Guatemalan authorities on Oct. 11 arrested a colonel and eight soldiers over the extrajudicial killings of eight indigenous protestors [3] in the department of Totonicapan last week. Prosecutor General Claudia Paz y Paz told reporters that her office considers Col. Juan Chiroy to be "primarily responsible" for the fatalities, as he was in command of the troops at the Oct. 4 demonstration. Those detained, including two women, are being held in barracks in the country's capital on the order of President Otto Pérez. According to the preliminary findings, Col. Chiroy did not coordinate the actions of the military support unit on the scene with the Guatemalan National Police at the protest. Paz y Paz noted that this case constitutes the first time military figures have been arrested for deadly repression since the 1996 Peace Accords. (AFP [4], Guatemala Times [5], Siglo21 [6], Guatemala, Oct. 11)
