On November 27, the Peace Brigades International-Guatemala Project posted on its Facebook page, “Today we accompanied the BDH [the Human Rights Law Firm] in the first declaration hearing of General Mendoza García in the accusation of genocide and duties against humanity against the Ixil people.”

PBI-Guatemala adds, “The defendant participated via video-conference from the Mariscal Zavala prison. Today the MP [Public Ministry] accused the crimes, and tomorrow the statement of Mendoza Garcia is expected.”

Prensa Libre reports, “On November 27, the first declaration hearing of Luis Enrique Mendoza García, a retired military officer, began in the Court of Higher Risk C, where he was indicted for acts of genocide, five months after he was captured in Baja Verapaz.”

“The appearance of Luis Enrique Mendoza García at the hearing was by videoconference because his defense argued that, recently, he underwent a surgical intervention on his hands and puts his health at risk from transfers from Mariscal Zavala to the Courthouse.”

The International Justice Monitor notes, “Mendoza García served as Chief of Operations (G3) of the General Staff of the Guatemalan army from April 1982 to July 1983, during the de facto regime of Efraín Ríos Montt.”

“Last September, High-Risk Court ‘B’ … determined unanimously that the Guatemalan army committed genocide against the Mayan Ixil between 1982 and 1983. Mendoza García was in charge of military operations in that region during those years.”

The Conversation has reported, “Luis Mendoza García, who has been on the run since 2011, was arrested on election day (June 16 while voting in his hometown.”

BDH is a group of lawyers who represent those whose human rights have been violated. It has been accompanied by PBI-Guatemala since 2013.