Civil War Massacre: Retired Guatemalan Colonel Sentenced to 20 Years for Civil War Massacre

Retired Guatemalan colonel Juan Ovalle Salazar was sentenced Thursday to 20 years in prison for his role in the massacre of 25 indigenous people nearly 40 years ago. Most of the victims of this massacre were children.

Judge Walter Mazariegos, who handed down the sentence in a Guatemala City court, said eight other former members of the Central American country's military and civil defense had been acquitted.

Owle appeared in court but did not speak, and his attorney was unavailable for comment. He will have 10 days from September 5 to appeal against the sentence, the judge said.

The massacre of 25 Maya Achi people, including 17 children, took place on 29 July 1982 in Rancho Bejuco, a mountain village north of the capital. This happened during the 17-month rule of General Efrain Ríos Montt, the bloodiest period of the 36-year civil war.

Ríos Montt was convicted of genocide in 2013 but the verdict was later overturned by a higher court.

Prosecutors said that Ovalle had ordered the massacre because some residents of Rancho Bezuco refused to join civilian self-defense patrols.

The prosecution said that 6 of the defendants were members of the PAC and two were military commissioners who coordinated army and PAC operations.

In his decision to acquit the eight, the judge said that they had acted on Owley's orders and that if they had not obeyed, they would have been executed.

A lawyer representing the families of the victims said they would appeal against the acquittals. "We believe there were many reasons to convict them all," said attorney Lucia Zilloz.