2023-12-04 05:44:00
On Monday, when the proceedings begin before the Assize Court of Flemish Brabant, the seats reserved for the five accused will remain empty. None will be present. This is not the only specificity of this trial: the acts which are being judged date from the early 1980s. They were committed in Guatemala. The victims are three Belgian missionaries. The accused are former dignitaries of the regime, now very elderly, who live in Guatemala or are detained there for other crimes.
This trial is being held under the law of universal jurisdiction which retains the jurisdiction of the Belgian assize courts for serious crimes under international humanitarian law (war crimes, crimes once morest humanity and crimes of genocide) insofar as it there is a criterion of connection with Belgium. This criterion is met if the alleged perpetrator is Belgian (or installed in Belgium) or if the victim is Belgian (or installed in Belgium). Crimes under international humanitarian law are imprescriptible.
The judicial investigation was opened in 2001 following the filing of civil claims by relatives of two of the victims and the Scheut mission, to which they belonged.
Guatemala was marked by a civil war between 1960 and 1996, pitting the military junta once morest various left-wing rebel groups supported by indigenous Mayan peoples and mestizo peasants. The conflict left 200,000 dead and 45,000 missing.
A terrible civil war
Guatemala was marked by a civil war between 1960 and 1996, pitting the military junta once morest various left-wing rebel groups supported by indigenous Mayan peoples and mestizo peasants. The conflict left 200,000 dead and 45,000 missing. The darkest years were between 1978 and 1985. The regime of President Romeo Lucas Garcia, between 1978 and 1982, was then considered one of the most brutal in the world.
In the 1970s, liberation theology took root in Latin America. This current took the side of the most deprived. In Guatemala, Belgian and foreign Scheutist missionaries played an important role in the Peasant Unity Committees (CUC) which fought for access to land for all in this country where land is concentrated in the hands of large landowners. The CUC have become a thorn in the side of the dictatorship. The repression targeted them. The church has also become a target of the regime.
Death squads
Walter Voordeckers, missionary from Scheut, left Belgium for Guatemala in 1966. He supported the opposition, notably siding with the sugar cane plantation workers. He knew he was being targeted. The words “Walter, communist”, “Walter, Go home”, had been inscribed on his parish house. On May 12, 1980, four men were waiting for him near it. Realizing that it was a death squad that wanted to kidnap him, he tried to flee. The paramilitaries fired and fatally hit him as he fled. He was 41 years old.
Ward Capiau was also a Scheut missionary. He settled in Guatemala in 1974. His very strong commitment to the resistance led his superiors to order him to return to Belgium to complete his religious training. An idealist, he preferred to continue the fight. On October 22, men came in two pick-ups and tried to take him away. He was killed while trying to escape from them.
Serge Berten, who arrived in Guatemala in 1975, also got involved with the farmers, as did Pol Schildermans. By January 1982, it became clear that the military wanted to target them. On January 4, Pol Schildermans was kidnapped. The mobilization was immediate and, a few days later, he was released. He had suffered torture. On January 19, 1982, Serge Berten was kidnapped. His body has never been found. He was 29 years old.
The perpetrators of these assassinations might not be identified. But the investigation went up the command ladder to determine responsibilities. Eight people were identified. Three of them died and are therefore not being prosecuted. Among these is Romeo Lucas Garcia, who was president from 1978 to 1982.
Two former ministers
This leaves five accused who have not been extradited to Belgium. The youngest is 79 years old. The oldest is 98 years old. First of all there is the former Minister of Defense, Angel Anibal Guevara Rodriguez and the former Minister of the Interior, Donaldo Alvarez Ruiz. The other three defendants are believed to be imprisoned in Guatemala: former police chief Pedro Garcia Arredondo, former army chief of staff Manuel Benedicto Lucas Garcia and former head of the Guatemalan intelligence services. army, Manuel Antonio Callejas y Callejas.
The five accused will be tried in absentia. “Just because the defendants aren’t here doesn’t mean they shouldn’t get a fair trial. We will investigate very thoroughly and meticulously to find out if they are guilty of the crimes with which they are accused,” the president of the Assize Court underlined on Wednesday when the jury was constituted. The families of the victims have joined as civil parties. In order to enlighten the jury, experts familiar with the Guatemalan reality will be heard. They will travel or be heard by videoconference. Two weeks are planned for this trial.
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