A former general, Benedicto Lucas Garcia, is standing trial for his alleged role in the murder of over 1,200 indigenous Ixil Maya individuals during Guatemala’s civil war. The charges against him include genocide, crimes against humanity such as widespread rape, and forced disappearances. Witnesses from one village recount horrific acts committed by Garcia’s troops, including the killing of children, infants, and the elderly. These alleged atrocities took place between 1978 and 1982, during the presidency of Garcia’s brother, Fernando Romeo Lucas Garcia. Benedicto Lucas Garcia is accused of orchestrating more than 30 massacres in the Quiche region. Survivors, who have waited over four decades for justice, have expressed their relief at seeing the trial finally underway. Garcia, who is already serving a prior sentence for forced disappearance, rape, and torture, participated in the trial remotely from a military hospital. One co-defendant passed away in 2020, while another was deemed unfit to stand trial. The conflict, which claimed around 200,000 lives over nearly four decades, primarily targeted ethnic Maya people. Although Guatemala’s Supreme Court of Justice acknowledged genocide against the Ixil people in 2018, only a few low-ranking soldiers have been convicted of war crimes thus far.