On Friday, July 28th, 2023, a hearing to review the substitutive measures for Benedicto Lucas García, accused of genocide and crimes against humanity in the Lucas García Ixil genocide case was held. The plaintiff organizations denounced this new attempt to hinder access to justice for victims and survivors. Although [...]
The Association for Justice and Reconciliation (AJR) rejects and question the candidacy for the presidential elections of Zury Mayté Ríos Sosa, daughter of the deceased ex-dictator José Efraín Ríos Montt. THE ASSOCIATION FOR JUSTICE AND RECONCILIATION - AJR- COMMUNICATES TO THE PUBLIC OPINION Zury Ríos Sosa's participation as a [...]
On the National Day for the Dignification of the Victims of the Internal Armed Conflict. WE DEMAND JUSTICE! On this day, we, surviving victims and family members,remember the victims of the CREOMPAZ case. We light candles to keep the fire of hope [...]
(English below) Acción solidaria con las familias y querellantes del caso Diario Militar Como NISGUA organizamos esta campaña de fotos esperando que esta muestra internacional de solidaridad sea un aporte más a la visibilidad de la lucha que por décadas los familiares y sobrevivientes han llevado a cabo. Lamentablemente, [...]
We share with you a statement from the AJR regarding the return of the remains of several people murdered during the Internal Armed Conflict by the Guatemalan army, to their community of La Trinitaria, Ixcán, Quiche. Guatemala November 17, 2022 We inform the national and international [...]
(En español abajo) On October 12, the Guatemalan Congress introduced a bill to compensate Military Veterans who served during the Internal Armed Conflict. We share with you the statement from La Convergencia por los Derechos Humanos, a coalition of human rights organizations in Guatemala. They pointed out that the [...]
On May 6, Judge Miguel Angel Galvez ordered the opening of the trial for the first nine military and retired policemen accused in the “Military Diary” case. Subsequently, after the capture and first hearing of Toribio Acevedo Ramirez, who was a fugitive and wanted for the same case, Judge [...]
Dear friends, family, and comrades, As the year moves forward, NISGUA is happy to share that we are officially back in Guatemala! Over the last few months, we have been observing trials, commemorations, and accompanying different activities with our partners. Recently, social organizations, survivors, and victims highlighted the risk [...]
On July 22nd, Rubén’s life partner, feminist leader Alba Cecilia, launched Rubén’s second book, ¿Cómo olvidar a las memorias olvidadas? or How to forget the forgotten memories? You can watch the livestream of the launch in Spanish at www.facebok.com/MadreSelvaColectivo. [Español abajo] Dear NISGUA community, In moments of grief, as in [...]
Lawyers and plaintiffs present in the Judicial Room during the First Declaration Hearing of the six former military and police indicted for crimes against humanity in the Military Diary Case. Photo Credit: FAMDEGUA From June 1-10, pre-trial hearings in the Military Diary Case were [...]
A page from the Military Diary. Photo credit: Centro de Medios Independientes On May 27, 11 ex-military and police officers linked to the Military Diary Case were taken into custody to face charges of forced dissaparence, torture, rape and killings between 1983 and 1985. Our [...]
"I commemorate to avoid repetition!" Flyer, of the eighth anniversary of the first sentence for genocide and crimes against against the Maya Ixil people, released on May 10, 2013. Credit: Center for Legal Action on Human Rights, CALDH. To mark the 8th anniversary of the sentence that [...]
As I write these lines, I can’t help but think that just a year ago, on March 15, 2020, the first COVID-19 death was reported in Guatemala. On March 17, the state closed the borders and imposed a stage of siege. One month later, on April 23, I closed [...]
During the February 25 commemoration, social organizations placed a poster with national symbols, covered by pictures of the disappeared and victims of the Internal Armed Conflict, outside the Congress. Photo credit: Edith López Ovalle Dear friends and comrades: We are already walking [...]
Guatemalan authorities put a giant poster with national symbols outside the Congress. Social organizations covered it with pictures of the disappeared and victims of the Internal Armed Conflict during the February 25 commemoration. Photo credit: Edith López Ovalle [...]
Since Giammattei announced a series of decrees closing several institutions created to comply with the Peace Accords signed by the Guatemalan State in 1996, we have been echoing the demands of our Guatemalan partners and uplifting their actions and statements. We also express our concerns on this grave setback [...]
"What is the institutional framework of peace in Guatemala? They are institutions that ensure that the State respects the Peace Accords and provides dignified reparation to the people who suffered crimes against humanity committed by the Guatemalan State through its repressive apparatus during the Internal Armed Conflict. The current [...]
In the last few weeks, protests are growing in Guatemala due to the mismanagement of the pandemic and the lack of an appropriate state response to hurricanes Eta and Iota, the outrageous 2021 budget, and the systematic corruption and impunity of the ruling class. Therefore, human rights organizations and [...]
Members of the Platform of Victims and Survivors of the Internal Armed Conflict outside the Constitutional Court of Guatemala. Photo credit: Courtesy of AJR On October 5, the National Platform of Victims of the Internal Armed Conflict and Guatemalan social organizations expressed their rejection of President Giammattei’s [...]
Graphic credit: IG @bbyanarchists Hello Everyone, A lot has happened in such a short amount of time. Adjusting to a pandemic that pushes pre-existing inequality to a new limit while also seeing the popularity of mutual aid and community care efforts rise has been such a mind [...]
This article was originally written by Carlos Juarez for gAZeta magazine on January 2020. You can read the article on Spanish here. Since the publication of this article no further arrest has been made. On the contrary, several defendants have requested their release from preventive detention, claiming that due [...]
Picture taken on February 25th, National Day of Dignification for Victims of the Internal Armed Conflict. Despite the fact that in Guatemala the COVID-19 pandemic and its social and economic effects are increasing, our counterparts continue to organize safely. We invite you to watch their [...]
June 21 is the National Day Against Forced Disappearance in Guatemala, marking the anniversary of the collective forced disappearance of 27 unionists from the National Workers Union (Central Nacional de Trabajadores). We share the statement of the survivors of the Internal Armed Conflict and echo their demands. Photo Credit: [...]
Lawyers of the victims and survivors of the CREOMPAZ case at the hearing on May 18. Photo credit: Dr. Ramón Cadena May 2020 Solidarity Update We are in regular contact with our partners in Guatemala, where people are struggling to follow social-distancing measures and [...]
A page from the Military Diary. Photo credit: Centro de Medios Independientes. The Military Diary is a 54-page document that lists the names of 183 people who were captured and forcibly disappeared between 1983 and 1985, during the term of dictator Oscar Humberto Mejía Victores. In [...]
On May 11, the military José Antonio Vásquez García and César Augusto Cabrera Mejía, accused in the CREOMPAZ case, asked Judge Claudette Dominguez to obtain conditional freedom in the context of the COVID-19 emergency. The plaintiffs in the CREOMPAZ case published a first statement explaining why this petition should [...]
[Español abajo] On February 25th, NISGUA accompanied survivor organizations as they gathered to remember what they survived and those they lost on the National Day of Dignification for Victims of the Internal Armed Conflict. We gathered this footage as a tribute to the wisdom and lessons that [...]
We share with you this statement from the Association of Family Members of the Detained and Disappeared of Guatemala (FAMDEGUA), in commemoration of the Los Josefinos massacre, which occurred on April 29 and 30 in 1982. On those days, a military unit from the Guatemalan army burnt houses and [...]
Picture of Esteban Celada during a hearing on the Creompaz case. Photo credit: Verdad y Justicia April 2020 Solidarity Update As we all face the multidimensional implications of the current pandemic, we want to share with you the analyses of our Guatemalan partners. Read [...]
In the midst of an unprecedent health, economic and social crisis caused by COVID19, the Guatemalan government is betting on closing SEPAZ, one of the few institutions that ensures the monitoring and compliance with the Peace Agreements. In this critical context, we stand in solidarity with the victims of [...]
Welcome to this second Friends and Family letter, I hope you are staying warm and cozy this winter days! I wish you a festive, joyous and reflective time. Below you’ll read about my reflections as well as my wishes for the next decade: for political prisoners to be freed, [...]
Survivors of the Internal Armed Conflict at their Press Conference. Photo Credit: Impunity Watch Statement on International Human Rights Day The Victims and Survivors of the Internal Armed Conflict, convened in National Assembly, declare before national and international public opinion that: 1. We publicly condemn the [...]
News recap: Hear the voices of our Guatemalan partners who speak out against the current state of siege, take action to support Xinca land defenders, and read updates on the Maya Achí sexual violence case. Don't miss out on our monthly donor drive that we're launching today! Become a [...]
Current NISGUA accompanier Olivia Pandolfi (they/them or she/her) created this zine about community consultations as a Friends and Family Letter to their community. To read the zine as a PDF, click here. To download the zine, cut it up, and fold it into your own mini [...]
Jimmy Morales holds a press conference to announce unilateral cancellation of CICIG agreement. Photo credit: Moises Castillo/Associated Press The Jimmy Morales administration has brought Guatemala to a technical coup, as it ramps up its attack against the International Commission Against Impunity in Guatemala (CICIG), in [...]
In her first letter from Guatemala, Claire Bransky provides a brief history of Guatemala and how its people have been affected by forces of racism, exploitation, and the US's imperialism. As a volunteer with NISGUA's Guatemala Accompaniment Project (GAP), Claire provides accompaniment through the international coalition ACOGUATE to Guatemalan [...]
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 [...]