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 largest case of forced disappearance in Latin America
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
Declaración del segundo encuentro de las nacionalidades Q’anjob’al
Durante el 21 - 23 de agosto, representantes de 20 comunidades Maya Q'anjob'al del norte de Huehuetenango y Chiapas, México se reunieron en San Juan Ixcoy, Huehuetenango para el Segundo Encuentro de las Nacionalidades [...]
Three years since the kidnapping and murder of Tat Lisandro Guarcax González
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 [...]
A tres años del secuestro y asesinato de Tat Lisandro Guarcax González
Florece tu corazón en el caminar del arte y la creación de nuestras expresiones, el Saqb’e aún no termina, inicia un nuevo B’ak’tun que marca pleno reconocimiento de la nuestra historia y memoria de [...]
Gains for communities defending life and territory as mining takes a hit in Guatemala
On July 22, a Canadian court ruled that Hudbay Minerals will stand trial in Canada for violence, including murder and rape, carried out by employees of its former Guatemalan subsidiary, Compañía Guatemalteca de Níquel [...]
Querellantes guatemaltecos celebran la efectiva suspensión de la licencia otorgada a Tahoe Resources
(Ottawa/Ciudad de Guatemala) El martes pasado, la Sala Primera de la Corte de Apelaciones del Ramo Civil y Mercantil notificó al Centro de Acción Legal Ambiental y Social (calas) su aceptación del recurso relacionado [...]
Guatemalan complainants celebrate effective suspension of Tahoe Resources license
CALAS and the Xinca Parliament announce the suspension of Tahoe Resources' mining license on Wednesday morning. Photo: Prensa Libre (Ottawa/Guatemala City) On Tuesday, the Civil and Mercantile Division of Guatemala’s First Court of Appeals [...]