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
Comunicado 15 Asamblea Ordinaria ACODET
LA ASOCIACIÓN DE COMUNIDADES PARA EL DESARROLLO, DEFENSA DE LA TIERRA Y LOS RECURSOS NATURALES ACODET, EN SU DÉCIMA QUINTA ASAMBLEA GENERAL ORDINARIA ANTE LA OPINIÓN PÚBLICA, MANIFESTAMOS: Nosotros y nosotras las autoridades indígenas [...]
Actualización Solidaria Marzo 🌷
Marzo ha sido un mes de transiciones, del invierno a primavera y también en los procesos de la Madre Tierra: ¡es época de sembrar! Sembremos juntes semillas de solidaridad, de resistencia y rebeldía. Desde [...]
March Solidarity Update 🌷
March has been a month of transitions, from winter to spring, and in the processes of Mother Earth: it is the time to sow! Together, let us sow seeds of solidarity, resistance, and rebellion. [...]
Statement: Tailor-made Judgements: A Constitutional Court that Pretends to Grant de facto Amnesty
International and national organizations warned about a new attempt by the Constitutional Court (CC) to maintain impunity for the crimes committed in the Molina Theissen Case. The CC’s decision orders that a new resolution [...]
World Water Day: STATEMENT OF THE INTERCULTURAL SOCIAL MOVEMENT OF THE PEOPLE OF IXCÁN
Río Negro, Ixcan. Photo by NISGUA STATEMENT OF THE INTERCULTURAL SOCIAL MOVEMENT OF THE PEOPLE OF IXCÁN BEFORE PUBLIC OPINION Today, March 22, World Water Day, we express our great concerns about the [...]
FAMDEGUA Bulletin 24-March 7th, 2023.
Military Diary Case Ex-military personnel Alix Leonel Barillas Soto and Enrique Cifuentes de la Cruz have requested a trial to review their enforcement measures. At this meeting, the lawyer representing the victims in [...]