Photo: Holly Sheenan. News recap: Celebrating the one-year anniversary of the Sepur Zarco verdict; Civil suit continues against the Ministry of Energy and Mines, in an attempt to cancel Las Lajitas license; Hundreds respond to calls for urgent action on the murder of environmental defender Sebastián Alonso Juan; Protect sacred sites: Respond [...]
While international accompaniment is at its core a response to the requests of Guatemalan communities and a tool for the protection of human rights, it is also a radical practice of showing up in solidarity and grappling with the deeper questions of structural injustice. Current accompanier Chris Shorne shares a poignant [...]
Photo: Francisco Simon, Prensa Comunitaria News recap: Former Kaibil, accused of participating in Dos Erres massacre, arrested in Maryland; Elderly protester killed in the Ixquisis region, Huehuetenango; Former Guatemalan Minister of Energy and Mines arrested in Miami, awaits extradition; As Trump takes office, we stand in our commitment to internationalism. This [...]
The following is a translation of an article originally featured in Spanish on the ACOGUATE blog. NISGUA is a member of ACOGUATE, a coalition of North American and European solidarity committees who provide international accompaniment to threatened Guatemalan human rights defenders. NISGUA observed the 2011 Dos Erres trial and continues [...]
This year marks the 20th anniversary of the signing of the Peace Accords in Guatemala, which brought an official end to the 36-year internal armed conflict. The Accords not only promised a more equitable distribution of land, increased attention on social needs, and an end to the violence that [...]
Photo: CPR Urbana News recap: Lucas García to be tried for the disappearance of Marco Antonio Molina Theissen; Staff member from the environmental justice law firm CALAS is murdered; The municipality of Mataquescuintla re-affirms 2012 referendum results that voted ‘NO’ to mining; “Guatemalan women healing towards justice” tour build U.S.-Guatemala connections in [...]
Former Guatemalan dictator José Efraín Ríos Montt is currently facing charges of genocide for his role as the intellectual author of the 1982 massacre that killed more than 200 people in Las Dos Erres, Petén. While he was convicted in 2013 for genocide against the Ixil people, the sentence was [...]
The following is a narrative account by a current NISGUA accompanier who was present at the burial of the remains of eight people from Alta Verapaz, disappeared by the Guatemalan military in 1982. These eight individuals are among the 565 that have been uncovered by the Guatemalan Forensic Anthropology Foundation [...]
During our fall tour, “Guatemalan women healing towards justice,” community psychologist Maudi Tzay met with hundreds of students, activists, psychologists, and healers from across the U.S. to speak about the groundbreaking case of Sepur Zarco and the critical work of Guatemalan feminist organizations to create spaces for healing grounded in [...]
As part of NISGUA’s 2016 tour, “Guatemalan women healing towards justice: the case of Sepur Zarco,” Bay Area organizers brought together community and clinical psychologists working in trauma and healing to discuss the connections between militarism and sexual violence and strategies for resilience and solidarity. The event, “Memory and [...]
Maudí Tzay joins hundreds of activists in denouncing ongoing U.S. militarization at this year’s SOA Watch Convergence This year’s tour, “Guatemalan women healing towards justice: the case of Sepur Zarco,” kicked off at the U.S.-Mexico border, together with hundreds of other activists at the annual School of the Americas Watch [...]
News recap: “Guatemalan women healing towards justice” tour kicks off this weekend at the border; Alliance for Prosperity means more of the same U.S. foreign policy towards Central America; Xamán massacre will be prosecuted in Inter-American Court; The home of human rights defender Angelica Choc attacked amidst advances in criminal trial. This [...]
In the lead-up to the “Guatemalan women healing towards justice: the case of Sepur Zarco," NISGUA sat down with Maudi Tzay, a community psychologist with ECAP, to talk about the Sepur Zarco trial, community processes of healing, and the important work women survivors are doing as they seek justice [...]
MEDIA ADVISORY Contact: David Imhoff, (510) 763-1403, david@nisgua.org Event Details: U.S. Speaking Tour to visit AZ, TX, CA, OR, and WA, October 7-24 (Guatemala City/Oakland, CA): Maudi Tzay, a Guatemalan community psychologist with the Community Research and Psychosocial Action Team (ECAP), will tour the United States in October to [...]
News recap: National and international human rights defenders threatened as transitional justice advances; Communities celebrate the release of political prisoners from Huehuetenango; SEC complaint says Tahoe Resources failed to disclose widespread opposition to Escobal silver mine. This and more in this month's Solidarity Update.
While the United States pushes forward with the Alliance for Prosperity – allocating $750 million this fiscal year alone to Honduras, El Salvador and Guatemala – NISGUA talked with Fernando Solis, editor and political writer at El Observador, to get his insights into the plan, its goals, and who [...]
"Today our loved ones return to Central Park; we celebrate their love and their LIVES, their example and their dignified rebellion" - Hijos Guatemala On June 30, urban activists took to the streets once more for the Day of Heroes and Martyrs, in celebration of life, resistance, and dignity. This [...]
News recap: Psychologist Maudi Tzay joins NISGUA this fall on tour in the United States; Eight former military to stand trial for charges in the CREOMPAZ case; Urban activists return to Central Square for the Day for Heroes and Martyrs; Seven political prisoners from Huehuetenango go to trial. This and [...]
On June 7, Judge Claudette Domínguez of Guatemala’s High-Risk Crimes Court “A” ordered eight former military officers to stand trial for crimes against humanity in one of the largest cases of forced disappearance in Latin America’s history. The legal case is built on eyewitness and expert testimonies, documentary evidence, [...]
A major legal victory took place in Guatemala earlier this year, when for the first time, sexual slavery was successfully tried as a crime against humanity. A former Colonel and Military Commissioner were convicted for crimes against humanity for sexual violence and sexual and domestic slavery committed against Q’eqchí [...]
We are excited to announce that our Fall 2016 speaking tour, “Guatemalan Women Healing Toward Justice: the case of Sepur Zarco,” will feature Maudi Tzay, a psychologist with the Community Studies and Psycho-social Action Team (ECAP). Maudi has played a crucial role in integrating healing practices into movements for [...]
News recap: Final arguments heard to determine whether CREOMPAZ case will be sent to trial; More than 99% of participants vote ‘NO’ to resource extraction in Quesada municipal consultation; Guatemala’s highest court upholds suspension order for El Tambor Mine; Announcing our 2016 Fall tour: “Guatemalan Women Healing Toward Justice.” This [...]
The following are translations from the Center for Human Rights Legal Action (CALDH), plaintiff in the genocide case against former dictator Ríos Montt and his Head of Military Intelligence, Rodríguez Sánchez. CALDH and the Association for Justice and Reconciliation (AJR) are currently participating in the closed-door retrial of Ríos [...]
Photo of 14-year-old Marco Antonio Molina Theissen. Photo credit: Lucrecia Molina Theissen The submission of preliminary evidence in the Molina Theissen trial was expected in Guatemala's First Instance Tribunal last week but was halted by a defense appeal on the issue of amnesty. The court had previously ruled [...]
News recap: CREOMPAZ: Public Prosecutor presents evidence in the largest case of forced disappearance in Guatemala’s history; Closed-door genocide retrial moves to Ixil territory; Observer mission travels to Huehuetenango to document human rights violations in the context of hydroelectric projects; “Communities Rise Up” delegation builds connections across borders. This and more in this [...]
The following is a statement released by Ixil human rights organizations in light of the decision to move the genocide retrial to Nebaj for three days this week. This is the first time the Court for High-Risk Crimes is moving the closed-door trial to Ixil territory, to hear from elderly [...]
The following is a translation of reports from the Center for Human Rights Legal Action (CALDH), one of the plaintiff organizations in the genocide case against former dictator Efraín Ríos Montt and his former head of military intelligence, José Mauricio Rodriguez Sánchez. While witnesses and plaintiff organizations continue to uphold the validity [...]
February 28, 2016 marked a big step forward for justice in Guatemala when a verdict was reached in the Sepur Zarco trial. For the first time in the Americas, a national court successfully tried sexual slavery as a crime against humanity for crimes committed on its soil. As NISGUA, we acknowledge [...]
Yesterday marked an historic day for both Guatemala and the world in the struggle to seek justice for gender-based crimes. Retired Coronel Esteelmer Reyes Girón and former Military Commissioner Heriberto Valdez Asig were convicted of crimes against humanity for the sexual and domestic enslavement of Q'eqchi women in Sepur [...]
Woman outside of Sepur Zarco courtroom commemorating the victims of the internal armed conflict. Photo by CPR-Urbana “For the thousands of women who suffered sexual violence during the internal armed conflict in many parts of the country, and for the thousands of girls and women that continue to [...]
Luz Méndez, former director and current board member of the National Union of Guatemalan Women (UNAMG) spoke with NISGUA about the historic Sepur Zarco case that is currently being prosecuted in Guatemalan courts. UNAMG is one of the organizations that make up the Alliance to End Silence and Impunity and [...]
The first case in the world to be tried in a domestic court for sexual and domestic slavery opened in Guatemala City today, for crimes against humanity committed at the Sepur Zarco military base in the early 1980s. At the national level, this is the first time a court [...]
Español abajo. Press Release Sepur Zarco Trial January 31, 2016 Today: Justice for Women For more than 30 years, women survivors of sexual violence, sexual slavery and domestic slavery from Sepur Zarco have waited for justice. On February 1, the trial will begin in the Sala de Vistas of the [...]
Today, 11 former military were indicted on charges of forced disappearance and crimes against humanity committed between 1981 and 1988, based on evidence uncovered at the CREOMPAZ military center in Cobán, Alta Verapaz. Judge Claudette Domínguez of the High-Risk Crimes Court "A" ordered all 11 to be sent to preventative prison [...]
The following statement was released by the Public Prosecutor’s office on January 6, 2016. Translation by NISGUA. On January 6, 2016, the Special Prosecutor’s Office for Human Rights coordinated the capture of four members of the Guatemala Army in charge of the Military Zone “GMLB” of Quetzaltenango. Those arrested [...]
"We are talking about one of the biggest cases of forced disappearance in Latin America." - Thelma Aldana, Guatemala Attorney General Major arrests were made yesterday morning related to cases of crimes against humanity and forced disappearances committed between 1981 and 1988 by former high-ranking military officers. The remains of 558 people have [...]
Earlier this year, the Center for Human Rights Legal Action (CALDH) inaugurated the permanent installation of the Casa de la Memoria, an art exhibit that empowers youth to reconstruct their historical memory through the creation of personal and collective identity. NISGUA accompanier Kayla Myers takes us on a photographic [...]
Legal battles over Efraín Ríos Montt's health have taken center stage over the past three months in the decades-long search for justice for genocide in Guatemala. On August 25, the three-judge tribunal ruled that Ríos Montt is mentally unfit to stand trial due to chronic and irreversible dementia. The [...]
Article written in collaboration with MiningWatch Canada and the Maritimes-Guatemala Breaking the Silence Network. If the militarized security strategy that Tahoe Resources has used to put its Escobal silver mine into operation isn’t enough to raise questions about the ethics of the company’s operations in Guatemala, the recent resignation of Guatemalan President [...]
Update: On Tuesday, September 8, former President Otto Pérez Molina was indicted on charges of customs fraud, illicit association, and bribery in connection with "La Línea," a customs fraud network accused of stealing millions of dollars from the Guatemalan state. Given the number of people still being investigated in [...]