This afternoon, the Supreme Court decided the final verdict in the trial of 5 military officials and 2-ex ministers for 68 killings in October 2003.

The court found all officials unanimously guilty of genocide (in Bolivia this term means the killing of three or more people). The sentences are as follows:

Generals Claros & Veliz 15 years and 6 months prison

Generals Quiroga & Aranda 11 yrs.

General Rocabado: 10 yrs.

Ex-Ministers Reyes Villa & Kuajara: 3 yrs (this sentence may be suspended).

This is an important precedent as the first human rights case against high ranking military and government officials to ever reach a verdict, much less a conviction.

The two and a half year trial received little international attention and almost no political support within Bolivia.

This first conviction will most likely generate a strong reaction from the armed forces.