Comments on: Guatemala genocide trial continues; watch or listen live

By: Antinous / Moderator

Antinous / Moderator — Sat, 23 Mar 2013 21:31:00 +0000

You’re conflating justice with punishment.

By: Gilbert Wham

Gilbert Wham — Sat, 23 Mar 2013 18:28:00 +0000

If so, aside from my admiration for their tenacity and bravery (I rather imagine that nothing about testifying in this trial will be anything but harrowing), for such a philosophy, and after such cruelty to state they do not support it, they have my most deeply humble respect.

By: Nathan Hornby

Nathan Hornby — Sat, 23 Mar 2013 14:56:00 +0000

Maybe we’re crossing wires, but I wasn’t questioning the value of bringing him to justice, simply what justice for genocide looks like – it’s such an extreme, you know?

Regarding the whole Blair thing – I have a suspicion (without seeing the source) that it may have been a Guardian instigated poll; so I’d expect the results to be skewed with a liberal slant. Bear in mind that I’m a Guardian reader, a liberal, and consider Blair a war criminal, but I would be a little surprised if that was a genuine figure. I’d be a little surprised if 35% of Britons even knew he had anything to do with the wars (I wish I were joking).

By: Brad Bell

Brad Bell — Sat, 23 Mar 2013 14:32:00 +0000

The Guardian reports between 22% and 35% of Britons regard Tony Blair as a war criminal. (Surprisingly. If you want a link I can find it again.) We can make a movie about it, but unless guys like Montt get prosecuted for crimes against humanity, there is no way Blair will stand trial. If Blair went, Bush, Cheney, Rumsfeld and Steele could go – especially since Rumsfeld and Steele were so involved in the slaughter in Latin America.

By: pastor

pastor — Sat, 23 Mar 2013 01:56:00 +0000

Maybe the USA and Obama can learn something about the moral value of looking at the past. But I doubt we’ll see Rumsfeld and co. on trial any time soon.

By: Xeni Jardin

Xeni Jardin — Sat, 23 Mar 2013 01:12:00 +0000

Nor do any of of the victims who testified today about what kind of punishment they’d like to see.

By: Nathan Hornby

Nathan Hornby — Sat, 23 Mar 2013 00:00:00 +0000

Oh definitely, just having it made official is important enough. And actually financial punishment could go a long way. Hadn’t considered that angle.

By: Nathan Hornby

Nathan Hornby — Fri, 22 Mar 2013 23:57:00 +0000

As I say I don’t support the death penalty.

By: humanresource

humanresource — Fri, 22 Mar 2013 23:41:00 +0000

Punishment is vital here, whether its the death penalty or prison. Every day he goes unpunished is an insult to his victims and their relatives. Dictators everywhere should know that there’s a chance they’ll suffer for their crimes.

By: Antinous / Moderator

Antinous / Moderator — Fri, 22 Mar 2013 22:57:00 +0000

Convicting him would be justice. What they do with him afterward is less important, although they could at least seize all his assets and use them for reparations.

By: spacedmonkey

spacedmonkey — Fri, 22 Mar 2013 22:22:00 +0000

If his victims, or their survivors, would feel better knowing he’d been hanged, rather than suffering the continuing anguish of knowing that the people who victimized them did it with complete impunity, that alone would make it worth it. Nothing about him or is cronies, including their lives, is worth more than that.

By: euansmith

euansmith — Fri, 22 Mar 2013 21:40:00 +0000

Weegee would be proud of that top photograph. The snapper managed to get the dude’s hat in to the picture.

By: Editz

Editz — Fri, 22 Mar 2013 19:11:00 +0000

Impressive chamber. Cheap chairs.

By: Nathan Hornby

Nathan Hornby — Fri, 22 Mar 2013 17:07:00 +0000

I wonder what justice even looks like in these cases.

I’m a very firm believer in the justice system’s primary purpose being rehabilitation and education – rather than vengeance or punishment, as ultimately neither of these things actually achieve anything, for anyone.

But what about cases like this? You can’t ‘rehabilitate’ a past-dictator who is now an OAP. But equally, what good is it going to do sticking him in a cell to live out his last days? I’m against the death penalty because I’m more civilised than the man on trial. So where does that leave us? What can we actually do to achieve justice?

(Of course I appreciate that the trial, like any trial, is about a lot more than the sentence)

By: SomeGuyNamedMark

SomeGuyNamedMark — Fri, 22 Mar 2013 16:19:00 +0000

Maybe there will finally be justice

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nFe_MVpvQUc