Ex-dictator convicted of genocide in Guatemala

During the trial Ixil Mayans,who have long suffered discrimination,stood up and testified about mass rapes,the killings of women and children,and other atrocities that authorities had often denied took place.

Its important that victims were given a voice,an opportunity to be heard,to feel vindicated,to show they are not crazy and that what they went through did happen, said human rights activist Helen Mack,whose sister Mirna was killed in 1990 while documenting abuses against indigenous communities during the war.

But she warned that it remains to be seen if justice will be served in the case. This sentence is still not firm because Rios Montts lawyers have already said they will work to nullify it, she added.

The ruling was the states first official acknowledgment that genocide occurred during the 36-year civil war that ended with peace accords in 1996. It was also the first time such a sentence for genocide was ever handed down against a former Latin American leader in his own country.