<i>Sí Hubo Genocidio</i>: Anthropologists and the Genocide Trial of Guatemala's Ríos Montt

Stuesse, Angela; Manz, Beatriz; Oglesby, Elizabeth; Olson, Krisjon; Sanford, Victoria; Snow, Clyde C.; Walsh-Haney, Heather

doi:10.1111/aman.12055

Cited by 9 publications

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“…Indeed, the lawyers, judges, witnesses, and organizers who brought Ríos Montt to trial and convicted him of genocide accomplished something historic, with implications for Guatemala and the world (Stuesse et al. ; Velázquez Nimatuj ). The trial set a precedent for states themselves to come to terms with their pasts and hold previous leadership accountable in proceedings that could be attended by affected communities.…”

Section: Conclusion: “Todos Somos Ixiles”?mentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Renowned forensic anthropologist Clyde Snow stated that “after 500 years of American Indian genocide, it is the first conviction!” (Stuesse et al. , 660). Even after the verdict was annulled, the trial provided the impetus for other trials of high‐level Guatemalan officials, such as in the Sepur Zarco case in 2016, which sentenced military officials for sexual slavery (Oglesby and Nelson ).…”

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confidence: 99%

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Translated Justice? The Ixil Maya and the 2013 Trial of José Efraín Ríos Montt for Genocide in Guatemala

García

2019

American Anthropologist

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This article takes an ethnographically engaged, discourse-centered approach to questions of representation and cultural difference in democratic process in postwar Guatemala. When José Efraín Ríos Montt became the first former head of state convicted of genocide within his own country, in 2013, Ixil Maya witnesses who testified against him became international human rights icons. However, the trial was marked by difficulties in communication between Ixil witnesses and non-Ixil lawyers, judges, and observers. "Miscommunications" resulted from diverging forms of speech that are deeply connected to different identities and ways of experiencing and understanding history. Discursive expectations within the courtroom limited recognition of Ixil ways of speaking and, consequently, of Ixil subjects. These expectations also obscured Ixil contestations to systems of power both inside and outside the courtroom. This analysis calls attention to the central role of language in processes of justice and political activism in solidarity with marginalized populations. [discourse-centered approach, genocide trial, Ixil, Maya, Guatemala]RESUMEN Este artículo, toma una aproximación centrada en el discurso, etnográficamente comprometida con cuestiones de representación y diferencia cultural en procesos democráticos en la Guatemala de postguerra. Cuando José Efraín Ríos Montt se convirtió en el primer exjefe de estado condenado por genocidio en su propio país, en 2013, los testigos mayas ixiles quienes testificaron en su contra se convirtieron eníconos internacionales de derechos humanos. Sin embargo, el juicio fue marcado por dificultades en la comunicación entre los testigos ixiles y los abogados, jueces y observadores no-ixiles. Los "errores de comunicación" resultaron de las formas divergentes de hablar que están profundamente conectadas a diferentes identidades y formas de experimentar y entender la historia. Las expectativas discursivas dentro de la sala del tribunal limitaron el reconocimiento de las formas de habla ixil y, consecuentemente, de los sujetos ixiles. Estas expectativas también oscurecieron las contestaciones de los ixiles a los sistemas de poder tanto dentro como fuera de la sala del tribunal. Este análisis llama la atención al rol central del lenguaje en procesos de justicia y activismo político en solidaridad con poblaciones marginadas.[aproximación centrada en discurso, juicio por genocidio, Ixil, Maya, Guatemala]

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Section: Conclusion: “Todos Somos Ixiles”?mentioning

confidence: 99%

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confidence: 99%

Translated Justice? The Ixil Maya and the 2013 Trial of José Efraín Ríos Montt for Genocide in Guatemala

García

2019

American Anthropologist

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“…Decades after the war, efforts to prosecute former general Ríos Montt in Guatemala for genocide and crimes against humanity, the first-ever national prosecution of a former head of state, have raised new issues for ethnographers. Anthropologists and historians have been at the center of this process, serving as witnesses, documenting proceedings, and analyzing archives (Steusse et al 2013, Weld 2014. K. Vanthuyne & R. Falla (forthcoming in the Journal of Genocide Studies) probe the ethics and politics of collecting accounts of annihilation and destruction, noting the complicated mix of symbolic acknowledgment of the death of loved ones, solidarity, and urgent material need that characterizes many Central American communities living in aftermaths.…”

Section: Violence and In/securitymentioning

confidence: 99%

The Post–Cold War Anthropology of Central America

Burrell

Moodie²

2015

Annu. Rev. Anthropol.

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This article reviews the recent and emerging post-Cold War sociocultural anthropology research on Central America, defined as the five countries that share a common colonial and postcolonial history: Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, and Nicaragua. Following a consideration of the foundational literature widely engaged by scholars to theorize regional processes, three sections reflect major themes of investigation in the area: political economy, including environmental concerns and migration; political, ethnic, and religious subjectivities; and violence, democracy, and in/security, including gangs. We conclude that the well-developed anthropology of Central America has made key contributions to disciplinary analyses and debates, especially in the fields of political and economic anthropology and in terms of furthering studies of violence, migration, neoliberalism, and postconflict democracy. Anthropologists working in the region have been at the forefront of public and "engaged" anthropology, recognizing the political contexts and power relations in which knowledge is produced.

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“…It is important to note, as Sanford does, that forensics teams continue to exhume sites, further recent history is clarified for legal purposes, and material for other incriminations continues to build. Meanwhile, in publication, the Ríos Montt trial was the subject of a dialogical piece in this journal last year; it brought into conversation Sanford and a few other U.S.‐based anthropologists to provide insights into the ways that anthropologists of different specializations played an important role in unsilencing Guatemalan history (see Stuesse et al ).…”

Section: The Ríos Montt Trialmentioning

confidence: 99%

Year in Review, Public Anthropology, 2013: Webs of Meaning, Critical Interventions

Benson

2014

American Anthropologist

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In this essay, I provide an overview of public anthropology from the year 2013, examining how anthropologists engaged public, socially relevant issues and brought anthropological understandings and expertise into public debates, conversations, and forums. In particular, I focus on the ways that the publication of anthropology is changing to reflect trends toward open-access electronic publishing and new formats for scholarly and public discussion. I then highlight how anthropologists engaged with a set of specific issues and topics, including debates about same-sex marriage in the United States; the trial of Efraín Ríos Montt, the former dictator of Guatemala who was tried and convicted of genocide last year; and the publication of a controversial new memoir by the anthropologist Napoleon Chagnon. Taken together, the sections of this essay disclose the significant ways that anthropologists have engaged with and contributed to public debates and contested issues. [public anthropology, Ríos Montt, Napoleon Chagnon, Defense of Marriage Act, year in review]RESUMEN En este ensayo proveo una visión general de la antropología pública del año 2013, examinando cómo antropólogos se comprometieron con cuestiones públicas socialmente relevantes, y trajeron conocimientos y experiencia antropológicos a los debates públicos, conversaciones y foros. En particular, enfoco las maneras en que la publicación de antropología esta cambiando para reflejar las tendencias hacia publicaciones electrónicas de acceso abierto y nuevos formatos para discusión académica y pública. Luego enfatizo cómo antropólogos se comprometieron con una serie de cuestiones y tópicos específicos incluyendo debates sobre matrimonios del mismo sexo en los Estados Unidos, el juicio de Efraín Ríos Montt, antiguo dictador de Guatemala quien fue juzgado y condenado por genocidio el año pasado, y la publicación de una nueva autobiografía controversial por el antropólogo Napoleón Chagnon. Tomadas en conjunto, las secciones de este ensayo revelan las maneras significativas en que los antropólogos se han comprometido y contribuido a los debates públicos y cuestiones en disputa. [antropología pública, Ríos Montt, Napoleon Chagnon, Acta de Defensa del Matrimonio] A t the beginning of 2013, a college football star, Manti Te'o, led Notre Dame to the national championship game in spite of the fact that his grandmother and his girlfriend had both died, on the same day, just months earlier. This against-the-odds story garnered much media attention. It quickly turned mysterious when, following the big game, reporters, responding to anonymous tips, revealed that the death of the girlfriend-with whom Te'o had an exclusively online relationship-and her very identity were a hoax. Te'o was apparently the victim of a deception orchestrated by an

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Sí Hubo Genocidio: Anthropologists and the Genocide Trial of Guatemala's Ríos Montt

Cited by 9 publications

References 9 publications

Translated Justice? The Ixil Maya and the 2013 Trial of José Efraín Ríos Montt for Genocide in Guatemala

Translated Justice? The Ixil Maya and the 2013 Trial of José Efraín Ríos Montt for Genocide in Guatemala

The Post–Cold War Anthropology of Central America

Year in Review, Public Anthropology, 2013: Webs of Meaning, Critical Interventions

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