Regional court blames Guatemala for the disappearance of 4 human rights activists in 1989

Associated Press

GUATEMALA CITY (AP) — The Inter-American Court of Human Rights has ruled that the Guatemalan government was responsible for human rights violations in the disappearances of four Indigenous human rights defenders in 1989. The Costa Rica-based regional court said Thursday the men were “victims of forced disappearance by members of the Guatemalan army.” The state did not investigate, judge or sanction those responsible. The ruling says the Guatemalan government must take the steps necessary to establish what happened to the victims and punish those responsible. The men disappeared in April 1989 amid Guatemala’s 36-year civil war that ended in 1996.