This year, ACOGUATE honors 15 years providing a physical international presence to threatened Guatemalan human rights defenders as they work towards social justice and transformation. In 2000, NISGUA joined international accompaniment organizations from Canada and Austria to form ACOGUATE, drawing from experiences accompanying refugee communities during their return to [...]
Three and a half decades had to go by in order to achieve justice for a horrendous moment in the history of the country. At the time, television cameras recorded the burning of the Spanish Embassy in Guatemala and showed the agony the 37 people endured after being blocked [...]
When President Otto Peréz Molina was elected in 2012, he came with an agenda to fully re-instate US military aid and end the restrictions on funding to Guatemala in place to varying degrees since the Carter administration implemented a direct security aid ban in 1977. Even before the Peace [...]
NISGUA sat down with several members of the Association for Justice and Reconciliation (AJR) to ask them how they feel about the genocide retrial and the events of January 5th, when lead Judge Jeannette Valdés was recused from hearing the case and the retrial was suspended. The departure of [...]
"We know that genocide took place. The whole world knows it, but the truth has been denied." Juventino Caal, member of the Association for Justice and Reconciliation (AJR) Yesterday, a new trial against Jose Efraín Ríos Montt and José Mauricio Rodriguez Sánchez opened in Guatemalan courts and once again [...]
January 5, 2015 Dear members of the Association for Justice and Reconciliation (AJR), During this moment in which the Guatemala justice system is retrying the case against Efraín Ríos Montt and José Mauricio Rodriguez Sánchez, we here at NISGUA want to acknowledge this long process in search of justice and particularly [...]
“The thousands and thousands of victims will never abandon this struggle. We have to see it through. There are multitudes of victims by my side demanding that I speak out for justice and so I am going to speak out. In no moment will this [struggle] be abandoned. We have [...]
The following letter was originally sent on October 14, 2014 Ambassador Todd Robinson U.S. Embassy Guatemala City, Guatemala Dear Ambassador Robinson: We write to congratulate you on your recent appointment as the United States ambassador to Guatemala, and we recognize your extensive experience and service in country as well [...]
"Historically, we have never received the support of the state or the government for our development, which is why it seems fair that we be able to take advantage of our own natural resources in order to improve the living conditions of our people according to our own vision [...]
On July 3 and 4, four witnesses presented their testimony to the High Risk Court "B" in anticipation of the upcoming trial in the Military Diary case. Although a trial date has yet to be set, the court allowed the elderly witnesses to give their testimony, which will be [...]
Ex-colonel Esteelmer Reyes Girón and ex-military commissioner Heriberto Valdéz Asij were arraigned and ordered to pre-trial detention on June 23 by Tribunal "B" of the High Risk Crimes Court. The two will remain in prison while they await trial on charges of assassination, forced disappearance, and crimes against humanity. [...]
Take immediate action to express your support for international human rights accompaniment and human rights defenders in Guatemala! Please forward the below letter to Guatemalan and US authorities today! Download the letter here and forward it with a personal note to embassies, consulates and Guatemalan officials. The contact [...]
On July 1, 2014, Guatemalan officials revoked the temporary residence permits of two human rights accompaniers with Peace Brigades International. In response to their expulsion, the Convergence for Human Rights (Convergencia por los Derechos Humanos), a network of Guatemalan social, environmental, human rights, feminist, campesino and territorial defense organizations [...]
URGENT: Cancellation of temporary residence permits of two volunteers of PBI Guatemala Peace Brigades International (PBI) Guatemala would like to bring attention to and share its grave concern following the cancellation of the temporary residence permits of two volunteers of the PBI Guatemala project working in the country. This [...]
On June 4, NISGUA, along with 33 other organizations from around the world, submitted a letter to the Executive Directors of the World Bank calling on them to delay their vote on the approval of a $340 million loan for Guatemala. The signing organizations ask that the bank cease [...]
"We are thousands of Guatemalan victims of grave human rights violations committed during the internal armed conflict. The only thing we ask for is justice." - Communique from survivors in response to congressional resolution to deny genocide Genocide survivors gather in front of the Congress of the Republic. On [...]
On May 10, supporters, scholars and students from over a dozen countries celebrated the one-year anniversary of the genocide sentence. The worldwide day of action brought together communities to support the survivors' decades-long struggle for truth and justice in Guatemala. People across the world read the sentence aloud, participated commemorative events [...]
The pact to maintain impunity consolidates with the nomination for Attorney General The Human Rights Convergence states: The director of the Public Prosecutor’s Office is a key and decisive position to guarantee that justice is done and that it is swift. With Doctor Claudia Paz y Paz Bailey at [...]
“We must raise awareness [so] that these kinds of events are never repeated, because the people of Guatemala want to live in peace, acknowledging our identity, our rich multicultural, multilingual [heritage] and the respect for the freedom of expression of our ideas.” -Genocide sentence (page 89 in English translation) [...]
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 [...]
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. [...]
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 [...]
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 [...]
February 25 marks the annual Day of Dignity for Victims of the Internal Armed Conflict in Guatemala. In addition, 15 years ago to the day, the UN-sponsored Historical Clarification Commission presented its "Guatemala: Memory of Silence" report. Twelve volumes in total, the report provides findings from a detailed investigation [...]
Guatemalan Attorney General Claudia Paz y Paz Photo: Ministerio Público Last week Guatemala's Constitutional Court (CC) emitted a provisional ruling stating that Attorney General Claudia Paz y Paz should end her term in May 2014, seven months before schedule. Friday, the CC dismissed an appeal by Paz y Paz [...]
UUCA delegates gather with NISGUA staff in Antigua. All photos: David McTaggart This past December, NISGUA organized and hosted a ten-day delegation with the Unitarian Universalist Church of Arlington (UUCA), home to NISGUA Sponsoring Community, Partners for Arlington and Guatemala (PAG). Twelve members of the UUCA congregation formed the [...]
In October 2013, NISGUA and the Association for Justice and Reconciliation (AJR) traveled the greater United States to share a story of determination and resilience: a 13-year journey that finally brought former dictator Efraín Ríos Montt to trial for genocide in Guatemala. Through international human rights accompaniment, NISGUA has [...]
On November 5, almost six months since the highly contested decision by Guatemala's Constitutional Court (CC) to annul the genocide sentence, Guatemalan courts announced a date for the retrial of former General Ríos Montt. Guatemala's High Risks Court “B” affirmed that it has the jurisdiction to hear the case but said [...]
The "Justice for genocide: A survivor's story" fall speaking tour left Wisconsin on November 13 to embark on the final stops of the tour: Laramie, WY; Denver, CO; and the Bay Area, CA. The Wyoming Guatemala Accompaniment Project (WYGap) welcomed tour speaker, Association for Justice and Reconciliation President Anselmo [...]
“We are here in the United States asking for your solidarity. Borders divide us, but justice is a fundamental pillar of democracy” -Anselmo Roldán to the international community From November 7-11, NISGUA visited six Midwestern cities with Association for Justice and Reconciliation (AJR) president Anselmo Roldán. The Midwest leg [...]
The Guatemala Education and Action Project (GEAP) hosted NISGUA and the Association for Justice and Reconciliation (AJR) on our third tour stop in Los Angeles. GEAP's events included a press conference, community event and a number of college speaking opportunities for AJR president Anselmo Roldán. Anselmo receives [...]
Genocide survivors submit a complaint before the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights in Washington DC on November 6, 2013. Photo: AJR INTERNATIONAL COMPLAINT AGAINST THE GUATEMALAN STATE FOR DENIAL OF JUSTICE IN THE GENOCIDE CASE Washington D.C., November 6, 2013 - Today, survivors of the Guatemalan genocide, along with [...]
On October 30, NISGUA began our tour with Association for Justice and Reconciliation president, Anselmo Roldán Aguilar. After a day of meeting with key state and congressional representatives, Anselmo gave his first presentation at the Unitarian Unitarian Church of Arlington. The event, hosted by Partners for Arlington and Guatemala, [...]
Guatemalan newspaper Prensa Libre splashed "CC brings José Efraín Ríos Montt closer to amnesty" across its front page headlines, with the corresponding article publishing excerpts of a leaked ruling issued by the Constitutional Court. Plaintiffs and lawyers still have not received notification of the decision at the time of [...]
This past spring, thousands of you participated in our international "Justice for Genocide" photo and pledge campaign in support of the brave survivors of the Association for Justice and Reconciliation (AJR). NISGUA staff recently shared your photos and messages with the members of the AJR during their national assembly, [...]
Boys carry Martina Rojas' photo through the streets of Rabinal. Photo: CPR Urbana On September 7, Martina Rojas was buried in Rabinal, Baja Verapaz, 31 years after she was forcefully detained and disappeared from her home community of Río Negro, situated on the banks of the Chixoy River. On [...]
Lisandro Guarcax González, a visionary artist, teacher and founding member of Grupo Sotz'il, was kidnapped and murdered three years ago on August 25, 2010. NISGUA, along with dozens of international and national organizations, denounced Lisandro's murder, demanding a full investigation of his death. In 2012, we accompanied his case [...]
In Guatemala City, hundreds celebrated the Day of Heroes and Martyrs on June 30, in lieu of the perennial national holiday known as Army Day. Since 1999, groups of urban activists have chosen to commemorate those killed in the internal armed conflict, rather than the army, on this day. [...]
Several hundred traveled from Guatemala City to Nebaj on June 21-22 with the "Caravan for the Dignity of the Ixil People and Against Genocide". Photo: NISGUA Ixil authorities welcome organizations to Nebaj. Photo: NISGUA Each year on June 22, the Ixil people remember their martyrs and heroes. The day [...]
While we await the next steps of the genocide trial, we are honored to provide an accessible archive of the daily coverage we provided from day 1 of the trial. Please read and share this historic collection. Genocide on Trial, Day 1: Ixil witnesses speak Genocide on Trial, Day [...]