On April 5th, 2024, the oral and public debate against former military officer: Benedicto Lucas García, accused in the Ixil Genocide case and driven by the Association for Justice and Reconciliation (AJR), was resumed by the High-Risk "A" Court. The Public Ministry stated in its opening arguments that it [...]
[ESPAÑOL ABAJO] People connected to the Denver Justice & Peace Committee in solidarity with the Ixil People. The process brings to mind critical and harsh situations from Guatemala's history. We honor the struggle and resistance of the Association for Justice and Reconciliation (AJR) as survivors, victims, relatives of victims, [...]
Welcome to the March Solidarity Update! This month, we participated in a series of critical activities and topics that are setting the stage for the field of justice and human rights. We highlight the transitional justice case of the Alaska Summit Massacre, a milestone that represents an important step [...]
On March 25, 2024, the first hearing of the Oral and Public Debate was held against former General Benedicto Lucas García, for the crimes of genocide, sexual violence and crimes against humanity, committed during the dictatorship of his brother Romeo Lucas García (1978-1982). Ancestral Indigenous Authorities of the Ixil [...]
[ESPAÑOL ABAJO] The Association for Justice and Reconciliation –AJR- And the Office of Human Rights of the Archbishop of Guatemala -ODHAG-. To the national and international public opinion: After 23 years since the first complaint was filed in 2001, on March 25 and 26, 2024, the Criminal Sentencing, Drug [...]
Background. After 36 years, Guatemala put an end to the Internal Armed Conflict –IAC-, with the definitive ceasefire and the signing of the firm and lasting Peace Agreement on December 29th of 1996. Previously, through the Oslo Accords (1994), the parties agreed to the creation of the Commission for [...]
[ESPAÑOL ABAJO] 11 years after the first massacre in times of peace, against the Maya K’iche’ people of Totonicapán, which took place on October 4th, 2012, the Board of Directors of the 48 Cantons, widows, victims, survivors and the people of Totonicapán demand justice and a conviction [...]
![[ENG] A painting with a white background and gold border with two black and white photographs of victims of the Internal Armed Conflict in Guatemala. Behind the painting is a cross painted in black with white letters that read: "1982," both supported by metal chairs, on one side there are yellow flowers.](https://nisgua.org/wp-content/uploads/14-2-320x202.jpeg)
On February 25th of each year, Guatemala commemorates the "National Day of Dignification for the Victims of the Internal Armed Conflict (IAC)." Survivors and family members marched on Sunday the 25th from the Human Rights Plaza at the Palace of Justice to the National Palace of Culture, in zone [...]
Coordination of Ixil Organizations and Organizations of Victims of the Internal Armed Conflict (IAC) Indigenous people in Guatemala, among them the Maya Ixil people, have experienced moments of pain, sadness, and resistance in their history, one of the most recent being the Internal Armed Conflict between 1960 and [...]
![[ENG] The image is a photograph taken at night of the national palace of Guatemala, which is illuminated with artificial lights and you can see the shadows of people looking towards the building. [ESP] La imagen es una fotografía tomada de noche del palacio nacional de Guatemala, que se encuentra iluminado con luces artificiales y se alcanzan a ver las sombras de personas que están mirando hacia el edificio.](https://nisgua.org/wp-content/uploads/signal-2024-02-14-142806-320x202.jpeg)
After 106 days of resistance of Indigenous people in the national strike against corruption and in defense of democracy in Guatemala, our partners continue the fight for truth, memory, and justice. In this solidarity update we share with you: a series of interviews with Guatemalan Indigenous leaders during the [...]
![[ESP] En un espacio abierto con el cielo azul de fondo, una manta blanca con el rostro de una persona socializada como hombre en blanco y negro, debajo letras en color negro ilegible, la manta es sostenida por una persona por detrás. [ENG] In an open space with blue sky in the background, a white blanket with the face of a person socialized as a man in black and white, underneath letters in illegible black, the blanket is held by a person from behind.](https://nisgua.org/wp-content/uploads/1-7-320x202.jpeg)
February 13,2024 commemorates the 42nd anniversary of the forced disappearance of Emil Bustamante, a university social leader. His families, friends and organized collectives gathered to march to the Matamoros military headquarters, where he was last seen alive in 1982. "This terrible ignominy was not 42 February (years) ago, it [...]
(Spanish below) On January 31, Judge Jorge Douglas Ochoa of the Criminal Sentencing Court of the Department of Chiquimula sentenced a commissioner and two agents of the National Civil Police (PNC) for the crime of abuse of authority in the detention of journalist Norma Sancir, who was covering a [...]
The Human Rights Office of the Archbishop of Guatemala (ODHAG) denounces that during the early morning hours of February 14, the offices of Culture and Peace, the programs of historical memory, childhood, conflict transformation and community organization were broken into by unknown persons. They report the theft of laptop [...]
![[ESP] En un fondo blanco, en la la parte de arriba y abajo al borde de la página ondas color morada, lila, azul, celeste que se mezclan entre si. En la esquina superior izquierda el logo de una paloma en pleno vuelo y a los pies de ella las letras CALDH de color azul. En letras negras el pronunciamiento. [ENG] On a white background, at the top and bottom edge of the page purple, lilac, blue, light blue waves that are mixed together. In the upper left corner the logo of a dove in full flight and at its feet the letters CALDH in blue. In black letters the statement.](https://nisgua.org/wp-content/uploads/GFMtuZtWEAAoXTQ-320x202.jpeg)
Judge Jorge Douglas Ochoa of the Criminal Sentencing Court of the Department of Chiquimula sentenced a commissioner and two agents of the National Civil Police (PNC) for the crime of abuse of authority in the detention of journalist Norma Sancir, who was covering a demonstration of the Chortís communities [...]
We welcome you all to the new year, a year of continuing the struggle and resistance of the people in Guatemala, Palestine, and the whole world. The voices that clamor for the people’s liberation do not cease. We join in solidarity to amplify those voices from where we find [...]
THANK YOU TO THE PEOPLE OF GUATEMALA FOR THESE 105 DAYS OF RESISTANCE We have completed 105 days of dignified and historic resistance in defense of democracy, with which we have demonstrated that the power of the people should not be underestimated. When all was thought lost, our organization [...]
On January 4, the oral and public debate for the Ixil Lucas García genocide case was scheduled to begin. A day before, a hearing was held to conclude on the mental health of Manuel Callejas y Callejas. The court resolved the cessation of criminal prosecution in an ordinary trial [...]
On November 7 a court acquited 3 former kaibiles accused in the Dos Erres massacre case despite that in 3 previous trials several military officers were convicted and the facts were proven. During this trial Gilberto Jordán, José Mardoqueo Ortiz & Alfonso Bulux Vicente were accused of killing more [...]
"Let us walk hand in hand with the People" Since the last update we shared, the Indefinite National Strike initiated on October 2nd, led by the Ancestral Authorities of different Indigenous peoples throughout the country, and maintained by various sectors of the Guatemalan population, continues. The demand is firm: [...]
We, the Indigenous people, through our Ancestral Authorities, gathered in a permanent Assembly, together with organizations of Indigenous peoples, civil society, peasants, women, trade unions, students, working-class neighborhoods, settlement dwellers, united market workers, youth, urban organizations, academics and citizens who accompany us. We have met, we have dialogued, and [...]
Photo courtesy of Needham Guatemala Partnership Clark Taylor (and his late wife Kay) were champions and stalwarts of the Needham Sponsoring Community (which they founded). Clark's volunteer field work with anthropologist Beatriz Manz in the 1970s and 80s contributed to her books Refugees of a Hidden War: [...]
Photo by: Rode Díaz. 2013 "When the moment comes that I disappear from this world, I do not want a pantheon to be built for me, because Mother Earth gave me everything I needed to live, and since I have no other resource to give back to Mother [...]
The crisis in Guatemala is not an isolated moment, it is a structural crisis It has been 17 days of the people of Guatemala expressing their rejection of public officials’ actions of corruption, impunity and perpetuation in power. Specifically, they have demanded the resignation of Attorney General Consuelo [...]
We want to express our rejection of Consuelo Porras' request to dismiss the Minister of the Interior. Her persistence is of note to us, given the fact that the current situation in the country is a consequence of the Attorney General's stubbornness in not resigning, which confirms her coupist [...]
That after 12 days of peaceful demonstrations throughout the national territory, a meeting was held with the President of the Republic, Alejandro Giammattei, with the mediation of the Organization of American States (OAS), in which the demands of the people were presented. That the results of the first meeting [...]
People of Guatemala, In recent years we have witnessed the direct effects of corruption and impunity by those whose duty it is to ensure collective wellbeing and justice, so this year, we decided as indigenous peoples to unite together to rescue our country and democracy and demand respect for [...]
Guatemala City, October 11, 2023 Mr. Alejandro Giammettei Falla The Office the President of the Republic Mr. President, With great indignation and disgust, through the media we have learned that a letter signed by yourself has been circulating in which you insist, just as you did on the national [...]
WE STRONGLY CONDEMN THE ACTS OF VANDALISM AND VIOLENCE! Regarding some acts of vandalism that occurred today, as indigenous authorities we inform the people of Guatemala, that for eight consecutive days we have conducted protests in a peaceful, orderly and respectful manner, allowing the passage of medical vehicles, ambulances, [...]
![[ENG] At the top in the middle the FAMDEGUA logo. In a white background with black letters the statement. [ESP] En el medio de la página en la parte superior el logo de FAMDEGUA, en un fondo blanco con letras negras el pronunciamiento.](https://nisgua.org/wp-content/uploads/signal-2023-10-02-132657_002-320x202.jpeg)
As Families of disappeared persons detained in Guatemala, we express: A resounding rejection to the grotesque and improper raid in the Supreme Electoral Tribunal, which reminds us of the worst moments of the dictatorships that resulted in more than 45,000 people detained and disappeared in Guatemala, and sends a [...]
THE ASSOCIATION FOR JUSTICE AND RECONCILIATION -AJR- TO THE PUBLIC OPINION COMMUNICATES: The victims and survivors of the Internal Armed Conflict (IAC) organized in the Association for Justice and Reconciliation (AJR) reject with total indignation the law initiative 6099, because it favors the military personnel responsible for committing grave [...]
This month for Guatemala and its struggles has meant the reaffirmation that the struggle for life and dignity will be in its forms, or it will not be. On the one hand, the elections represent the feeling and need to leave behind corrupt systems, giving the vote of confidence [...]
As part of our commitment to share accessible information created in dialogue with our Guatemalan partners, we share below some key points of the historical electoral process, which will culminate with the second round on August 20th. General context for understanding elections in Guatemala: "Pacto de [...]
On Friday, July 28th, 2023, a hearing to review the substitutive measures for Benedicto Lucas García, accused of genocide and crimes against humanity in the Lucas García Ixil genocide case was held. The plaintiff organizations denounced this new attempt to hinder access to justice for victims and survivors. Although [...]
Last June we accompanied our partners in their struggles for justice in the midst of a context full of uncertainty before the electoral period. Join us to read about the importance of an electoral vote with memory and dignity, about the recognition of justice from international awards beyond the [...]
In the face of the proven cooptation of the three branches of the State by sectors historically interested in maintaining corruption, impunity, fear, and defenselessness, which characterize the recent governments of the business, military, and criminal right, the No More Genocide Coalition- (in Spanish Coordinadora Genocidio Nunca Más -CGNM) [...]
Thank you for joining us in this May edition of NISGUA’s Solidarity Update. This month has been a month of justice. Not because of access to it, but because despite the lack of it, the people have never ceased to demand it. This month, hundreds of people took to [...]
The Association for Justice and Reconciliation (AJR) rejects and question the candidacy for the presidential elections of Zury Mayté Ríos Sosa, daughter of the deceased ex-dictator José Efraín Ríos Montt. THE ASSOCIATION FOR JUSTICE AND RECONCILIATION - AJR- COMMUNICATES TO THE PUBLIC OPINION Zury Ríos Sosa's participation as a [...]
On June 9, Guatemala’s justice system granted substitute measures and house arrest to former high-rank military officials Benedicto Lucas García, Manuel Callejas y Callejas, and Francisco Luis Gordillo Martínez, who were sentenced in 2018 for their participation in the illegal detention, torture, and sexual assault of Emma Guadalupe Molina [...]
On May 20, 1999, the Military Diary of Guatemala was published for the first time. Twenty-four years after the publication of the document: The Military Diary, families of the victims registered in it continue to demand justice. We join the thousands of voices that continue to ask #WhereAreThey? #ThinkDifferentIsNotACrime. [...]