Guatemala's ex-dictator to stand trial

GUATEMALA CITY, Jan. 27 (UPI) -- A Guatemalan judge ordered former military dictator Efrain Rios Montt to stand trial on charges of genocide and crimes against humanity.

Judge Carol Patricia Flores Blanco's ruling Thursday came at the end of a hearing in which prosecutors described mass killings, torture and rape nearly 30 years ago, stating that Rios Montt commanded his troops and knew what they were doing, The New York Times reported.

Rios Montt is accused of planning the destruction of Indian villages during the country's civil war.

"I prefer to remain silent," Rios Montt, 85, said when asked if he had a response to the charges.

The judge ordered Rios Montt detained under house arrest.

When Rios Montt ruled (1982-1983), the military conducted a scorched-earth operation in the Mayan regions, pursuing leftist guerrillas. Survivors described how soldiers attacked Mayan-Ixil villages, killing men, women and children.

A United Nations-backed truth commission found 200,000 people were killed during the civil war. The panel determined the aggression rose to genocide because the entire population was targeted.

Defense lawyer Danilo Rodriguez argued Rios Montt assumed power during a national crisis brought on by guerrilla insurgency and said his intention "was only to restore order and cooperation among the Mayan-Ixil."

Rodriguez said Rios Montt wasn't responsible for battlefield atrocities, the Times reported.

"He did not determine the level of force that the army used," Rodriguez said.

Prosecutors argued Rios Montt was fully in charge because he was chief of the armed forces and he was the country's de facto president, the Times said.

Human rights activists and survivors, some with pictures of relatives who either were killed or disappeared during the war, set up camp outside the courthouse to follow the proceedings that were broadcast over loudspeakers.