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
Sí a la vida! Las comunidades del Ixcán conmemoran 10 años desde la consulta de buena fe que dijo ‘no’ a la extracción de recursos
Hace diez años, las comunidades del Ixcán practicaron sus tradiciones y derechos ancestrales como pueblos indígenas, celebrando una consulta de buena fe en el municipio donde 89.7% de las y los 21.555 participantes votaron [...]
Immediately following police violence on Thursday, community members return to peaceful encampment in Casillas
On Thursday, June 22, riot police used tear gas to disperse communities protesting the negative impacts of Tahoe Resources’ Escobal mine. For three weeks, representatives from six municipalities neighboring the mine have maintained a peaceful [...]
Los miembros de la comunidad regresan a un campamento pacífico en Casillas, inmediatamente después de la violencia policial el jueves
El jueves 22 de junio, la policía antidisturbios utilizó gases lacrimógenos para dispersar a las comunidades que protestaban contra los impactos negativos del proyecto minero Escobal de Tahoe Resources. Durante tres semanas, representantes de seis [...]
Police use violence against community members during a peaceful demonstration against Tahoe Resources’ Escobal mine
Since June 7, communities have maintained a 24-hour encampment along the highway in the municipality of Casillas, 15 kilometers from the Escobal mine of U.S.-Canadian company Tahoe Resources. Blocking only mine-related traffic, they are denouncing [...]
Statement from the peaceful resistance to Tahoe’s Escobal mine, currently blocking mine-related traffic in Casillas
For more than five years, communities surrounding Tahoe Resources’ Escobal mine in southeastern Guatemala have opposed the project operating in their territories. Through 18 community and municipal referenda, multiple legal actions, and different sits-ins, encampments, and protests, [...]
Solidarity Update: Special focus on Tahoe Resources
News recap: A strong grassroots movement continues to resist Tahoe Resources; Six police officers tasked with the custody of Tahoe's former head of security found guilty on charges related to his escape; Supreme Court of Canada [...]