Say No to State Department funds for Guatemalan Army
Join NISGUA and GHRC in calling on Secretary of State John Kerry to deny certification of DOS funds to Guatemala "We need more teachers and not military brigades." Photo: PrensaComunitaria Guatemala’s UN Truth Commission report not only attributes 93% of all human rights violations and acts of violence to the Guatemalan State, which included over 600 massacres, it also [...]
Guatemalan organization express their solidarity with Yassmín Barrios
OUR SUPPORT FOR THE DIGNITY AND PROFESSIONALISM of HONORABLE JUDGE YASSMÍN BARRIOS To the people of Guatemala and to the international community, we express our total indignation of the decision emitted by the ethics tribunal of the Guatemalan Bar Association that attempts to penalize Judge Yassmín Barrios Aguilar. The Political Constitution of the Republic of Guatemala establishes in [...]
Interview with Judge Yassmín Barrios: “The door to impunity and corruption is being opened”
Interview originally published by El Periódico in Spanish. Translation by NISGUA. Judge Yassmín Barrios Photo: El Periódico Judge Iris Yassmín Barrios, presiding judge of the High Risk Crimes Court A, refers to the decision handed down against her last week by the Ethics Tribunal of the Guatemalan Bar Association (CANG in Spanish), in which her professional duties are suspended for [...]
Peaceful blockade in Barillas celebrates one-year anniversary
Tired of being ignored and disrespected by the Guatemalan government, and determined to halt a hydroelectric project approved without their free, prior and informed consent, the men and women of Santa Cruz Barillas founded the peaceful blockade, Nuevo Amanecer on April 6, 2013. Nuevo Amanecer, or New Dawn, is a permanent encampment located on a communal road leading to [...]
Guatemala’s Constitutional Court set to hear arguments regarding fate of genocide trial
This morning, the Constitutional Court (CC), Guatemala’s highest court, will hear arguments regarding the April 2013 decision by Judge Carol Patricia Flores to set the genocide case back to a pre-trial phase. The mid-trial ruling cited technical errors in the judicial process and stated that the case should return to November 2011, before Ríos Montt had ever been indicted. [...]
‘On the Road for Justice’ Speaking Tour to Bring Attention to Guatemala Mining Conflict, Need for Remedy in Canada
(Ottawa) How is it that when community leaders wrongfully targeted in the wake of violence connected with Tahoe Resources’ Escobal silver mine in Guatemala they spend months in jail, while the company’s former head of security, accused of ordering guards to open fire on protesters last April, is first given house arrest and then allowed to avoid prison by arguing that [...]