At least ten sets of human remains were exhumed last week from a mass grave located on the grounds of a former military base in western Guatemala. According to the director of the Guatemalan Forensic Anthropology Foundation, many of the skeletons bear signs of torture. Many had wires or ropes bound around their wrists or necks. The grave is located in an area used by the military during the country’s 36-year civil war during which over 200,000 people, mainly indigenous civilians, were killed. The National Commission of Guatemalan Widows, who requested the excavation, believe that there may be as many as 200 victims of military counterinsurgency buried at the site.
