Guatemala Apologizes for 1982 Massacre

[Judi Lynn]

Guatemala Apologizes for 1982 Massacre Mon Jul 18, 8:22 PM ET



GUATEMALA CITY - Under orders from an international court, Guatemala apologized Monday for the government-directed massacre of 226 people in a highland village during the nation's bloody civil war.

Vice President Eduardo Stein traveled via helicopter to Plan de Sanchez, 95 miles north of the capital, Guatemala City, to formally accept government responsibility for the killings by soldiers on July 18, 1982.

The government was ordered to apologize by the Inter-American Human Rights Court, which also decreed that the state pay survivors and relatives $7.9 million in damages in a ruling last fall.

Stein said the army had "unleashed bloodshed and fire to wipe out an entire community."
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http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20050719/ap_on_re_la_am_ca/guatemala_human_rights;_ylt=Aq5y9yC3EfmCUbPs5Sz2mHVvaA8F;_ylu=X3oDMTBiMW04NW9mBHNlYwMlJVRPUCUl