From the Guatemalan Human Rights Commission
Today, July 6, 2011, three human rights defenders presented a formal report of torture, or “Allegation Letter”, to Professor Juan Mendez, the United Nations Special Rapporteur on Torture. The letter alleges that General Otto Pérez Molina, now a leading presidential candidate in Guatemala, was directly involved in the systematic use of torture and acts of genocide during the long civil war in Guatemala. Specifically, he was on the ground and in command in the Ixil triangle in 1982 during the village by village massacre campaign, and he was directly responsible for the long term torture and disappearance of prisoner of war Efrain Bámaca Velasquez. Protesters in Washington D.C. recently demanded the cancelation of his visa to the United States.