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
2011: El año más violento contra defensores y defensoras de derechos humanos
2011: EL AÑO MÁS VIOLENTO CONTRA DEFENSORES Y DEFESORAS DE DERECHOS HUMANOSLa Unidad de Protección a Defensoras y Defensores de Derechos Humanos – Guatemala (UDEFEGUA), informa, que según nuestros registros, el año 2011, fue el [...]
2011: The Most Violent Year for Human Rights Defenders
2011: The Most Violent Year for Human Rights DefendersThe Human Rights Defenders Protection Unit – Guatemala (Unidad de Protección a Defensoras y Defensores de Derechos Humanos – Guatemala; UDEFEGUA) reports that, according to our records, [...]
Take Action: Justice for Emilia Quan
Emilia - we still remember you. The search for justice continues.On the 8th of December 2011, the first anniversary of the tragic death of Emilia Quan Staackmann takes place. Emilia was a Guatemalan woman, 33 [...]
Firmas – Justicia por Emilia Quan
Emilia - no te hemos olvidado. Seguimos buscando justiciaEl 8 de Diciembre de 2011 se cumple el primer aniversario de la trágica muerte de Emilia Quan Staackmann. Emilia era una mujer guatemalteca de 33 años [...]
Nuestra Voz Nuestra Memoria: El genocidio en Guatemala
The Association for Justice and Reconciliation (AJR) and the Center for Human Rights Legal Action (CALDH) have released a 30 minute documentary, "Our Voice, Our Memory: The genocide in Guatemala". The documentary, available in full [...]
Military high command and former president arrested for Guatemalan genocide: Trials expected to open in 2012
Ten years have passed since genocide survivors filed cases against General Efraín Ríos Montt and members of his military high command. As a result of this investigation, in 2011, three former military officials—including a former [...]