Courageous crimes against humanity trial continues in Guatemala for July 1982 Rancho Bejuco massacre of seven adults and 20 children
Below
In Spanish: Prensa Comunitaria news article
In English: Trial update from Breaking the Silence, a Canadian-solidarity group accompanying the trial and the Maya Achi witnesses and survivors
Rabinal Community Legal Clinic funding request to Rights Action
The Rancho Bejuco massacre was part of a genocide carried out against the Maya Achi people in the Rabinal region by the U.S.-backed Guatemalan military regime led by General Efrain Rios Montt. During the worst years of the genocides and State repression (1978-1985), the U.S. was assisted by the governments and militaries of Germany, France, England, Israel, Argentine and Chile that were also supplying weapons and military training to the Guatemalan regimes in support of their war against the civilian population, a majority of the victims being Mayan indigenous people.
Since the late 1990s, Rights Action has supported the work of the Rabinal Community Legal Clinic (Asociacion Bufete Juridico Popular-ABJP), founded by genocide survivors and witnesses.
Exalcalde de El Chol enfrenta juicio especial por la masacre de Rancho Bejuco
Agosto 10, 2026, Prensa Comunitaria, Por Simón Antonio Ramón
https://prensacomunitaria.org/2026/08/exalcalde-de-el-chol-enfrenta-juicio-especial-por-la-masacre-de-rancho-bejuco/
Este lunes 10 de agosto, en el Tribunal de Mayor Riesgo D, se dio inicio al juicio especial contra Nicolás Orrego Orrego por la masacre de al menos de 25 personas ocurrido el 29 de julio de 1982 en la comunidad Rancho Bejuco del municipio de Santa Cruz El Chol, Baja Verapaz. Orrego, quien fungió como comisionado militar enfrentará juicio por los delitos de asesinato y delitos contra los deberes de humanidad.
El juicio contra Nicolás Orrego, sería el segundo por este caso porque el 24 de agosto de 2023, el teniente militar Juan Ovalle Salazar fue condenado por este tribunal a 20 años de prisión por delitos contra deberes de humanidad.
Esta masacre, según la acusación, es responsabilidad directa de la Zona Militar No. 21 ubicada en Cobán Alta Verapaz, también conocida como Centro Regional de Entrenamiento de Operadores para el Mantenimiento de la Paz (CREOMPAZ). Juan Ovalle Salazar también es acusado en el caso conocido como CREOMPAZ.
Juicio especial
El juicio especial se realizará a puerta cerrada con la participación de las partes por padecimientos de salud del acusado tras exámenes del Instituto Nacional de Ciencias Forenses (INACIF) en donde se determinó que tiene un deterioro cognitivo tras evaluaciones de psicología y psiquiatría. “En este procedimiento se tiene que reproducir y diligenciar medios de pruebas testimoniales, periciales, documentales, para determinar si él es responsable establecidos en la acusación, pero no se le va a aplicar una pena sino una medida de seguridad”, dijo la abogada Lucía Xiloj.
Doña Paulina Ixpatá, una de las 36 mujeres sobrevivientes del caso Mujeres Achi’, manifestó su inconformidad que Nicolás Orrego enfrente un juicio especial. “A nosotras nos ha pasado que murieron nuestros familiares. Lo que más me duele son los niños porque ellos no sabian nada. Llegó el ejército y los patrulleros a masacrar - los niños que van a saber? Eso es lo duele. Además, nosotros hemos sufrido durante 40 años porque no solo sufrieron nuestros familiares, perdimos nuestra siembra, nuestra y nuestros animales y cuando nos venimos ya no trajimos todos, es por eso no estoy de acuerdo como va ser el juicio”, señaló.
Está masacre ocurrió durante el gobierno de facto de José Efraín Ríos Montt. Las personas masacradas en Rancho Bejuco eran originarias de la comunidad Xesiguan del municipio de Rabinal. La mayoría de las personas eran niños, adolescentes y mujeres que se habían desplazados por las masacres en su comunidad.
Aquel 29 de julio, en el desarrollo de la operación militar, reunieron a las mujeres, los hombre y los niños en una vivienda. En horas de la tarde les lanzaron explosivos. Quienes sobrevivieron en esta acción, fueron lanzados a una fosa que había sido cavado por los miembros de la Patrulla de Autodefensa Civil (PAC) en donde les dispararon.
En el caso de Tiburcio Ixpatá Chijij, fue separado de las demás personas y fue encerrado en un corral en donde fue torturado y posteriormente muere en manos de los militares.
Ligado a proceso
Nicolás Orrego fue ligado a proceso por los delitos de asesinato y delitos contra los deberes de humanidad el 20 de noviembre de 2025, tras presentarse ante el Juzgado de Mayor Riesgo D tras varios anos de ser prófugo de la justicia. Recuperó su libertad en enero de 2026, tras los dictámenes del INACIF en donde concluyó que sufre un deterioro cognitivo. Un boletín de la organización de derechos humanos Impunity Watch, señala que el acusado fue alcalde de su municipio un año después de esta masacre entre los años de 1983 y 1984.
La abogada Xiloj, señaló que uno de los delitos por los que enfrentará Nicolás Orrego es delitos contra los deberes de humanidad se configura por los tratos crueles y denigrantes a las personas masacradas, porque habían sufrido los efectos de los explosivos, y posteriormente fueron disparados en una fosa común.
Genocidio: La «eliminacion total» de comunidades del pueblo Maya Achi
La Comisión para el Esclarecimiento Histórico (CEH) determinó qué está masacre es muestra de la persecución sistemática dirigida a la eliminación total de comunidades del pueblo Maya Achi’. El informe Guatemala Nunca Más elaborado por la CEH concluyó que el pueblo Maya Achi’ sufrió genocidio como también ocurrió contra los pueblos Ixil, Chuj, Q’anjob’al y K’ich’e.
Photo credit: Verdad y Justicia
On August 10th, BTS staff accompanied the Rabinal Community Legal Clinic (ABJP) and two survivors from the Rancho Bejuco massacre to court for what was expected to be the trial opening in the Rancho Bejuco case. The 1982 massacre took place in the area known as Rancho Bejuco. 25 Maya Achí people were killed on this day, 17 of whom were minors. Because this massacre took place on a Sunday, several community members happened to survive as they had traveled to the centre of Rabinal to visit the market. On their return, they were faced with tragedy.
44 years later, Nicolás Orrego Orrego, the military commissioner allegedly responsible for the Rancho Bejuco massacre, is set to face trial for crimes against humanity; however, he is being tried under Guatemala’s “Special Trial for the Application of Security Measures”. This type of judicial process implies a different type of punitive consequence as opposed to the criminal penal code. If found guilty, Orrego Orregowould not face criminal punishment, as is the case for other people who commit serious crimes, but instead would receive “Security Measures” that are preventative and rehabilitating in their nature. These measures can include, for example, freedom of movement with monitoring, prohibition to live in certain areas, and prohibition from frequenting certain areas.
So why is an alleged ex-military commissioner not facing criminal charges? According to the Public Prosecutor’s (MP) office and the court, it is due to his advanced age and cognitive decline. Orrego Orrego is 80 years old and is allegedly showing signs of cognitive decline, according to a study that the court ordered to determine whether or not to implement the aforementioned security measures. Ultimately, the study indicated that he is not in the mental state to be tried in the usual criminal proceedings and the court dictated that the security measures will therefore be implemented.
This trial begins just three years after the first Rancho Bejuco trial in 2023 wherein the court found Juan Ovalle Salazar, former military colonel, to be guilty of crimes against humanity. Nonetheless, despite the overwhelming evidence indicating their participation, the court absolved two ex-military commanders and six ex-civil patrol members for their participation in the massacre.
Given this context, the trial has been long-awaited after repeated suspensions and rescheduling have left the case in limbo since 2025. For this reason, all those involved, from the survivors to the representing attorneys to the staff at the ABJP, were anxious to proceed. However, the enthusiasm to get the process going was quickly diminished after the court suspended the trial once again because the MP failed to provide interpretation services for the Maya Achí survivors. The court initially suspended the hearing until 1:30 p.m. so that the MP could find an interpreter but upon returning to the court in the afternoon, the trial was rescheduled for August 17th.
For this reason, this second Rancho Bejuco trial has not opened up for debate yet. As BTS staff, we will be present with the ABJP and the survivors at the courthouse as the trial continues. Once we have more details, we will continue to keep the network informed. Thank you for keeping up with our work and for your continuous support of our partners in Guatemala.
Funding request to Rights Action from Rabinal Legal Aid Clinic
ASOCIACIÓN BUFETE JURÍDICO POPULAR ―ABJP―
Rabinal, Baja Verapaz, June 22, 2026
Rights Action:
Warm regards from the Board of Directors of the Asociación Bufete Jurídico Popular (ABJP). We hope you are well and that our Creator and Guide will shower you all with many blessings, both personally and institutionally. Following this brief greeting, we would like to present the following:
As you are aware from previous support for our work, the ABJP has been providing legal support to the survivors of the Rancho Bejuco massacre in Rabinal since the exhumation of their massacred loved ones began in 1999. This was followed by a complete investigation and trial to determine the material and intellectual perpetrators of the massacre of 7 adults and 20 children, which occurred on July 29, 1982.
As a result, in February 2022, six former Civil Self-Defense Patrol members, two former Military Commissioners, and Commander Juan Ovalle Salasar of the Military High Command were arrested. On the day of the arrests that took place in the municipality of Santa Cruz, El Chol, one of the former military commissioners—Nicolas Orego—fled. (In November 2024, Nicolas Orego finally appeared before the High-Risk Court to respond to the charges.)
On August 23, 2023, three months after the trial began in High-Risk Court D, the court acquitted the two former military commissioners and the six former patrol officers. However, former Commander Juan Ovalle Salazar was found guilty of crimes against humanity and sentenced to 20 years in prison.
An appeal was filed against this ruling. Subsequently, the Court of Appeals upheld the lower court’s ruling. The former Commander’s attorneys have now filed a petition for review with the Supreme Court of Justice challenging the Court of Appeals’ decision.
Regarding the legal situation of Mr. Nicolas Orego, a court has set a date for the trial, which begins on July 13 of this year, to try Mr. Nicolas for crimes against humanity.
To participate in the hearing, we need to mobilize our legal team, witnesses, and expert witnesses in Guatemala City to testify and confirm the expert reports. For this reason, we are reaching out to Derechos en Acción (Rights Action) once again, requesting their solidarity with the Maya Achi survivors—this time for the amount of Q8,000 to support the ABJP and cover the costs of lodging, meals, and transportation for the witnesses, since the ABJP currently lacks the funds to cover these expenses.
Thank you for your attention. I welcome any comments regarding this request. Please find attached a copy of the summons for the hearing, which begins on July 13, 2026.
ASOCIACIÓN BUFETE JURÍDICO POPULAR ―ABJP―
bufetepopularrabinal@gmail.com, [502] 7938-8019