In Court
Members of the Guatemalan governments of the 1980s referred to Court of assizes in Belgium.
Berchem, 2022-11-13, Following the earlier referral by the Pretrial Criminal Chamber (Court of Brussels) in June 2022, the Pretrial Appeals Chamber (the Court of Brussels) now also referred key Guatemalan government members to a Belgian Assize Court on 10 November 2022. They are accused of the murder and disappearance of Belgian Scheutists in the 1980s.
This is a world first. Even in Spain, where attempts have been made for years to expose the situation in Guatemala, they have not yet succeeded in bringing those responsible to court. The global fight against impunity for serious human rights violations thus gains an important Belgian chapter.
With another war raging in Europe, and serious human rights violations also taking place, it is of great importance to continue this fight and to hold those responsible to account.
Detention order:
The Pretrial Appeals Chamber has ordered an order of detention for:
- Guevara Rodríguez Ángel Aníbal
- Álvarez Ruiz Donaldo
- García Arredondo Pedro
- Lucas García Manuel Benedicto
- Callejas y Callejas Manuel Antonio
Press conference
The families and Guatebelga hold a virtual press conference on Wednesday 16 November 2022 at 10:00am.
This meeting can be followed via:
https://meet.google.com/mbg-vqks-qax
or (BE) +32 2 896 35 51, pincode: 746 701 276#
On 26 November, Serge Berten will posthumously receive the honorary citizenship of Menen, on this occasion more interpretation and depth will also be given in relation to this case. https://www.menen.be/nieuws/serge-berten-postuum-ereburger
Complaint to the Belgian court
More than 40 years ago, during the civil war, Scheutists Walter Voordeckers, Ward Capiau and Serge Berten became victims of repression in Guatemala. Their fate was gruesomely fatal, they were murdered or kidnapped and killed. The question has always been who ordered this, who was at the proverbial ‘buttons’. Attempts to file a complaint in Guatemala yielded bitterly little. That is why the Voordeckers and Berten families went to the Belgian courts. Indeed, since 1999, crimes against humanity committed in another country can also be prosecuted in Belgium.
On 25 January 2001, through their lawyers Mr Luc Walleyn and Mr Michaël Verhaeghe, they lodged a complaint with a civil action before investigating judge Bulthé in Brussels. This complaint started a judicial investigation into the murder of Walter Voordeckers and the disappearance of Serge Berten in Guatemala, on 12 May 1980 and 19 January 1982 respectively. The family of Ward Capiau, who was murdered on 22 October 1981, joined the demand for a judicial enquiry. The Congregation of Scheut also took civil action. The complaint was directed against those who bore responsibility from both a political and military point of view and who were clearly committed to maintaining their grip on power.
Judicial enquiry at crucial stage
An investigating judge was appointed, who himself went to Guatemala to investigate and many documents and data were collected. It took a long time. Translations from Spanish took a long time. The investigating judge was succeeded by a colleague. For the sake of the secrecy of the investigation, and not to block one’s own case, there was little room for external communication throughout that period.
Until now. Now an assize trial will be organised, in which the investigation will be assessed by professional judges as well as a people’s jury and the parties heard.
Judicial investigation at crucial stage
An investigating judge was appointed, who himself went to Guatemala to investigate, and many documents and data were collected. It took a long time. Translations from Spanish took a long time. The investigating judge was succeeded by a colleague. For the sake of the secrecy of the investigation, and not to block one’s own case, there was little room for external communication throughout that period.
Until now. Now an assize trial will be organised, in which the investigation will be assessed by professional judges as well as a people’s jury and the parties heard.
The families hope for a conviction of those ultimately responsible for the crimes.
Impunity
Some 200 000 people were killed or ‘disappeared’ during Guatemala’s 36-year civil war. In the context of the cold war, anti-Communist rhetoric was used to extremely restrict human rights for Guatemalans. Inspired by liberation theology, young Belgian missionaries in Guatemala then sided with the oppressed in opposing the exploitation of farm workers and Indian peasants on the plantations of big landowners. In the early 1980s, this proved fatal for 3 of them: Walter Voordeckers, Ward Capiau and Serge Berten. They were killed and disappeared, respectively. Eventually the civil war ended, but the repression remained, it just got a different name. Power is still in the hands of corrupt politicians directed by (ex)military, rich (agro)industrialists and the drug mafia. They have every interest in maintaining their grip on the population through intimidation, violence and institutional impunity.
Guatebelga
In 1997, spurred on by the Serge Berten committee, the families of Belgian missionaries left for Guatemala with sympathisers to learn more about their relatives. Many government institutions were visited, but it soon became clear that there was little truth to be found.
The visit was a confrontation for the families, but one that was transformed into action: the decision to commission a scientific study by the KU Leuven into the legal possibilities, and on that basis to file a complaint with the Brussels public prosecutor’s office (2001). To support the families, a non-profit organisation called Guatebelga was set up. While the judicial investigation dragged on, they kept the story alive all the time, and from 2013 onwards also by organising the ‘Quetzal Prize for Human Rights and Democracy in Guatemala’ : a recognition for people and organisations that put their shoulders to the wheel in the fight against impunity and for freedom and justice. This prize will be awarded biennially, for the sixth time in October 2023.
Justice!
With their complaint, the families want the perpetrators to be held accountable. But with this initiative, they also wish to show their solidarity with the tens of thousands of Guatemalan victims who fell during the civil war and in the period that followed. This case is an opportunity for the Belgian families to turn a painful page, for the Guatemalans to show them that they are not alone in their suffering and grief and their struggle for truth and justice. And for the dictators and tyrants to realise that they are not unapproachable and that, even if many years later, they can still be called to account. This message is burningly topical against the backdrop of armed conflicts in, among others, Syria, Yemen and Ukraine.
‘Belgian Law on universal jurisdiction’
The legal basis for this complaint can be found in the Belgian Statute Law of 16 June 1993 on Universal Jurisdiction for International Crimes[1], as amended by the Law of 10 February 1999, and in customary international law. According to these sources of law, enforced disappearances and killings constitute crimes against humanity, insofar as they are part of a policy of systematic repression against the civilian population. These crimes are immemorial and the Belgian courts have jurisdiction to investigate and judge them.
Press contacts
| Name | Function | Phone-number | |
| Carlos Colson | Burgerlijke partij | +32 475 51 55 94 | carlos.colson@gmail.com |
| Raf Allaert | President of Guatebelga | +32 470 85 89 97 | raf.allaert@telenet.be |
| Stephan Parmentier | Scientific advisor Facultty of Law and Criminology KULeuven | +32 16 325115 | Stephan.Parmentier@kuleuven.be |
| Michaël Verhaeghe | Advocate | +32 475 549 646 | michael.verhaeghe@telenet.be |
| Luc Walleyn | Advocate | +32 475 89 83 86 |
[1] “Loi relative à la répression des infractions graves aux Conventions internationales de Genève du 12 août 1949 et aux Protocoles I et II du 8 juin 1977, additionnels à ces Conventions (16 June 1993)”, in Moniteur belge , 5 August 1993, pp. 17751-17755.
