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On Tuesday, March 19, the genocide trial of General Efraín Ríos Montt began at the High Risk Tribunal in Guatemala. To talk about this historic development in Guatemala’s pursuit of accountability we talk with us one of the key players: Guatemalan Attorney General Claudia Paz y Paz Bailey

In this op-ed, ICTJ's Marcie Mersky argues that the significance of the genocide trial for José Efraín Ríos Montt stretches far beyond Guatemala: it is the first time that a former head of state is being tried for genocide in a credible national court, by the national authorities, in the country where the alleged crimes took place.

Four international legal and human rights groups are together urging all concerned to ensure that the current trial in Guatemala of former president Efrain Rios Montt on charges of genocide and crimes against humanity proceeds with due respect for judicial independence. The four are: the Open Society Justice Initiative, the International Center for Transitional Justice (ICTJ), the Center for Justice and International Law (CEJIL), and the Washington Office on Latin America (WOLA).

Nine international human rights and legal groups have welcomed the resumption of the Guatemalan trial of Efraín Ríos Montt, the former military dictator, for genocide and crimes against humanity. The trial has taken another step towards its conclusion with the hearing of final arguments from the prosecution and victims’ representatives today and yesterday.

The International Center for Transitional Justice (ICTJ) welcomes today’s verdict in Guatemala by the High Risk Court in the trial of former military dictator José Efrain Ríos Montt. The 86-year-old ex-general was convicted of genocide and crimes against humanity against the indigenous Mayan Ixil population during Guatemala’s Civil War. He was sentenced to a total of 80 years in prison. José Mauricio Rodríguez Sánchez, the co-accused, who headed military intelligence under Ríos Montt, was found innocent.

Cote d’Ivoire has embarked on a process of addressing the legacy of internal strife that culminated in the post-election violence of 2010. On June 12, 2013, ICTJ will co-host high-level talks on strengthening Cote d’Ivoire’s judicial capacity to prosecute serious crimes proscribed by the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court (ICC).

In Cote d’Ivoire, victims of the 2010-11 post-election violence have yet to receive reparations for violations that occurred during the political upheaval following the election of President Ouattara. Victims’ organizations in Cote d’Ivoire joined ICTJ and the ONUCI Human Rights Section for a three-day training session in Abidjan on reparative justice and the right to reparation.

Can truth commissions help secure a just peace following a violent conflict in which massive human rights abuses are committed? In this special series of the ICTJ Forum, we present a series of conversations with some of the world’s top peace mediators and truth commission experts, whose collective experience include years on the front lines of critical peace agreements in Latin America, Africa, the Middle East, and Asia.

Guatemalan lawyers for victims in the case against former dictator Efraín Ríos Mont filed a petition before the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights to condemn the state of Guatemala for the impunity for crimes of genocide and crimes against humanity committed against the Ixil people.

Nearly three years after violence in Cote d’Ivoire claimed the lives of over three thousand civilians and displaced hundreds of thousands, victims have yet to receive adequate reparation for the harm they suffered. ICTJ convened victims’ organizations, civil society, government officers and others to assess how the country should move forward to ensure victims see their right to reparation fulfilled.