Guatemala City - Three former Guatemalan soldiers and an officer have claimed innocence on the first day of trial for a 1982 massacre in which hundreds of men, women and children were killed.
The defendants say they were not in the village of Dos Erres the day it was stormed by soldiers. They stand accused of killing 201
farmers. At least 250 people died overall in the massacre, according to court filings.
The defendants said Monday that they had been stationed elsewhere. Three of them had been members of an elite force known as “kaibiles.”
Court filings say soldiers threw bodies down a well, and raped and killed women and girls.
UN figures say more than 200 000 people died or went missing during Guatemala's 1960-1996 civil war, in which whole villages were exterminated. - Sapa-AP