Photo by Famdegua of hearing on May 20.

On May 19, PBI-Guatemala posted: “PBI accompanies the Human Rights Law Firm (BDH) at the hearing of the first statement of Toribio Acevedo Ramírez in the #MilitaryDiaryCase.”

On May 20, PBI-Guatemala accompanied the continuation of the Hearing of the First Statement of Toribio Acevedo Ramírez.

On May 23, La Hora reported: “After 3 days of hearing the first statement, the High Risk Judge B, Miguel Ángel Gálvez, decided to link Toribio Acevedo Ramírez to criminal proceedings for crimes against humanity for the Military Diary case.”

Prensa Libre also reported: “The [Public Ministry] said that the crimes for which he was linked are against the duties of humanity, forced disappearance, murder and attempted murder. The Prosecutor’s Office added that Acevedo Ramírez was sent to preventive detention.”

That article adds: “The events, according to the investigations, were recorded during the de facto regime presided over by General Óscar Humberto Mejía Víctores between 1982 and 1986. Acevedo Ramírez … served as a member of the Presidential General Staff.”

And Prensa Comunitaria noted: “Judge Gálvez set the start of the intermediate stage for Monday, September 5, at 9 in the morning. He also gave a period of three months for the Public Ministry to carry out the corresponding investigation.”

PBI accompaniment of the Military Diary case

The “Military Diary” was prepared by military intelligence, describes the cases of at least 183 people who were considered “enemies of the state” and who were disappeared or murdered in the 1980s. Earlier this month, a high-risk court sent nine other former police and ex-military officers to trial for their connection to the case.

PBI-Guatemala also accompanied the Human Rights Law Firm (BDH) and Édgar Pérez Archila at an earlier stage of these proceedings last year.

PBI-Guatemala accompanied eight days of hearings that concluded on June 10, 2021, as well as the four days of hearings that resulted in the indictment of former Defense Minister Marco Antonio González Taracena on June 25, 2021.

PBI-Guatemala began to accompany BDH lawyer Édgar Pérez Archila in August 2010 due to several security incidents he had faced in relation to the high-profile judicial processes he was working on. At the end of 2013, PBI-Guatemala extended the accompaniment to the other lawyers of the BDH who work in high-profile trials to fight against impunity and in defending criminalized human rights defenders.