Dos Erres Massacre Survivor Óscar Ramírez Discusses Accountability

Óscar Ramírez, a 32-year-old Guatemalan living in Massachusetts, recently learned that he was a survivor of the 1982 Dos Erres massacre. Óscar was three years old at the time of the massacre and is one of few survivors. He was kidnapped by one of the soldiers who murdered his mother and eight siblings, and raised as the soldier’s son. His story is part of a larger effort to uncover the truth of what happened in a bloody civil war, and to bring perpetrators to account for crimes against humanity in Guatemalan and foreign courts.

Guatemala’s 36-year internal armed conflict (1960–1996) left an estimated 200,000 dead or disappeared. Only recently has the country prosecuted perpetrators of human rights violations or exhumed and identified the bodies of victims. Guatemalan courts convicted five former soldiers of murder and crimes against humanity. Guatemala is also engaged in the preliminary stages of the prosecution of José Efraín Ríos Montt, a former military dictator, and other generals for genocide and crimes against humanity.

Óscar Ramírez recently shared his story and took part in a panel discussion on the prosecution efforts. Listen above.