James Rodríguez ◆ Documentary Photographer

Family members take home the human remains of Jacinta Solis de Leon, who starved to death in the mountainside in 1982 fleeing from State-led repression. Acul, Nebaj, Quiche, Guatemala, 2017.

Friends and family await for forensic anthropologists to return the remains of their relatives killed during the armed conflict. Nebaj, Quiche, Guatemala, 2017.

War survivors and relatives attend the wake of 24 Q'eqchi' Maya war victims, mostly children and elderly, who died in the early 1980's due to starvation and sickness after hiding in the jungle while fleeing State repression. Exhumed in 2010 from a common grave in a jungle hideout named Sejulja, loosely translated into "subterranean water", the victims finally received a proper burial. Chisec, Alta Verapaz, Guatemala. September 26, 2017.

Panorama of the Chixoy Dam and Rio Negro Community from Pak'oxom Peak. On March 13, 1982, the Guatemalan army and civil patrolmen from neighboring Xococ rounded up residents of Rio Negro, marched them uphill to Pak'oxom, and brutally raped and massacred 177 women and children. Nearly 400 community members of Rio Negro were killed in four separate massacres in the early 1980's due to the community's resistance to give up their lands and make way for the Chixoy hydroelectric project. Rio Negro, Rabinal, Baja Verapaz, Guatemala. 2014.

Mass grave number 16 inside Coban's UN peacekeeping training center CREOMPAZ (former Military Zone 21) reveals dozens of bound, tied and blindfolded human remains. The exhumation, carried out in 2012, revealed the the human remains of nearly 533 wartime victims, many women and children. Coban, Alta Verapaz, Guatemala. 2012.

Local Ixil Mayan people watch as members of the Forensic Anthropology Foundation of Guatemala (FAFG) carry out the exhumation of three skeletal remains from grave 23 at the former military garrison of Cotzal. The exhumation, which took place from August 28th until November 8th, 2014, rendered the skeletal remains of 74 wartime victims from 24 different graves. Xolosinay, San Juan Cotzal, Quiche, Guatemala. November 7, 2014.

Friends and family prepare for a mass burial of twenty-six identified war victims killed either in 1982 and 1985. Exhumed from mass graves by members of the Forensic Anthropology Foundation of Guatemala (FAFG) in 2006, they were finally a decade later. Xecoyeu, Quiché, Guatemala. 2016.

Family members watch as the human remains of Diego Solis Lopez watch are arranged inside a coffin. Solis Lopez starved to death in the mountainside in 1982 fleeing from State-led repression and exhumed in 2013. Nebaj, Quiche, Guatemala, 2017.

Paulina Caal Caal, 60, takes a moment during the wake for 24 Q'eqchi' Maya war victims, including her sister Matilda. All victims, mostly children and elderly, died in the early 1980's due to starvation and sickness after hiding in the jungle while fleeing State repression. Exhumed in 2010 from a common grave in a jungle hideout named Sejulja, loosely translated into "subterranean water", the victims finally received a proper burial. Chisec, Alta Verapaz, Guatemala. September 26, 2017.

Community members from Estrella Polar and Covadonga hamlets hold a vigil for 77 war victims exhumed from mass graves in 2009 the evening before the mass burial. The victims were killed during the Covadonga massacre by the Guatemalan military forces on March 29, 1982, during the de facto government of General Efrain Rios Montt as part of a scorched earth campaign against numerous Mayan villages believed to support the guerrilla forces. Estrella Polar, Chajul, Quiché, Guatemala. November 19, 2014.

Locals from Pinares hamlet look into a coffin containing the remains of Agustin Tec Pop, exhumed from Coban's former Military Zone 21 in August 2012. On September 13, 1983, Tec Pop and three others were fleeing violence when they were taken captive by an army platoon they encountered in the mountains near Chi'is. Tec Pop's remains were identified through DNA analysis by members of the Forensic Anthropology Foundation of Guatemala (FAFG) and returned to his family members in October 2014. Pinares, Cahabon, Alta Verapaz, Guatemala. October 30, 2014.

Local Kakchiquel Mayan women wash the dishes during the wake of Clementino Buc Sac. On October 28, 2015, members from the Forensic Anthropology Foundation of Guatemala (FAFG) returned to family members the positively identified remains of three Kakchiquel Mayan wartime victims, including Buc Sac's. All three were abducted from their homes by the Army on May 4, 1982, exhumed from a common grave in Paley, San Jose Poaquil, on February 27, 2013, and positively identified through DNA technology. Parajbey, Santa Apolonia, Chimaltenango, Guatemala. October 28, 2015.

A boy sleeps on a board the morning after the wake of 24 Q'eqchi' Maya war victims killed in the early 1980's due to starvation and sickness after hiding in the jungle while fleeing State repression. Chisec, Alta Verapaz, Guatemala. September 27, 2017.

Local men play marimba music the evening before the Guatemalan government is to begin paying reparations to hundreds of families from 33 former communities submerged during the construction of the Chixoy hydro-electric dam and subsequent flooding of the Chixoy River basin in the early 1980's. The community of Pacux, in the outskirts of Rabinal, is where the former Achi Mayan residents of Rio Negro were resettled after the destruction and flooding of their village following four massacres that killed over 400 residents. Pacux, Rabinal, Baja Verapaz, Guatemala. October 14, 2015.

Dozens gather to commemorate the twenty-seventh anniversary of the Rio Negro Massacre at Pak'oxom Peak, the site of the mass killing. On March 13, 1982, the Guatemalan army and civil patrolmen from neighboring Xococ rounded up residents of Rio Negro, marched them uphill to Pak'oxom, and brutally raped and massacred 177 women and children. Nearly 400 community members of Rio Negro were killed in four separate massacres in the early 1980's due to the community's resistance to give up their lands and make way for the Chixoy hydroelectric project. Carlos Chen, who lost his wife and toddler children at the massacre and is the principal negotiator for the Coordinating Committee of the Communities Affected by the Chixoy Dam (COCAICH), stands on the upper left. Pak'oxom Peak near Rio Negro, Rabinal, Baja Verapaz, Guatemala. March 13, 2009.

Fredy Peccereli, director and co-founder of the Forensic Anthropology Foundation of Guatemala (FAFG), places his hand on grave 24 at the former military garrison of Cotzal as local Ixil Mayan women watch. The exhumation, which took place from August 28th until November 8th, 2014, rendered the skeletal remains of 74 wartime victims from 24 different graves. Xolosinay, San Juan Cotzal, Quiche, Guatemala. November 6, 2014.

Friends and family await for forensic anthropologists to return the remains of their relatives killed during the armed conflict. Nebaj, Quiche, Guatemala, 2017.

Forensic anthropologists clean, assemble and record exhumed human remains at the headquarters of the Forensic Anthropology Foundation of Guatemala (FAFG). Formed in 1992 due to the increasing demands for forensic activities, the FAFG focuses on exhuming, identifying and properly burying the thousands of missing wartime victims from Guatemala's internal armed conflict. FAFG’s own Forensic Genetics Laboratory in Guatemala City – the only one of it’s kind in the region - has been operating since late 2010 and has rendered positive identification of dozens of wartime victims from numerous regions. The laboratory was conceived following the models and experiences of the International Commission on Missing Persons (ICMP) in Bosnia, and the technology developed to identify the victims of the World Trade Center (WTC) terrorist attacks. Guatemala City, Guatemala. September 29, 2015.

A traditional Mayan Huipil, or hand-woven blouse, recovered at a mass grave, dries under the sun at the headquarters of the Forensic Anthropology Foundation of Guatemala (FAFG). Formed in 1992 due to the increasing demands for forensic activities, the FAFG focuses on exhuming, identifying and properly burying the thousands of missing wartime victims from Guatemala's internal armed conflict. FAFG’s own Forensic Genetics Laboratory in Guatemala City – the only one of it’s kind in the region - has been operating since late 2010 and has rendered positive identification of dozens of wartime victims from numerous regions. The laboratory was conceived following the models and experiences of the International Commission on Missing Persons (ICMP) in Bosnia, and the technology developed to identify the victims of the World Trade Center (WTC) terrorist attacks. Guatemala City, Guatemala. September 29, 2015.

Ixil Mayan men play music as they prepare to transport the remains of 77 war victims to Estrella Polar and Covadonga hamlets for burial. The war victims, exhumed from mass graves in 2009, were killed during the Covadonga massacre by the Guatemalan military forces on March 29, 1982, during the de facto government of General Efrain Rios Montt as part of a scorched earth campaign against numerous Mayan villages believed to support the guerrilla forces. Nebaj, Quiche, Guatemala. November 19, 2014.

Forensic anthropologists and residents of the Estrella Polar and Covadonga hamlets transport the remains of 77 war victims back to Estrella Polar for a mass burial. The war victims, exhumed from mass graves in 2009, were killed during the Covadonga massacre by the Guatemalan military forces on March 29, 1982, during the de facto government of General Efrain Rios Montt as part of a scorched earth campaign against numerous Mayan villages believed to support the guerrilla forces. Chajul, Quiché, Guatemala. November 19, 2014.

Community members from Estrella Polar and Covadonga hamlets head to the cemetery to bury the human remains of 77 war victims exhumed from mass graves in 2009. The victims were killed during the Covadonga massacre by the Guatemalan military forces on March 29, 1982, during the de facto government of General Efrain Rios Montt as part of a scorched earth campaign against numerous Mayan villages believed to support the guerrilla forces. Estrella Polar, Chajul, Quiche, Guatemala. November 20, 2014.

Friends and family members pray over the skeletal remains of wartime victim Santiago Jalaija inside a coffin at his family's home. The positively identified male remains of six wartime victims, including Santiago's, are returned to their appropriate families by members of the Guatemalan Forensic Anthropology Foundation (FAFG) in the Poqomchi' Mayan hamlet of Pambach, 38 kilometers from Coban. The remains, matched through DNA samples, were exhumed from grave 17 of the Regional Command of Training and Peacekeeping Operations (CREOMPAZ), formerly known as Military Zone 21 in Coban. All six men were taken by the army during an incursion to the village on June 2, 1982, during the de facto government of Efrain Rios Montt, and were never seen again. A total of 64 skeletal remains were recovered from grave 17, the majority of which bore evidence of violence such as blindfolds and bound hands and feet. Pambach, San Cristobal Verapaz, Alta Verapaz, Guatemala. November 22, 2013.

The Hall of the Massacres at the Rabinal Achi Community Museum holds a municipal map of Rabinal indicating where a massacre took place in the early 1980s by the Guatemalan Armed Forces along with the Civil Patrolmen of the region. Rabinal, Baja Verapaz, Guatemala. October 16, 2015.

Efrain Rios Montt, former de facto head of state accused of Genocide against the Ixil Mayan people, finally takes the stand. On May 10, 2013, former de facto head of state Efrain Rios Montt, who ruled from 1982 to 1983, was convicted of Genocide and crimes against humanity. Even though the conviction was overturned shortly after due to a technicality, a pending trial is slated for 2015. It marks the first time in world history a former head of state is tried for genocide in a national court. Guatemala City, Guatemala. May 9, 2013.

View inside ossuary 1 at La Verbena Cemetery during the opening ceremony for the landmark exhumations reveals primarily human remains, clothing and plastic bags. The exhumations of the ossuaries at La Verbena Cemetery by the Guatemalan Forensic Anthropology Foundation (FAFG) comprise the most complex and ambitious project in search of the 45,000 detained-disappeared victims of Guatemala’s State-induced terrorism against its citizens primarily during the 1970s and 80s. Guatemala City, Guatemala. February 26, 2010.

Forensic anthropologist Freddy Muñoz takes the DNA sample of Juana Caal Xo, 78, during the burial of Agustin Tec Pop, exhumed from Coban's former Military Zone 21 in August 2012. Caal Xo is hoping to find the missing remains of her daughter Adela Pop Xo who was AgustinTec Pop's sister-in-law. On September 13, 1983, Agustin Tec Pop, Adela Pop Xo, and two others were fleeing violence when they were taken captive by an army platoon they encountered in the mountains near Chi'is. Tec Pop's remains were identified through DNA analysis by members of the Forensic Anthropology Foundation of Guatemala (FAFG) and returned to his family members in October 2014. Pinares, Cahabon, Alta Verapaz, Guatemala. October 30, 2014

Forensic anthropologist Yeni De Leon arranges the skeletal remains of Simon Buc Tamat inside a coffin while family members watch, including his son Joaquin Buc (green shirt) and widow Fidelia Sahuach De Leon. On October 28, 2015, members from the Forensic Anthropology Foundation of Guatemala (FAFG) returned to family members the positively identified remains of three Kakchiquel Mayan wartime victims, including Buc Tamat's. All three were abducted from their homes by the Army on May 4, 1982, exhumed from a common grave in Paley, San Jose Poaquil, on February 27, 2013, and were positively identified through DNA technology. Puerta Parajbey, Santa Apolonia, Chimaltenango, Guatemala. October 28, 2015.

Members of the National Coordination of Guatemalan Widows (CONAVIGUA) celebrate All Souls Day, or Day of the Dead, at the former Military Garrison in San Juan Comalapa. Between 2003 and 2005, dozens of exhumations carried out at the former military outpost rendered the human remains of 179 wartime victims killed by the Guatemalan State forces. In 2010, CONAVIGUA inaugurated a memorial chapel deemed Nimajay, or big house in the local Maya Kakchiquel language, where the family members can honor those killed during the internal armed conflict. San Juan Comalapa, Chimaltenango, Guatemala. November 2, 2015.

Stacks of boxes with human remains exhumed from hundreds of clandestine graves sit at the headquarters of the Forensic Anthropology Foundation of Guatemala (FAFG) waiting for DNA matching to come forward in order to be returned to their family members for burial. Formed in 1992 due to the increasing demands for forensic activities, the FAFG focuses on exhuming, identifying and properly burying the thousands of missing wartime victims from Guatemala's internal armed conflict. FAFG’s own Forensic Genetics Laboratory in Guatemala City – the only one of it’s kind in the region - has been operating since late 2010 and has rendered positive identification of dozens of wartime victims from numerous regions. The laboratory was conceived following the models and experiences of the International Commission on Missing Persons (ICMP) in Bosnia, and the technology developed to identify the victims of the World Trade Center (WTC) terrorist attacks. Guatemala City, Guatemala. September 29, 2015.

War survivors and relatives attend the wake of 24 Q'eqchi' Maya war victims, mostly children and elderly, who died in the early 1980's due to starvation and sickness after hiding in the jungle while fleeing State repression. Exhumed in 2010 from a common grave in a jungle hideout named Sejulja, loosely translated into "subterranean water", the victims finally received a proper burial. Chisec, Alta Verapaz, Guatemala. September 26, 2017.