Guatemala - Ixil Genocide

According to a 1999 United Nations truth commission, between 70 and 90% of Ixil villages were ravaged and 60% of the population in the highland region were forced to flee to the mountains. By 1996, it was estimated that some 7,000 Maya Ixil people had been killed during the Civil War. Violence particularly heightened during the period 1979–1985, as successive Guatemalan administrations and the military pursued indiscriminate scorched-earth operations. Nowadays, many survivors are still searching for the remains of their relatives killed during the civil war. When it comes to the investigation of massacres against civilians, exhumations are an essential part of the process of clarification and evidence gathering of the Guatemalan justice system. The forensic investigation tries to appease the grief of survivors, who can then give a dignified burial to their loved ones.