The lawyer who brought Rios Montt to dock

Mary Jo McConahay, the journalist who covered the genocide trial of former Guatemala head of state Gen. Efraín Ríos Montt for NCR this spring (See: Ríos Montt found guilty of Guatemalan genocide), has written a profile of the lawyer who was instrumental in bringing Ríos Montt to trial.

Ríos Montt, the U.S.-supported dictator who presided over state terror and mass murder in the 1980s, was found guilty May 10 of genocide and crimes against humanity. Though the Guatemalan high court annulled that verdict 10 days later, the case was still seen as historic.

McConahay writes in California Lawyer about Almudena Bernabeu, director of the transitional justice program at San Francisco's Center for Justice and Accountability who was technical advisor to the Guatemalan prosecution and lead counsel to the Spanish National Court's Ríos Montt investigation.

Read the full story here: Prosecutor Without Borders: Almudena Bernabeu relentlessly pursues human rights abusers, helping to convict a former Guatemalan dictator of genocide.

Latest News

Advertisement