Photo credit: Jose Rodriguez After a holiday recess, the Ixil genocide case retrial will be heard again today. As Ixil witnesses come forward to once more share their experience of genocide publicly, they are surrounded by the supportive presence of members of the AJR. However, the AJR members [...]
In the midst of the ongoing genocide retrial of José Efraín Ríos Montt and José Mauricio Rodriguez Sánchez, the Association for Justice and Reconciliation (AJR), the Center for Human Rights Legal Action (CALDH), and the Human Rights Law Firm (BDH) published a press release in the Guatemalan newspaper, El Periódico, to mark [...]
News recap: Needham Congregational Church celebrates 30 years of U.S.-Guatemala solidarity; As Ríos Montt and Rodríguez Sánchez are retried, witnesses and survivors reaffirm 2013 genocide sentence; NISGUA report highlights grassroots strategies to preserve historical memory in Guatemala; Nobel Women’s Initiative speaks out in support of community resistance to Tahoe [...]
Young Ixil university students stand in solidarity with genocide survivors outside of court.Photo credit: Ixil University students, Chemol txumb'al, FUNDEBASE, y AJR Friday, December 1, marked the seventh trial date since the case for genocide against Efraín Ríos Montt and José Mauricio Rodriguez Sánchez was reopened on [...]
Today, Survivors of massacres in the 80s from Chimaltenango traveled to participate in the trial against Rodríguez Sánchez for the Ixil genocide. The AJR (Association for Justice and Reconciliation) is made up of survivors from 5 regions in Guatemala and solidarity between communities has been their foundation since [...]
On October 13, the Ixil genocide trial is set to open once again against former dictator Efraín Ríos Montt and José Mauricio Rodriguez Sánchez, former head of military intelligence, in the second attempt to retry the case after the 2013 trial, verdict, and sentence convicting Ríos Montt of genocide. While [...]
News recap: Solidarity in the streets; U.S. Speaking Tour, "Guatemalan Youth in Defense of Land and Life," kicks off on October 9th; Thousands call for resignation of Guatemalan President Jimmy Morales and Congressional representatives; Grieving the loss of Ixil genocide survivor Jacinto de Paz, witness in the trial against Ríos [...]
On August 27, Guatemalan President, Jimmy Morales, declared Iván Velásquez, head of the UN anti-impunity commission, the CICIG, "persona non grata" in Guatemala and requested his immediate expulsion. This decision came on the heels of a request by the CICIG and the Guatemalan public prosecutor’s office to strip Morales [...]
Guatemala plunged into a political crisis this month as President Jimmy Morales attempted to circumvent a criminal investigation into his campaign finances by declaring the head of the UN-sponsored Commision (CICIG) persona non grata, a decision that sparked widespread public outcry. A second wave of outrage followed over legislation [...]
News recap: "This Land is Ours": Hundreds march to demand the restitution of stolen and occupied lands at site of Military Zone 21; Former military officers to stand trial for crimes committed against Molina Theissen family; Thousands respond to international call to action against violent repression of peaceful protest in Casillas; Inter-American [...]
News recap: Ixil communities celebrate ancestral resistance during the Day of Dignity; Land defender Angélica Choc appeals the acquittal of Mynor Padilla, accused of murdering her husband; Communities fighting to protect the Oxec and Cahabón Rivers denounce decision by Constitutional Court; On World Environment Day, the IACHR calls for the protection [...]
News recap: A strong grassroots movement continues to resist Tahoe Resources; Six police officers tasked with the custody of Tahoe's former head of security found guilty on charges related to his escape; Supreme Court of Canada gives way for Tahoe Resources to face civil suit in Canada for violence; Youth activist [...]
News recap: Motions filed against former Constitutional Court judges for breach of duty in overturning the genocide verdict; Ríos Montt to stand trial for genocide for his role in the Dos Erres massacre; Accompanier perspective: "As You Come Home: Immigration, Reunion, and the Continuity of Power"; Thousands respond to action [...]
Photo credit: Roderico Díaz. News recap: Honoring the life of Miguel Ramírez Matóm, witness in the Ixil genocide trial; Take action: Denounce impunity for attacks against environmental defenders; Communities in the Ixcán commemorate 10 years since the referendum that said ‘no’ to resource extraction; Announcing our fall tour: "Guatemala youth in defense of [...]
News recap: The women of Sepur Zarco celebrate one year since the verdict and continue to call for dignified reparations; La Puya celebrates five years of resistance; UC Berkeley students take action in solidarity with victims of the fire at a state-run home for youth. This and more in this month's [...]
On International Women’s Day, March 8, a fire was set at a state home for children and youth in Guatemala, immediately killing 19 girls. Since then, at least another 21 have died as a result of their injuries and many more continue to be hospitalized. Survivors have recounted that on [...]
"This experience will be a legacy for new generations, showing that even war has limits. It is a clear message that confirms the commitment that justice and society have to human rights, to promote a much longed-for peace, and allows us as a society to advance, together with the women, [...]
Yesterday marked one year since former members of the Guatemalan military were found guilty for crimes against humanity committed at a military base in the eastern community of Sepur Zarco. At great personal risk, 15 Q’eqchi' women gave preliminary testimonies in 2012 where they documented in detail the violence they survived [...]
Photo: Holly Sheenan. News recap: Celebrating the one-year anniversary of the Sepur Zarco verdict; Civil suit continues against the Ministry of Energy and Mines, in an attempt to cancel Las Lajitas license; Hundreds respond to calls for urgent action on the murder of environmental defender Sebastián Alonso Juan; Protect sacred sites: Respond [...]
While international accompaniment is at its core a response to the requests of Guatemalan communities and a tool for the protection of human rights, it is also a radical practice of showing up in solidarity and grappling with the deeper questions of structural injustice. Current accompanier Chris Shorne shares a poignant [...]
Photo: Francisco Simon, Prensa Comunitaria News recap: Former Kaibil, accused of participating in Dos Erres massacre, arrested in Maryland; Elderly protester killed in the Ixquisis region, Huehuetenango; Former Guatemalan Minister of Energy and Mines arrested in Miami, awaits extradition; As Trump takes office, we stand in our commitment to internationalism. This [...]
The following is a translation of an article originally featured in Spanish on the ACOGUATE blog. NISGUA is a member of ACOGUATE, a coalition of North American and European solidarity committees who provide international accompaniment to threatened Guatemalan human rights defenders. NISGUA observed the 2011 Dos Erres trial and continues [...]
This year marks the 20th anniversary of the signing of the Peace Accords in Guatemala, which brought an official end to the 36-year internal armed conflict. The Accords not only promised a more equitable distribution of land, increased attention on social needs, and an end to the violence that [...]
Photo: CPR Urbana News recap: Lucas García to be tried for the disappearance of Marco Antonio Molina Theissen; Staff member from the environmental justice law firm CALAS is murdered; The municipality of Mataquescuintla re-affirms 2012 referendum results that voted ‘NO’ to mining; “Guatemalan women healing towards justice” tour build U.S.-Guatemala connections in [...]
Former Guatemalan dictator José Efraín Ríos Montt is currently facing charges of genocide for his role as the intellectual author of the 1982 massacre that killed more than 200 people in Las Dos Erres, Petén. While he was convicted in 2013 for genocide against the Ixil people, the sentence was [...]
The following is a narrative account by a current NISGUA accompanier who was present at the burial of the remains of eight people from Alta Verapaz, disappeared by the Guatemalan military in 1982. These eight individuals are among the 565 that have been uncovered by the Guatemalan Forensic Anthropology Foundation [...]
During our fall tour, “Guatemalan women healing towards justice,” community psychologist Maudi Tzay met with hundreds of students, activists, psychologists, and healers from across the U.S. to speak about the groundbreaking case of Sepur Zarco and the critical work of Guatemalan feminist organizations to create spaces for healing grounded in [...]
As part of NISGUA’s 2016 tour, “Guatemalan women healing towards justice: the case of Sepur Zarco,” Bay Area organizers brought together community and clinical psychologists working in trauma and healing to discuss the connections between militarism and sexual violence and strategies for resilience and solidarity. The event, “Memory and [...]
Maudí Tzay joins hundreds of activists in denouncing ongoing U.S. militarization at this year’s SOA Watch Convergence This year’s tour, “Guatemalan women healing towards justice: the case of Sepur Zarco,” kicked off at the U.S.-Mexico border, together with hundreds of other activists at the annual School of the Americas Watch [...]
News recap: “Guatemalan women healing towards justice” tour kicks off this weekend at the border; Alliance for Prosperity means more of the same U.S. foreign policy towards Central America; Xamán massacre will be prosecuted in Inter-American Court; The home of human rights defender Angelica Choc attacked amidst advances in criminal trial. This [...]
In the lead-up to the “Guatemalan women healing towards justice: the case of Sepur Zarco," NISGUA sat down with Maudi Tzay, a community psychologist with ECAP, to talk about the Sepur Zarco trial, community processes of healing, and the important work women survivors are doing as they seek justice [...]
MEDIA ADVISORY Contact: David Imhoff, (510) 763-1403, david@nisgua.org Event Details: U.S. Speaking Tour to visit AZ, TX, CA, OR, and WA, October 7-24 (Guatemala City/Oakland, CA): Maudi Tzay, a Guatemalan community psychologist with the Community Research and Psychosocial Action Team (ECAP), will tour the United States in October to [...]
News recap: National and international human rights defenders threatened as transitional justice advances; Communities celebrate the release of political prisoners from Huehuetenango; SEC complaint says Tahoe Resources failed to disclose widespread opposition to Escobal silver mine. This and more in this month's Solidarity Update.
While the United States pushes forward with the Alliance for Prosperity – allocating $750 million this fiscal year alone to Honduras, El Salvador and Guatemala – NISGUA talked with Fernando Solis, editor and political writer at El Observador, to get his insights into the plan, its goals, and who [...]
"Today our loved ones return to Central Park; we celebrate their love and their LIVES, their example and their dignified rebellion" - Hijos Guatemala On June 30, urban activists took to the streets once more for the Day of Heroes and Martyrs, in celebration of life, resistance, and dignity. This [...]
News recap: Psychologist Maudi Tzay joins NISGUA this fall on tour in the United States; Eight former military to stand trial for charges in the CREOMPAZ case; Urban activists return to Central Square for the Day for Heroes and Martyrs; Seven political prisoners from Huehuetenango go to trial. This and [...]
On June 7, Judge Claudette Domínguez of Guatemala’s High-Risk Crimes Court “A” ordered eight former military officers to stand trial for crimes against humanity in one of the largest cases of forced disappearance in Latin America’s history. The legal case is built on eyewitness and expert testimonies, documentary evidence, [...]
A major legal victory took place in Guatemala earlier this year, when for the first time, sexual slavery was successfully tried as a crime against humanity. A former Colonel and Military Commissioner were convicted for crimes against humanity for sexual violence and sexual and domestic slavery committed against Q’eqchí [...]
We are excited to announce that our Fall 2016 speaking tour, “Guatemalan Women Healing Toward Justice: the case of Sepur Zarco,” will feature Maudi Tzay, a psychologist with the Community Studies and Psycho-social Action Team (ECAP). Maudi has played a crucial role in integrating healing practices into movements for [...]
News recap: Final arguments heard to determine whether CREOMPAZ case will be sent to trial; More than 99% of participants vote ‘NO’ to resource extraction in Quesada municipal consultation; Guatemala’s highest court upholds suspension order for El Tambor Mine; Announcing our 2016 Fall tour: “Guatemalan Women Healing Toward Justice.” This [...]