects and, in May 2022, ordered nine of them to trial. The evidentiary phase was filled with devastating accounts. The judge heard the testimonies of women who were children at the time the security forces came to their homes searching for their parents, and who were brutally raped. He heard how six of the 131 victims of forced disappearance were later found at the Comalapa military base, in 2011.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cbr\/\u003E\u003Cbr\/\u003E\u003Cp dir=\"ltr\"\u003EAmong those Judge G\u00e1lvez sent to trial were senior military officials who had \u003Ca href=\"\/en\/202204\/centroamerica\/26139\/Trial-for-\" target=\"_blank\"\u003E deep connections to present-day criminal networks\u003C\/a\u003E. Men like retired general Marco Antonio Gonz\u00e1lez Taracena, who at the time of his arrest was the vice president of the Association of Military Veterans of Guatemala (Avemilgua), an organization of military hardliners that has staunchly opposed criminal prosecutions of war crimes and that has sought to impose an amnesty that would bring an end to all accountability efforts for wartime atrocities. Gonz\u00e1lez Taracena, who \u003Ca href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/Ejercito_GT\/status\/1536919686767599617\" target=\"_blank\"\u003E died shortly after he was ordered to face trial \u003C\/a\u003E on June 14, 2022, has also been linked to the organized crime syndicate known as \u003Cem\u003ELa Cofrad\u00eda\u003C\/em\u003E, or The Brotherhood.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cbr\/\u003E\u003Cbr\/\u003E\u003Cp dir=\"ltr\"\u003EThere is also retired army colonel \u003Ca href=\"\/en\/202204\/centroamerica\/26139\/Trial-for-\" target=\"_blank\"\u003E Jacobo Esdras Sal\u00e1n S\u00e1nchez\u003C\/a\u003E, reportedly tied to \u003Cem\u003ELa Cofrad\u00eda\u003C\/em\u003E and other criminal networks, who in 2014 was convicted of stealing funds from the Ministry of Defense, where he was serving as an advisor during the Alfonso Portillo administration. \u003Ca href=\"\/en\/202205\/centroamerica\/26172\/Guatemalan-Judge-under-Threat-after-Ordering-Trial-in-1980s-\" target=\"_blank\"\u003E Toribio Acevedo Ram\u00edrez\u003C\/a\u003E, \u003Ca href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/HijosGuatemala\/status\/1524358577418297345\" target=\"_blank\"\u003E chief of security \u003C\/a\u003E for the powerful company Cementos Progreso, has been implicated in a series of human rights violations in recent years. He was arrested on May 10, 2022 in Panama after a year as a fugitive, and sent to Guatemala.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cbr\/\u003E\u003Cbr\/\u003E\u003Cp dir=\"ltr\"\u003EJudge G\u00e1lvez was about to initiate the evidentiary phase hearings against Acevedo Ram\u00edrez and four other defendants when the Foundation against Terrorism (FCT), another pro-military organization that has sought to obstruct and stop human rights trials, ramped up its \u003Ca href=\"\/en\/202205\/centroamerica\/26172\/Guatemalan-Judge-under-Threat-after-Ordering-Trial-in-1980s-\" target=\"_blank\"\u003E campaign to criminalize and intimidate \u003C\/a\u003E the judge. The FCT brought spurious charges against G\u00e1lvez that sought to have his immunity lifted. They flooded social media with messages attacking his conduct as a judge as well as fabrications about his personal life and \u003Ca href=\"\/en\/202211\/centroamerica\/26486\/Death-Squad-Dossier-Judge-Recounts-His-Fearful-Months-before-Exile.htm\" target=\"_blank\"\u003E published \u201cbingo cards\u201d assuring he would be the next judge to fall\u003C\/a\u003E. On November 15, G\u00e1lvez \u003Ca href=\"\/en\/202211\/opinion\/26471\/Clandestine-Structures-in-Guatemala-Consummate-Witch-Hunt-against-Judge-of-\" target=\"_blank\"\u003E announced \u003C\/a\u003E his resignation after 25 years as a judge. He now lives in exile in Europe.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cbr\/\u003E\u003Cbr\/\u003E\u003Cp dir=\"ltr\"\u003EWith Judge G\u00e1lvez out of the way, the path was clear to begin dismantling the case.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cbr\/\u003E\u003Cbr\/\u003E\u003Cp dir=\"ltr\"\u003EJudge Claudette Dom\u00ednguez, who has been \u003Ca href=\"https:\/\/www.ijmonitor.org\/2019\/06\/in-major-setback-judge-dismisses-charges-in-the-maya-achi-sexual-violence-case\/\" target=\"_blank\"\u003E criticized \u003C\/a\u003E for several rulings in both human rights violations and corruption cases favoring military officials, briefly took over G\u00e1lvez\u2019s cases. In 2017, she \u003Ca href=\"https:\/\/www.ijmonitor.org\/2017\/03\/fears-that-congressman-ovalle-impeached-in-relation-to-creompaz-case-may-have-fled\/\" target=\"_blank\"\u003E lifted the travel ban \u003C\/a\u003E against former congressman Edgar Justino Ovalle amid his impeachment trial for his role in the mass forced disappearance case known as CREOMPAZ; he remains a fugitive. Famously, she was \u003Ca href=\"https:\/\/www.ijmonitor.org\/2019\/09\/judge-dominguez-removed-from-maya-achi-sexual-violence-case\/\" target=\"_blank\"\u003E recused \u003C\/a\u003E by the \u003Ca href=\"https:\/\/www.wola.org\/analysis\/dr-jomarie-burt-indigenous-women-guatemala-courage-break-silence\/\" target=\"_blank\"\u003E Achi women of Rabinal \u003C\/a\u003E who brought sexual violence charges against former paramilitary officials who raped them during the armed conflict. Judge G\u00e1lvez took over the case and sent five of the paramilitaries to trial. In January 2022, they were \u003Ca href=\"\/en\/202202\/columns\/0000025998\" target=\"_blank\"\u003Econvicted\u003C\/a\u003E of crimes against humanity. Another three men, who were released when Judge Dom\u00ednguez dismissed the charges against them, \u003Ca href=\"\/en\/202202\/columns\/0000025998\" target=\"_blank\"\u003Eremain free\u003C\/a\u003E.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cbr\/\u003E\u003Cbr\/\u003E\u003Cp dir=\"ltr\"\u003EIn Guatemala, individuals charged with premeditated murder are held in preventive detention until their trial takes place and are not eligible for house arrest. But with Judge G\u00e1lvez gone, so far, five of the accused in the case have requested \u2014and obtained\u2014 a change in custody status based on alleged health problems. Some of them are not even under house arrest.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cbr\/\u003E\u003Cbr\/\u003E\u003Cp dir=\"ltr\"\u003EThe first to petition for a review of his custody status was a lawyer and former security director of Cementos Progreso, Toribio Acevedo Ram\u00edrez. The last of 15 suspects to be arrested, Acevedo Ram\u00edrez, who has been identified by witnesses in the case as a vicious torturer, had unsuccessfully sought to have Judge G\u00e1lvez recused and requested release from preventive detention, alleging health concerns.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cbr\/\u003E\u003Cbr\/\u003E\u003Cp dir=\"ltr\"\u003ETwo weeks after G\u00e1lvez abandoned Guatemala, on November 28, Judge Dom\u00ednguez \u003Ca href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/VerdadJusticiaG\/status\/1597347092284178432\" target=\"_blank\"\u003E granted \u003C\/a\u003E Acevedo Ram\u00edrez\u2019s request, granting him the ability to move freely in the department of Zacapa, Sacatepequez and in Guatemala City, despite the fact that Guatemalan law requires those accused of crimes against humanity to be held in preventive detention, and that victims and witnesses who have identified him as responsible for torture reside in these departments. While the judge ordered Acevedo Ram\u00edrez to submit a medical report every 15 days, the plaintiffs\u2019 lawyers say they have received no information about whether he has done so.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cbr\/\u003E\u003Cbr\/\u003E\u003Cp dir=\"ltr\"\u003EIn December, alternate judge Rudy Bautista Fuentes was temporarily assigned to replace Judge Dom\u00ednguez. In three separate hearings in January, he heard petitions filed by the defense attorneys for three military officers accused in the Death Squad Diary case, requesting that their clients be released from preventive detention and placed under house arrest, based on the principle of equality, citing the case of Acevedo Ram\u00edrez. They also alleged health issues and assured that it was a \u003Ca href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/VerdadJusticiaG\/status\/1613957477183393792?s=20\" target=\"_blank\"\u003E humanitarian \u003C\/a\u003E matter. The plaintiffs\u2019 lawyers objected, stating that the Guatemalan law does not allow house arrest for those charged with murder or forced disappearance, and that granting the freedom could put survivors, families of victims, and expert witnesses at risk. The judge \u003Ca href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/VerdadJusticiaG\/status\/1612528689207468058\" target=\"_blank\"\u003E rejected \u003C\/a\u003E the petition, but when explaining his decision, he said that if the defense presented medical certificates documenting their clients\u2019 health issues, the petition would be granted.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cbr\/\u003E\u003Cbr\/\u003E\u003Cp dir=\"ltr\"\u003E\u003Cbr\/\u003E \u003Cfigure class=\"pict pict_land pict_move_posc 0 cs_img cs_img--curr rule--ss_c\" data-shot=\"pict\" data-hint=\"pict\"\u003E \u003Cdiv class=\"pict__pobj text-overflow\"\u003E\u003Cimg src=https:\/\/elfaro.net\/get_img?ImageWidth=3000&ImageHeight=2000&ImageId=37428 class=\"pobj\" style=\"max-width: 100%\" rel=\"resizable\" alt=\"Marco Antonio Gonz\u00e1lez Taracena in civilian attire alongside the general and de facto President Humberto Mej\u00eda V\u00edctores, who took power in 1983 in a military coup against Efra\u00edn R\u00edos Montt. Prosecutors say the crimes named in the Diario Militar case were carried out by the Guatemalan military and police from 1983 to 1985, under the government of Mej\u00eda V\u00edctores. Photo:\u00a0Jean Marie Simon, courtesy of Verdad y Justicia Guatemala.\" \/\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E \u003Cfigcaption class=\"pict__text cs_img_caption folk_content typo_buttons line--ss_s0c line--ss_s0c--auto block full-width text-overflow rule--ss_l relative\"\u003E \u003Cdiv class=\"__content block-inline full-width align-top tint-text--idle relative\"\u003E Marco Antonio Gonz\u00e1lez Taracena in civilian attire alongside the general and de facto President Humberto Mej\u00eda V\u00edctores, who took power in 1983 in a military coup against Efra\u00edn R\u00edos Montt. Prosecutors say the crimes named in the Diario Militar case were carried out by the Guatemalan military and police from 1983 to 1985, under the government of Mej\u00eda V\u00edctores. Photo:\u00a0Jean Marie Simon, courtesy of Verdad y Justicia Guatemala. \u003Cdiv class=\"photographer text_italic rule--ss_l tint-text--idle\"\u003E \u003C\/div\u003E \u003C\/div\u003E \u003C\/figcaption\u003E \u003C\/figure\u003E\u003Cbr\/\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cbr\/\u003E\u003Cbr\/\u003E\u003Cp dir=\"ltr\"\u003EOn January 31, on his last day at the helm of High Risk Tribunal \u201cB\u201d, Judge Bautista Fuentes held a hearing at the request of retired army colonel \u003Ca href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/VerdadJusticiaG\/status\/1620455879605882882\" target=\"_blank\"\u003E Jacobo Esdras Sal\u00e1n S\u00e1nchez \u003C\/a\u003E and Malfred Orlando P\u00e9rez Ram\u00edrez. The defense presented reports from physicians at the Military Medical Center as well as private doctors stating that while they had not examined the defendants, they reviewed their files and were able to determine that they should be granted house arrest. The plaintiffs \u003Ca href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/VerdadJusticiaG\/status\/1620519729751552000\" target=\"_blank\"\u003E objected\u003C\/a\u003E, reminding the judge that medical reports from the National Institute of Forensic Science (INACIF) stated that the defendants were stable and in good health, and that house arrest is not applicable for those crimes. Nevertheless, Judge Bautista Fuentes \u003Ca href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/VerdadJusticiaG\/status\/1620867296918134787?s=20\" target=\"_blank\"\u003E decreed \u003C\/a\u003E \"preventive detention \u003Ca href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/VerdadJusticiaG\/status\/1620853044144672769?s=20\" target=\"_blank\"\u003E without any surveillance\u003C\/a\u003E\u201d for both of the accused.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cbr\/\u003E\u003Cbr\/\u003E\u003Cp dir=\"ltr\"\u003EAfter the hearing concluded, families of the victims spoke out against the judge\u2019s decision to free Sal\u00e1n S\u00e1nchez. N\u00e9stor Villatoro, whose father \u003Ca href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/CasoDiarioM\/status\/1491511105545547784?s=20\" target=\"_blank\"\u003E Amancio Samuel Villatoro \u003C\/a\u003E is one of the few victims of the Death Squad Dossier whose body was \u003Ca href=\"https:\/\/nsarchive2.gwu.edu\/NSAEBB\/NSAEBB363\/\" target=\"_blank\"\u003Eexhumed\u003C\/a\u003E from the Comalapa military base in 2011, was among those who expressed their frustration at what he \u003Ca href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/VerdadJusticiaG\/status\/1620916707232743426\" target=\"_blank\"\u003E called \u003C\/a\u003E an \u201cinjustice to us, our families, to all of Guatemala.\u201d N\u00e9stor Villatoro, a key \u003Ca href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/VerdadJusticiaG\/status\/1620916937273344000?s=20\" target=\"_blank\"\u003E eyewitness \u003C\/a\u003E against Sal\u00e1n S\u00e1nchez, who he says kidnapped and later disappeared his father \u2014\u201cHe came into my home, he pointed pistols at our heads, he hit my mother, he put a pistol to my head\u201d he \u003Ca href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/VerdadJusticiaG\/status\/1620916707232743426\" target=\"_blank\"\u003E said\u003C\/a\u003E\u2014, also objected. \u201cThey have done inhumane things, things we don\u2019t want to see happen again. The pain they caused our families is irreparable,\u201d he said.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cbr\/\u003E\u003Cbr\/\u003E\u003Cp dir=\"ltr\"\u003EJudge Bautista Fuentes is reportedly close to Mynor Moto, a notorious former judge who was investigated for his alleged involvement in cases including the \u003Ca href=\"https:\/\/www.ricig.org\/anulan-orden-de-captura-contra-juez-mynor-moto\/\" target=\"_blank\"\u003E manipulation of judge and magistrate elections \u003C\/a\u003E in 2020. In December 2022, Moto\u2019s arrest warrant was \u003Ca href=\"https:\/\/www.prensalibre.com\/guatemala\/justicia\/juez-jimi-bremer-anula-orden-de-captura-contra-mynor-moto-vinculado-al-caso-comisiones-paralelas-2020\" target=\"_blank\"\u003E revoked \u003C\/a\u003E by Judge Jimi Bremer\u2014the same who \u003Ca href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/VerdadJusticiaG\/status\/1200495462052184065?s=20\" target=\"_blank\"\u003E granted \u003C\/a\u003E house arrest without any surveillance to retired General Luis Enrique M\u00e9ndoza Garc\u00eda, chief of military operations under Efra\u00edn R\u00edos Montt, who had been charged with genocide and crimes against humanity and who had been fugitive for eight years before being \u003Ca href=\"https:\/\/www.ijmonitor.org\/2019\/06\/rios-montts-chief-of-operations-fugitive-since-2011-arrested-while-voting\/\" target=\"_blank\"\u003E arrested \u003C\/a\u003E in 2019.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cbr\/\u003E\u003Cbr\/\u003E\u003Cp dir=\"ltr\"\u003EIn January, the Constitutional Court (CC) \u003Ca href=\"https:\/\/www.prensalibre.com\/guatemala\/justicia\/la-corte-de-constitucionalidad-confirma-fallo-que-libro-al-juez-mynor-moto-de-una-orden-de-captura-breaking\/\" target=\"_blank\"\u003E upheld \u003C\/a\u003E Bremer\u2019s revocation of Moto\u2019s warrant. This is the same CC that in November 2022 \u003Ca href=\"https:\/\/www.soy502.com\/articulo\/otorgan-amparo-salan-sanchez-dejan-sin-efecto-resolucion-50172\" target=\"_blank\"\u003E ordered \u003C\/a\u003E a partial suspension of Judge G\u00e1lvez\u2019s trial order for Sal\u00e1n S\u00e1nchez and eight other military and police officials for the Death Squad Dossier.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cbr\/\u003E\u003Cbr\/\u003E\u003Cp dir=\"ltr\"\u003EThe plaintiffs fear that this could open the door to a total dismantling of the case. The CC also \u003Ca href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/CanalAntigua\/status\/1621368867472789504\/photo\/1\" target=\"_blank\"\u003E greenlighted \u003C\/a\u003E just a few weeks ago an injunction filed by the former senior military officials \u003Ca href=\"https:\/\/www.ijmonitor.org\/2018\/08\/the-molina-theissen-judgment-part-i-overview-of-the-courts-findings\/\" target=\"_blank\"\u003E convicted \u003C\/a\u003E in 2018 for forced disappearance, aggravated sexual assault and crimes against humanity, former army chief Benedicto Lucas Garc\u00eda, former military intelligence chief Manuel Antonio Callejas y Callejas, and former head of the Quetzaltenango military base Luis Francisco Gordillo Mart\u00ednez in the \u003Ca href=\"https:\/\/www.ijmonitor.org\/2018\/08\/the-molina-theissen-judgment-part-i-overview-of-the-courts-findings\/\" target=\"_blank\"\u003E Molina Theissen \u003C\/a\u003E kidnapping, torture, rape, and enforced disappearance case. The former officials remain in custody, as the CC decision is being appealed by the Molina Theissen family. Lucas Garc\u00eda and Callejas face charges, too, in the \u003Ca href=\"https:\/\/www.wola.org\/2023\/01\/genocide-trial-against-high-level-military-officials-to-begin-in-guatemala\/\" target=\"_blank\"\u003E Maya Ixil genocide case\u003C\/a\u003E.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cbr\/\u003E\u003Cbr\/\u003E\u003Cp dir=\"ltr\"\u003ECurrent CC magistrates H\u00e9ctor Hugo P\u00e9rez Aguilera and Roberto Molina Barreto voted in 2013 with one other magistrate to suspend the genocide conviction against R\u00edos Montt. One of the two magistrates who write dissenting opinions, Gloria Porras, is currently \u003Ca href=\"https:\/\/www.newyorker.com\/news\/dispatch\/the-exile-of-guatemalas-anti-corruption-efforts\" target=\"_blank\"\u003E in exile \u003C\/a\u003E after running afoul of the corrupt elites who now rule Guatemala.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cbr\/\u003E\u003Cbr\/\u003E\u003Cp dir=\"ltr\"\u003EIf there is any doubt about Molina Barreto\u2019s loyalties, suffice it to say that he was Zury R\u00edos\u2019 vice-presidential candidate in 2019. Zury R\u00edos is constitutionally barred from running for president because she is the daughter of Efra\u00edn R\u00edos Montt, who carried out a coup d\u2019\u00e9tat in 1982, but that ban is unlikely to be upheld in this year\u2019s presidential election, where she has a real opportunity to win.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cbr\/\u003E\u003Cbr\/\u003E\u003Cp dir=\"ltr\"\u003EA third CC magistrate is also close to Zury R\u00edos: \u003Ca href=\"https:\/\/www.wola.org\/analysis\/behind-the-fight-to-hijack-guatemalas-justice-system\/\" target=\"_blank\"\u003E Luis Alfonso Rosales Marroqu\u00edn \u003C\/a\u003E was her father\u2019s lawyer during the second genocide trial and was a member of her current party, Valor.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cbr\/\u003E\u003Cbr\/\u003E\u003Cp dir=\"ltr\"\u003EThe remaining two CC magistrates are also reportedly connected to corruption networks. \u003Ca href=\"https:\/\/www.prensalibre.com\/guatemala\/justicia\/cc-rechaza-amparo-de-feci-para-investigar-a-nester-vasquez-por-caso-de-comisiones-paralelas-2020\" target=\"_blank\"\u003E Nester V\u00e1squez \u003C\/a\u003E was accused of participating with Mynor Moto of influencing the election of judges and magistrates. Leyla Lemus was appointed to the CC by President Alejandro Giammatei while being his personal secretary, despite her lack of credentials as well as credible evidence that she \u003Ca href=\"https:\/\/www.plazapublica.com.gt\/content\/usac-confirma-que-leyla-lemus-mintio-respecto-tener-un-doctorado\" target=\"_blank\"\u003E lied on her resume \u003C\/a\u003E about her academic achievements.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cbr\/\u003E\u003Cbr\/\u003E\u003Cp dir=\"ltr\"\u003EOn February 7, the Guatemala Supreme Court of Justice announced that Judge Eva Recinos would be the new presiding judge of High Risk Tribunal \u201cB,\u201d in charge of the Death Squad case. Recinos previously sat on Tribunal \"C,\" which, under the leadership of Judge \u003Ca href=\"https:\/\/www.reuters.com\/world\/americas\/guatemalas-supreme-court-suspends-senior-anti-corruption-judge-2022-03-23\/\" target=\"_blank\"\u003E Pablo Xitumul \u003C\/a\u003E \u2014now suspended from exercising his judgeship\u2014 \u003Ca href=\"https:\/\/www.bbc.com\/news\/world-latin-america-45806524\" target=\"_blank\"\u003E convicted \u003C\/a\u003E former Vice President Roxana Baldetti of corruption and sent Lucas Garc\u00eda, Caleljas y Callejas, and other retired senior military officials to prison in the Molina Theissen case.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cbr\/\u003E\u003Cbr\/\u003E\u003Cp\u003EA week after assuming her new position, Recinos granted Baldetti \u2014who has other corruption cases and a U.S. extradition request for drug trafficking charges pending\u2014 a hearing to consider her petition to be released from prison and placed under house arrest on humanitarian grounds. Recinos\u00a0\u003Ca href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/lahoragt\/status\/1625524650770935810?s=46&t=4mrcDpuU48exJyV6w6q4Lg\" target=\"_blank\"\u003Eacceded\u003C\/a\u003E, too, to prosecutors\u2019 request that the hearing be conducted behind closed doors, and evicted members of the press and trial observers from the courtroom. While Recinos did not accept Baldetti\u2019s request, she said that she would reconsider if she presented the corresponding medical documents.\u003C\/p\u003E"}