Guatemala amnesty would free war criminals, soldiers who held women as sex slaves

FILE PHOTO: Coffins containing remains of victims of the internal armed conflict are arranged in the city hall saloon of Nebaj, Quiche region, Guatemala March 25, 2015. REUTERS/Jorge Dan Lopez

GUATEMALA CITY (Reuters) - Starting in 1982, during one of the darkest moments of Guatemala’s civil war, at least 11 Mayan Q’eqchi indigenous women were kidnapped, enslaved and raped over a period of six years at an army camp in the jungle.

Now an alliance of lawmakers who back Guatemala's President Jimmy Morales is drumming up support for an amnesty bill that would allow the men sentenced for the atrocity to walk free. Dozens of other army veterans convicted of crimes against humanity would also benefit.