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
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(English below) Acción solidaria con las familias y querellantes del caso Diario Militar Como NISGUA organizamos esta campaña de fotos esperando que esta muestra internacional de solidaridad sea un aporte más a la visibilidad [...]
Interview: Women in the Military Diary Case
Last September, we held a webinar together with the Association of Family Members of the Detained and Disappeared of Guatemala (FAMDEGUA) with the objective of hearing updates directly from the families and lawyers of [...]
Entrevista: Las mujeres en el Caso Diario Militar
En septiembre pasado, tuvimos un seminario web junto con La Asociación de Familiares de Detenidos-Desaparecidos de Guatemala (FAMDEGUA) con el objetivo de escuchar actualizaciones directamente de las familias y abogadas del caso del Diario [...]
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The Military Diary is a document that lists the names of 195 people, including children, who were captured and forcibly disappeared between 1983 and 1985 during the dictatorship of Óscar Humberto [...]
Solidarity with the Families, Victims, and Survivors of the Military Diary Case and accompanying Organizations
On May 6, Judge Galvez ordered the opening the trial for the first 9 accused of the Military Diary case, who will face charges for illegal detention, torture, forced disappearance, murder, extra-judicial execution, sexual [...]
CASO DIARIO MILITAR: 30 de agosto. Dia Internacional de la persona Detenida Desaparecida
El Diario Militar es un documento que enlista los nombres de 195 personas, incluidos infantes, que fueron capturadas y desaparecidas forzadamente entre 1983 y 1985 durante la dictadura de Óscar Humberto [...]