The trial of five former paramilitary soldiers accused of raping 36 native Mayan women in the 1980s has started in Guatemala.
The abuse is alleged to have taken place over five years at the height of the civil war between the military government and left-wing guerrillas.
Prosecutors say the victims’ lives were shattered, and that one was only 12 years old when the abuse began.
The five accused men who have denied the rape allegations are former members of Guatemala’s Civil Self-Defence Patrols (PAC), local militias, blamed for multiple atrocities during the 1960-1996 war.
They joined the hearings through a video conference from the jail, where they will remain until a verdict is issued.
Of the 36 victims, only five chose to attend the court hearing in person on the first day, while the identities of the others are being withheld for their safety, according to their lawyer, Lucia Xiloj.
As a gesture of support and solidarity with the victims, blankets and flowers were seen placed outside the court, Reuters reports.
This is not the first trial of its kind to take place in Guatemala.
In 2016, two ex-military members were sentenced to a combined 360 years in jail for the murder, rape and sexual enslavement of indigenous women.
An estimated 200,000 people were either killed or disappeared during Guatemala’s 36-year conflict.
