The Assassination of Bishop Juan Jose Gerardi

On April 24, 1998, Bishop Juan Jose Gerardi, head of the Human Rights Center of Guatemalan Archbishops (ODHAG), released a report entitled Guatemala: Never Again, in which he blamed government forces, state-sponsored civilian patrols and Death Squads for 90 percent of the human rights violations during the 36-year-long civil war in Guatemala, attributing the remaining 10 percent to the gorilla alliance URNG. Two days later, on April 26, Monsignor Gerardi was beaten to death with a concrete block as he entered his home in the parish of San Sebastian in he city of Guatemala.

Errors and negligence during the investigation into Geradi’s murder, began right from the crime scene. In the video tapes, the police can be seen examining the supposed weapon without gloves and walking through the pools of blood that surrounded the body. Forensic evidence was sent to laboratories in unsealed containers. Near the end of May, the ODHAG provided police with a license plate number that was registered to a military base. The vehicle had been seen circling the bishop’s neighborhood during the night of his murder. The ODHAG also provided police with the names of retired General Byron Disrael Lima Estrada and his son Captain Byron Miguel Lima Oliva; two men that they claimed took part in the assassination. The commission denied that the retired general had anything to do with the case and decided not to investigate Captain Lima Oliva. The government dissolved the commission in July. After the murder of Monsignor Geradi, members of the ODHAG were subjugated to sporadic surveillance and anonymous telephone threats.