Final judgement in Sepur Zarco case

SRT grantee, Women Transforming the World (MTM), reported that an appeal against the Sepur Zarco Case convictions was rejected by the Constitutional Court of Guatemala yesterday.

During the internal armed conflict from 1960 to 1999 the Guatemalan military was responsible for the rape and enslavement of women in an indigenous community near the Sepur Zarco outpost. Between 2011 to 2016, 15 female survivors fought for the soldiers to be held to account. In February 2016 the High Risk Tribunal A convicted two of those soldiers, Esteelmer Reyes Girón and Heriberto Valdezo, of crimes against humanity and sentenced them respectively to 120 years and 240 years in prison.

The court had also granted 18 reparation measures to the survivors and their community, which the State must now provide.

The National Union of Guatemalan Women (UNAMG) and the Community Research and Psychosocial Action Team (ECAP) are the two other SRT grantees that provided support to Sepur Zarco survivors.