A criminal court on Tuesday began proceedings against six ex-paramilitaries belonging to the Patrols of Civil Defense (PAC) group accused of participating in the massacre of 177 indigenous civilians in the village of Rio Negro, Rabinal, Baja Verapaz on March 13, 1982. While previous judicial action had been taken against three of the former members of the group in 1998, the death sentence handed down was annulled in 1999 by a Court of Appeals, which cited irregularities in the proceedings of the case. Months following the appeal, a second court sentenced the three offenders to 50 years in prison and ordered the capture of ten other former members of the paramilitary group, including the six currently on trial.
