Project Description
Community Consultations: A model of resistance under attack in Guatemala
A bill currently before Guatemalan Congress seeks to co-opt the consultation process and violate the rights of indigenous communities to free, prior, and informed consent. Add your voice in calling on the Guatemalan government to respect the results of community-organized consultations.
Three ways to take action:
1. Print out the postcard and mail it to NISGUA’s office for delivery
2. Read more about the incredible role that consultations play in community organizing to protect land, life, and self-determination
3. Sign the extended action! Petition available here.
Photo: Graham HuntAdditional reading about community consultations
Day 1: Despite stall tactics by the defense, Sepur Zarco case opens in Guatemalan courts
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 [...]
Today: Justice for Women
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 [...]
CREOMPAZ: Eleven retired military officers indicted on charges of crimes against humanity
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 [...]
Political prisoners Saúl Méndez and Rogelio Velásquez finally released!
We celebrate the release yesterday of Saúl Méndez and Rogelio Velásquez, two community leaders wrongly convicted of homicide in a 2014 trial plagued with irregularities. Saúl and Rogelio were sentenced to 33 years in prison, despite major holes in the prosecution's evidence linking them to the murder. After winning a [...]
“We know this will come to an end” – Interview with the son of a political prisoner
Original interview posted on CMI-Guatemala and written by Gustavo Illescas. Translated and edited for clarity by NISGUA. Bernardo López Samayoa talks about the strength of his mother, Priscila Samayoa, and the role that Bernardo Ermitaño López Reyes - better known as Don Taño - has played as his father. Don Taño [...]
Four military captured for the disappearance of Marco Antonio Molina Theissen
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 [...]
