On 30 July 1993 Inspector General Mariano Mazariegos, third-in-command of the National Police, and four other officers, were sentenced to three years and nine months in jail. They were charged with violently breaking up a peaceful demonstration in July 1992 in Guatemala City. The peasants taking part were from the Finca (farm) Pampas del Horizonte, in the village of Cajola, and were demanding government action regarding a land dispute. The court reportedly said that the five officers had ordered riot police to beat the peasants with their batons. Inspector General Mariano Mazariegos is apparently the highest police officer to be jailed for a human rights violation in Guatemala.
