Statement: AJR and ODHAG denounce attempts to seek house arrest for military accused of crimes against humanity

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 [...]

2023-08-03T23:45:45+00:00August 3rd, 2023|Justice and accountability|

Apoya la justicia racial: Christina Reyes lanza el Fondo de Becas GAP

Una semilla de transformación y liberación se plantó hace dos años, cuando compartimos la visión de solidaridad de NISGUA y nuestro compromiso con un marco de justicia racial para toda la organización. Nos comprometimos a aumentar la participación de personas de color y camaradas de bajos ingresos / clase trabajadora [...]

2019-08-29T18:00:41+00:00August 29th, 2019|Perspectivas de lxs acompañantes|

Invest in Racial Justice: Christina Reyes launches GAP Scholarship Fund

A seed of transformation and liberation was planted two years ago, when we shared NISGUA’s vision for solidarity and our commitment to an organization-wide racial justice framework. We committed to increasing participation of People of Color and low income/working class comrades in the Guatemala Accompaniment Project (GAP). Your donations [...]

2019-08-22T17:04:10+00:00August 20th, 2019|Accompanier Perspectives|

Accompanier Perspectives: Women Seek Justice in Maya Achí Sexual Violence Case

Maya Achi women demanding justice for sexual violence enter the court for a trial date in the case's intermediate phase. Photo credit: ACOGUATE Current accompanier, Tal Netter-Sweet, shares their experience of accompanying Maya Achí women who survived sexual violence committed by civil defense patrols, operating [...]

Accompanier Perspectives: Connecting Struggles for Justice Across Borders

Current NISGUA accompanier Meredith Wilkinson shares the journey that brought her to accompaniment and the lessons she'll take away. She invites others to join NISGUA's cross-border work for justice through the Guatemala Accompaniment Program. If you're interested in being a part of our 2019 Accompanier Cohort, we call on [...]

Solidarity Update: February 2019

News recap: Join NISGUA- as staff or as an accompanier!; Survivors Respond as Guatemalan Congress Threatens Amnesty; Sign On in Solidarity with Cross-Border Indigenous Organizing for Self-Determination; Plurinational Government, Omaha Nation Hold Summit in Q’anjob’al territory, Huehuetenango; International Mayan League Holds Vigil Demanding Justice for Youth Killed by U.S. Immigration System; International Organizations [...]

Four lessons from survivors on the Day of Dignification for Victims

In 1999, the UN-sponsored Commission for Historical Clarification presented its report, Guatemala: Memory of Silence, which documented the crimes the Guatemalan state had committed against its own people during the Internal Armed Conflict. Each year, communities around Guatemala remember what they survived and those they lost on the National [...]

2019-02-28T22:20:23+00:00February 25th, 2019|Justice and accountability|

Solidarity Update: January 2019

News recap: NISGUA is hiring!; Civil society reacts as political crisis escalates to a technical coup; Stand with Indigenous and campesino communities' right to self-determination; Pan American buys Tahoe Resources, inheriting Escobal Mine's legacy of human rights abuses; Court delays justice, but Maya Achí sexual violence survivors continue in struggle; Become an international accompanier [...]

Solidarity Update: December 2018

News recap: Organizations demand justice in wake of assassinations and ongoing violence in Ixquisis, TAKE ACTION to stand with communities working to protect community consultations, NISGUA Speaking Tour shares lessons from successful organizing in Chixoy-Copón Rivers Watershed, KCA sues Guatemalan State in international court, survivors of sexual violence in Military Zone [...]

Four lessons on human rights that we’ve learned from defenders of life

On International Human Rights Day, we recognize that the language of human rights has not always served to advance social justice. In many cases, it has functioned as a smoke screen for imperial institutions to validate or obscure their violence. The U.S. government used the rhetoric of human rights [...]

Solidarity Update: October 2018

Solidarity Update news recap: NISGUA’s Fall Speaking Tour Kicks Off in November; AJR President, Edwin Canil, speaks on the fight for justice for genocide in "Learning From Survivors" talk;  NISGUA welcomes a new GAP cohort; Former accompanier and NISGUA fellow Claire Bransky holds "500 Years Screening: Life in Resistance from Guatemala [...]

Boletín de ACOGUATE: julio-agosto 2018

En este boletín el equipo de ACOGUATE hace un análisis histórico del caso Las Dos Erres y da actualizaciones sobre un caso por violencia sexual, el estatus de defensorxs criminalizadxs en Huehuetenango y la lucha del pueblo Ch’orti’ de Morola. ¡Haz clic en la foto abajo para leer más! [...]

2018-12-25T18:25:46+00:00September 1st, 2018|Boletín de ACOGUATE|

Boletín de ACOGUATE: mayo-junio 2018

En este boletín el equipo de ACOGUATE da actualizaciones sobre las luchas de la resistencia pacífica en Ixquisis, FAMDEGUA y CONAVIGUA. También cuenta sobre la visita de la relatora especial de las Naciones Unidas sobre los Derechos de los Pueblos Indígenas en Guatemala. ¡Haz clic en la foto abajo [...]

2018-12-25T18:21:00+00:00July 1st, 2018|Boletín de ACOGUATE|

Accompanier Perspectives: land, genocide, and gentrification in Guatemala and the US

In her final letter as a human rights accompanier in Guatemala, Clara Lincoln draws connections between the US and Guatemalan governments' violence against indigenous peoples and people of color, through genocide, sexual violence, state brutality, and attempts at erasure through the imposition of mega-projects and gentrification models that strip people's [...]

2018-05-03T16:57:45+00:00April 23rd, 2018|Accompanier Perspectives|

Solidarity Update: January 2018

News recap: We're ready for 2018 with a new cohort of GAP volunteers; NISGUA Local: Building connections between global movements to defend life and territory;  Members of the AJR denounce ongoing racism as they continue their search for justice for genocide; plaintiff organizations to take Military Zone 21 case [...]

Accompanier Perspectives: Guatemalan History – The coup, the conflict, and the consequences

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 [...]

2017-12-07T21:26:30+00:00November 23rd, 2017|Accompanier Perspectives|

Sponsoring Communities: Needham’s Guatemala Partnership celebrates 30 years of solidarity

NISGUA's Sponsoring Community partnerships provide the resources, energy and political action required to ensure ongoing international accompaniment in Guatemala. Their long-term commitment to human rights and solidarity is an essential component of the longevity and sustainability of the Guatemala Accompaniment Project (GAP). The Needham Congregational Church/Guatemala Partnership is one of [...]

2017-12-08T20:42:41+00:00November 22nd, 2017|Accompanier Perspectives, Grassroots gatherings|

Political crisis as corrupt officials seek to undermine advancements in the fight against impunity

On August 27, Guatemalan President, Jimmy Morales, declared Iván Velásquez, head of the UN anti-impunity commission, the CICIG, "persona non grata" in Guatemala and requested his immediate expulsion. This decision came on the heels of a request by the CICIG and the Guatemalan public prosecutor’s office to strip Morales [...]

2019-01-30T20:58:33+00:00September 19th, 2017|Justice and accountability|

Solidarity Update: May 2017

News recap: Motions filed against former Constitutional Court judges for breach of duty in overturning the genocide verdict; Ríos Montt to stand trial for genocide for his role in the Dos Erres massacre; Accompanier perspective: "As You Come Home: Immigration, Reunion, and the Continuity of Power"; Thousands respond to action [...]

Solidarity Update: October 2016

News recap: “Guatemalan women healing towards justice” tour kicks off this weekend at the border; Alliance for Prosperity means more of the same U.S. foreign policy towards Central America; Xamán massacre will be prosecuted in Inter-American Court; The home of human rights defender Angelica Choc attacked amidst advances in criminal trial. This [...]

Solidarity Update: July 2016

News recap: Psychologist Maudi Tzay joins NISGUA this fall on tour in the United States; Eight former military to stand trial for charges in the CREOMPAZ case; Urban activists return to Central Square for the Day for Heroes and Martyrs; Seven political prisoners from Huehuetenango go to trial. This and [...]

Communities Rise Up: Report-back on NISGUA’s delegation to communities organized in resistance to Tahoe Resources

In the fall of 2015, Llan Carlos Dávila from the Diocesan Committee in Defense of Nature (CODIDENA) toured the U.S. to speak about CODIDENA’s efforts to stop the development and expansion of Tahoe Resources’ Escobal mine in southeastern Guatemala. Dávila spoke about popular education, grassroots action, and the organizing of [...]

Benedicto Lucas García and other high-ranking military arrested on charges of crimes against humanity

"We are talking about one of the biggest cases of forced disappearance in Latin America." - Thelma Aldana, Guatemala Attorney General Major arrests were made yesterday morning related to cases of crimes against humanity and forced disappearances committed between 1981 and 1988 by former high-ranking military officers. The remains of 558 people have been [...]

2019-12-27T17:26:55+00:00January 7th, 2016|CREOMPAZ / ZM21, Justice and accountability|

Accompanier Perspectives: Huehuetenango

Dear Family and Friends, Thanks to those of you who’ve responded to my recent call for action in solidarity with political prisoners in Huehuetenango and for financial support in NISGUA’s successful May Match campaign! Those of you who’ve signed in support of the release of Saúl Méndez and Rogelio [...]

2018-01-10T20:12:07+00:00June 15th, 2015|Accompanier Perspectives|

Accompanier Perspectives: Ixcán

Since the mid-1990s, members of the NISGUA network have provided a physical international presence to threatened human rights defenders and communities in the Ixcán. We invite you to read the following reflection piece from one of our current accompaniers, Kayla Myers, about the violence of the past and the ongoing [...]

2017-11-25T19:36:15+00:00June 11th, 2015|Accompanier Perspectives|

ACOGUATE turns 15!

This year, ACOGUATE honors 15 years providing a physical international presence to threatened Guatemalan human rights defenders as they work towards social justice and transformation. In 2000, NISGUA joined international accompaniment organizations from Canada and Austria to form ACOGUATE, drawing from experiences accompanying refugee communities during their return to [...]

Santa Cruz Barillas: Natural resource defenders Saúl Méndez and Rogelio Velásquez sentenced to 33 years in prison

Posted on March 2, 2015 by ACOGUATE Translation by NISGUA Detained and awaiting trial since August 27, 2013, natural resource defenders Saúl Méndez and Antonio Rogelio Velásquez of Santa Cruz Barillas were recently sentenced to 33 years and four months in prison. They were found guilty of being accomplices [...]

2019-12-27T18:20:03+00:00March 18th, 2015|Defense of life and territory, Huehuetenango|

Interview with members of the Association for Justice and Reconciliation on the genocide retrial and suspension of proceedings

NISGUA sat down with several members of the Association for Justice and Reconciliation (AJR) to ask them how they feel about the genocide retrial and the events of January 5th, when lead Judge Jeannette Valdés was recused from hearing the case and the retrial was suspended. The departure of [...]

2019-12-27T17:54:58+00:00January 9th, 2015|Genocide Trial, Justice and accountability|

Red del Proyecto de Acompañamiento de NISGUA denuncia intento de expulsar observadores internacionales

Toma acción inmediata para expresar su apoyo para el acompañamiento internacional en derechos humanos y los defensores de derechos humanos en Guatemala! Favor de remitir la siguiente carta a las autoridades guatemaltecas y estadounidenses hoy! Descarga la carta aquí y mandarla con un mensaje personalizado a los embajadas, consulados [...]

2019-12-25T01:22:12+00:00July 15th, 2014|Justicia|

NISGUA’s Accompaniment Project network denounces attempted expulsion of international observers

Take immediate action to express your support for international human rights accompaniment and human rights defenders in Guatemala!   Please forward the below letter to Guatemalan and US authorities today! Download the letter here and forward it with a personal note to embassies, consulates and Guatemalan officials. The contact [...]

Guatemalan organizations respond to the expulsion of two volunteers with Peace Brigades International (PBI)

On July 1, 2014, Guatemalan officials revoked the temporary residence permits of two human rights accompaniers with Peace Brigades International. In response to their expulsion, the Convergence for Human Rights (Convergencia por los Derechos Humanos), a network of Guatemalan social, environmental, human rights, feminist, campesino and territorial defense organizations [...]

Statement from Peace Brigades International Guatemala in response to the cancellation of the residence permits of two volunteers

URGENT: Cancellation of temporary residence permits of two volunteers of PBI Guatemala Peace Brigades International (PBI) Guatemala would like to bring attention to and share its grave concern following the cancellation of the temporary residence permits of two volunteers of the PBI Guatemala project working in the country. This [...]

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