Bolivia’s highest court on Tuesday convicted five former top military commanders for an army crackdown on riots in October 2003 that killed at least 64 civilians. It gave them prison sentences ranging from 10 to 15 years.
In a unanimous decision, the six judges of the Supreme Tribunal also convicted two former Cabinet ministers of complicity in the killings — Erick Reyes Villa and Adalberto Kuajara — and sentenced each to three years.
Indicted in the case, but not tried, was then-Bolivian president Gonzalo Sanchez de Lozada. He was forced into exile by the widespread popular anger they provoked.
Carlos Sanchez Berzain, the then-defense minister, was also indicted but not tried. Bolivian law prohibits trials in absentia and both men live in the US.
A lawyer for Sanchez de Lozada issued a statement calling Bolivia’s justice system highly politicized and saying that “no objective observer” can take the sentences seriously.
The 2003 protests and crackdown, in what has become known as “Black October,” was a turning point in Bolivian politics: The country’s discredited traditional political parties collapsed and Bolivian President Evo Morales, one of the protest leaders, won the presidency two years later.
The unrest was initially sparked by a government plan to export natural gas through a proposed pipeline to Chile. It quickly set off protests by the largely Aymara Indian population of La Paz’s satellite city, El Alto, which vented centuries of anger over poverty and political marginalization.
Sanchez de Lozada, whose indictment was authorized by Congress before Morales’ December 2005 election, has long argued that using force was justified because a blockade by unruly protesters in El Alto had cut off La Paz, the capital, from food and fuel.
Prosecutors said nothing justified letting soldiers open fire on civilians who were armed only with sticks and rocks. Sixty-four people were killed and 405 wounded, Chief Prosecutor Mario Uribe said.
Families of victims erupted in tears when the verdict was announced on Tuesday at a brief public hearing in Sucre, where the court sits. Many had held vigil outside for two months.
The longest sentences were meted out to Roberto Claros, the then armed forces chief, and Juan Veliz, the army commander. Both were given 15 years in prison for “genocide in the form of a bloody massacre” and murder.
Former armed forces chief of staff Gonzalo Rocabado received a 10-year sentence.
Bolivia has sought the extradition of both Sanchez de Lozada and Sanchez Berzain.
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