often carried out by specialized units of the National Police. Between 1984 and 1986, the secret police (G-2) maintained an operations center for the counterinsurgency programs in southwest Guatemala at the southern airbase at Retalhuleu. There, the G-2 operated a clandestine interrogation center for suspected insurgents and collaborators. Captured suspects were reportedly detained in water-filled pits along the perimeter of the base, which was covered with cages. To avoid drowning, prisoners were forced to hold onto the cages over the pits. The bodies of prisoners tortured to death and live prisoners marked for disappearance were thrown out of IAI-201 Aravas by the Guatemalan Air Force over the Pacific Ocean ("death flights"). Along with former Presidents José Efraín Ríos Montt and Fernando Romeo Lucas García (deceased), President Mejía was charged with murder, kidnapping and genocide in a Spanish court. Notes References Bibliography External links Oscar Humberto Mejía Victores, Trial Watch Profile, TRIAL Military History in Guatemala Inter Press Service News Agency: A Glimmer of Hope for Genocide Victims' Families Presidents of Guatemala People of the Guatemalan Civil War Guatemalan generals 1930 births 2016 deaths People from Guatemala City 20th-century Guatemalan people Leaders who took power by coup Guatemalan politicians convicted of crimes Defense Ministers of Guatemala Genocide perpetrators