Military Zone 21 – CREOMPAZ
On January 6, 2016, 14 former military officers were arrested on charges of forced disappearance and crimes against humanity based on evidence uncovered at the CREOMPAZ military center in Cobán, Alta Verapaz. Now a United Nations peacekeeper training base, CREOMPAZ (Regional Training Command for Peacekeeping Operations) operated as a detention and clandestine execution center during Guatemala’s Internal Armed Conflict, when it was known as Military Zone 21. Between 2012 and 2015, the Forensic Anthropology Foundation of Guatemala (FAFG) carried out 14 exhumations at CREOMPAZ and found 558 human remains in fourteen graves, representing the largest known case of forced disappearance in Latin America.
Spanning crimes committed from 1981 – 1988, the Military Zone 21 (CREOMPAZ) case sets the record in Guatemala, not only for the number of disappeared victims, but also for the time span over which the crimes were committed. Among the high-ranking individuals indicted is Manuel Benedicto Lucas García, who served as former Army Chief of Staff during his brother’s 1978-1982 military dictatorship, and who is currently imprisoned for his role in crimes against humanity committed against the Molina Theissen family. The trial is an important step in the legal trajectory seeking justice for crimes against humanity and represents more than 30 years of hard work by survivor organizations.
In-depth NISGUA reports
The same people who carried out genocide in Nebaj were the same who carried out genocide in Plan de Sánchez and throughout Baja and Alta Verapaz. It’s important that the high- ranking military command are tried for these crimes.
Latest from our blog
Statement: Condemn sexual violence in the Ixil Genocide
(ESPAÑOL ABAJO) Guatemala, April 22nd, 2024. The members of the National Platform of Organizations of Victims of the Internal Armed Conflict condemn the inhumane and despicable acts committed by the army against the Maya [...]
The Association of Communities for Development and Defense of the Land and Natural Resources (ACODET) in its Sixteenth General Assembly, declares before public opinion:
(ESPAÑOL ABAJO) We, the Indigenous and ancestral authorities of the different Indigenous communities of Ixcán, Cobán, and Uspantán that make up the Association of Communities for the Development and Defense of the Land and [...]
Statement for the defense of territory and food sovereignty
(ESPAÑOL ABAJO) We, representatives of the communities of La Costa Sur, Huehuetenango and the Indigenous Local Government of San Juan Cotzal, have convened in the Ixil territory of K’usal to share and exchange experiences [...]
A 10 años de su asesinato exigimos justicia para Topacio Reynoso
El pueblo Xinka mantiene una lucha para proteger la vida, el agua y el territorio, de los mortíferos megaproyectos extractivitas, incluyendo la minera Escobal. Su compromiso por defender la vida frente a corporaciones transnacionales, [...]
10 years after her assassination we demand justice for Topacio Reynoso.
The Xinka people maintain a struggle to protect life, water and territory from deadly extractive megaprojects, including the Escobal mine. Their commitment to defend life against transnational corporations has cost them criminalization, injuries, and [...]
Actualización sobre caso Genocidio Ixil, lunes 8 de abril de 2024 – Viernes 12 de abril 2024
Esta semana, las audiencias fueron acompañadas por miembros de la Asociación para la Justicia y Reconciliación (AJR) de la región Kaqchikel, Autoridades Indigenas Ancestrales de la región Ixil de Nebaj y diversas organizaciones de [...]