The patrols functioned as pro-government militias to help the army fight leftist guerrillas, and like the army they faced widespread accusations of committing atrocities.
Guatemala’s 1960-1996 civil war pitted the army and police against leftist rebels, and resulted in more than 200,000 deaths. Members of the civil self-defense patrol group were initiated to control the countryside and protect their communities from the armed opposition to General Rios Montt's government in Guatemala, seen here in 1983.The five ex-patrol members were directly accused of raping five women of the Achí group in the village of Rabinal in 1982.
An additional 29 women said patrol members had participated in killings or kidnappings, but did not directly identify the five defendants as the perpetrators. Judge Gelvi Sical said the victims “have waited years to break the silence, be heard and demand justice.”
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