Ceremonies were held July 18 to commemorate the indigenous Maya massacre victims of Plan de Sanchez, and to call for the punishment of those responsible for the violence. The massacre occurred on July 18, 1982, as part of the military campaign to crush support for rebels during the country's 36-year civil war. As part of the ceremonies, an Achi Maya priest burned incense and prayed for peace while other mourners prayed around him. One lumberjack who survived the massacre said that the ceremony was meant, in part, to pray for the punishment of those who committed the murders. The massacre at Plan de Sanchez is included among other massacres in a criminal complaint of genocide being filed against former dictator Efrian Rios Montt, who was in power at the time of the massacres. Rios Montt has denied involvement in the massacres. The Inter-American Court of Human Rights ruled in March that the Guatemalan government was responsible for the July 18 massacre and others. The court is now deciding what measures should be taken.
Days before the commemoration ceremonies took place, 14 Guatemalan soldiers were sentenced to 40 years in prison for a 1995 attack on the indigenous Maya community of Xaman. The sentence was the highest ever given to members of the Guatemalan military accused of human rights abuses.
