A former commander with the Guatemalan Army has been stripped of his US citizenship and been handed a 10-year jail sentence after he was found to have lied about his role in massacres that took place in 1982, during the country’s brutal civil war.
54-year-old Jorge Sosa is accused of leading a counter-insurgency force of the Guatemalan military in 1982 known as the “Kabiles”. He is alleged to have overseen a massacre of over 200 civilians whilst leading a patrol in 1982, with members of the patrol also raping women and girls before killing them.
In a statement following the sentencing, Tamil American lawyer and the current acting Assistant Attorney General for the United States Department of Justice's Criminal Division Mythili Raman said,
"Jorge Sosa helped orchestrate the ruthless massacre of innocent villagers, including dozens of young children, and then lied about his past to obtain refuge in the United States."
"This prosecution demonstrates our resolve to deny safe haven to human rights violators and to ensure that these criminals are held accountable."
Sosa though, was only found guilty of failing to mention his role as a commander in the Guatemalan army on his US citizenship application papers. He was not charged over the massacre.
Responding to the sentencing Sebastian Elgueta, Guatemala researcher at Amnesty International, said,
“In addition to immigration violations, Sosa Orantes has a case to answer for war crimes. The US authorities must extradite him to Guatemala or prosecute him in the USA for crimes against international law.”
“Governments across the world have a responsibility to ensure those suspected of having committed human rights abuses face justice, wherever they are.”
See our earlier posts:
Guatemalan war criminal to be extradited to US (05 September 2011)
Guatemalan war crimes suspect appeal deemed 'hopeless' (10 August 2012)
Former Guatemalan army commander extradited to US (23 September 2012)