Crime and punishment — both go hand in hand. A court in Guatemala City has sentenced four former military officers to a staggering 6,060 years in prison on account of war crimes carried out in 1982 during one of the longest civil wars in history — one that lasted from 1960 to 1996. In what can only be described as ghastly crimes against humanity, these ex-soldiers have been punished for the brutal slaughter of the village of Dos Erres where pregnant women, children and the elderly were savagely murdered. Calling the crimes “perverse”, the judge sentenced each soldier to 6,060 years incarceration — 30 years for each of the 200 people they killed.
This gross crime against humanity occurred during the dictatorial regime of General Efrain Rios Montt when the army had immunity and carried out their extra-judicial acts with impunity. It may have taken 29 years for justice to be given to the families of the many killed but it has finally given them closure in a terrible chapter of Guatemala’s history.
One would like to take this opportunity to remind the many in the armed forces in Pakistan who take the law into their own hands that the wheels of justice may grind slow but they grind fine. Pakistan has witnessed some of the most atrocious crimes committed by none other than our own security forces from Balochistan to Karachi. In Balochistan, human rights abuses number in the thousands where activists, scholars and everyday citizens are subject to abduction, torture and death. The number one suspect is the Frontier Corps, although outright accusations cower under the shadow of the impunity that they enjoy. In Karachi, the Rangers killed young Sarfraz Shah in broad daylight — the video of which has sparked a hue and cry in civil society. How long can this go on? Military regimes throughout the world have, at one time or another, enjoyed protection from punishment but, once true democracy dawns, justice does not dwindle. The security forces in Pakistan must realise that the immunity they enjoy will not last forever. A Guatemala-type sentence will be handed out soon enough here — the only question remains: how soon? *
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