GUATEMALA CITY, Sept. 12 (UPI) -- A Guatemalan commission says government soldiers kidnapped hundreds of children and sold them for adoption in other countries.
The Guatemalan Peace Archive, a commission established by President Alvaro Colom, has concluded at least 333 children were abducted by government troops and sold during the Central American nation's 36-year civil war, with their parents often being killed, CNN reported Saturday.
Marco Tulio Alvarez, the commission's chief investigator, told the U.S. broadcaster many of the children ended up in the United States, Sweden, Italy and France. The figures only covered 1977 to 1989, which were considered the peak years of the abductions and adoptions, but he added the commission will also examine the period up to 1995.
CNN said Guatemalan officials have determined about 45,000 people disappeared during the 1960-1996 civil war, with about 5,000 of them children. About 200,000 people died in the conflict between the leftist guerrillas and right-wing governments.
