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 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
Statement from Indigenous Authorities on Criminalization and Political Persecution / Comunicado de las Autoridades Indígenas ante la criminalización y persecución política
Unofficial translation by the Network in Solidarity with the People of Guatemala (NISGUA). You can find the original statement in Spanish further below. FROM OUR PEOPLE AND COMMUNITIES WE INDIGENOUS AUTHORITIES DECLARE: 1. Our [...]
Photo Storytelling: Witnessing Resistance – Stories of Justice, Memory, and Community / Fotorreportaje: Testigues de Resistencia – Historias de Justicia, Memoria y Comunidad
This photo storytelling highlights a visit to organized communities in the Kaqchikel region within the Association for Justice and Reconciliation (AJR) at the end of July 2025. Through these images, Internacionalista Tas shares their [...]
Serie de Entrevistas – Donde la Alegría se Encuentra con la Lucha: Festival Madre Tierra (Parte 1)
Parte 1: Orígenes y Evolución de una Lucha Comunitaria Sobre esta entrevista La siguiente conversación fue realizada durante el 11º Festival por la Madre Tierra en la comunidad de Copal AA La Esperanza, Guatemala, [...]
Interview Series – Where Joy Meets Struggle: Mother Earth Festival (Part 1)
Part 1: Origins and Evolution of a Community Struggle About this Interview This conversation took place during the 11th Mother Earth Festival, held in June 2025 in the community of Copal AA “La Esperanza,” [...]
ADH Proposal Towards a National Water Law / Propuesta de la ADH hacia una Ley Nacional de Aguas
[Español abajo] In recent years, Guatemala has been experiencing growing water scarcity, driven both by climate change and by the unregulated use of water by extractive industries and monocultures. Since 1991, Guatemalan legislators have [...]
✨ Apply Now: GAP Internacionalista 2026 – Solidarity in Action // ¡Postúlate ahora! GAP Internacionalista 2026 – Solidaridad en Acción ✨
[Español más abajo] Calling Organizers Committed to Justice: Apply to Join our 2026 GAP Internacionalista Cohort Organizers in the United States and in Guatemala have a great deal at stake. Across Guatemala and the [...]