A member of the community whose home was destroyed by the Escobal silver mine speaks with Representative Corie Bush during the delegation's visit to Xinka territories. Members of the U.S. Congress– Rep. Ilhan Omar (MN-05), Rep. Cori Bush (MO-01), Rep. Jesús “Chuy” Garcia (IL-04), and Rep. Jamaal Bowman [...]
ON TRIAL FOR GENOCIDE AND CRIMES AGAINST HUMANITY After almost forty years of the perpetuation of crimes against humanity such as genocide, Chief of Operations General Luis Enrique Mendoza García was sent to trial for genocide and crimes against humanity committed against the Maya Ixil people due to sufficient [...]
Ixil Genocide Case Bulletin 04 02/10/22 DEFENSE ATTORNEY ASKS THAT THE AJR AND CALDH NOT BE CONSTITUTED AS DEFINITIVE PLAINTIFFS IN THE CASE "We oppose the acceptance of the request made by the AJR and CALDH entities to be definitively constituted as associated plaintiffs in the present process and [...]
Ixil Genocide Case Bulletin 03 -- 02/08/22 "I AUTHORIZED THE VICTORIA 82 PLAN" On the third day of the genocide trial, Luis Enrique Mendoza Garcia, Chief of Operations of the General Staff of national defense during 1982 and 1983, admitted that he autorized the Victoria 82 Plan of Operations, [...]
PLAINTIFFS IN CASE REQUEST THAT MILITARY OFFICER ACCUSED OF GENOCIDE BE SENT TO TRIAL "As a part of these processes of justice where the democratic state and the construction of peace in this country are also being strengthened so that the new generations remember this history and can join [...]
Luis Enrique Mendoza García, former high-ranking military officer, will face trial for genocide and crimes against humanity while attacks to judicial independence continue; a call for mutual respect and transparency on the pre-consultations of the mining project in Xinca territory Flyer announcing the opening of the trial. [...]
Bulletin 01- 2/1/22 (Written by CALDH) Intermediate Phase Against Army Chief of Operation in Ixil Genocide Case begins “As a part of the general army staff and the national defense staff, you had knowledge and willingness to destroy the civil noncombatant population of the Maya Ixil ethnic group.” The [...]
From February 1 to February 15, the intermediate phase of the Ixil Genocide case against the retired military officer Luis Enrique Mendoza García took place. Mendoza García was Chief of Military Operations (G3) under the Ríos Montt dictatorship between 1982 and 1983. After verifying that there was reasonable doubt [...]
Straigth from NISGUA's archives, we invite you to read this letter written by Kayla Myers, who was an accompanier in Guatemala from November 2014 to November 2015. Dear Family and Friends, I write you with a feeling of gratitude. Your messages of support and kindness give me [...]
"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 [...]
Fabiola García and Miriam Pixtun from CALDH during the live-streamed presentation of the virtual exhibition. Photo credit: CALDH //Fabiola García y Miriam Pixtun de CALDH durante la presentación en vivo de la exposición virtual de la Casa de la Memoria Kaji Tulam. Foto por: CALDH [...]
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 [...]
On December 9, 2020 a virtually public hearing was held in the Constitutional Court, to address an injunction presented by FAMDEGUA regarding the prosecution of the crimes of sexual violence and crimes against women in the CREOMPAZ case. In 2016, Judge Claudette Domínguez’s made the decision to exclude [...]
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 [...]
Picture from one of ACODET’s women’s leadership workshops. Photo credit: ACODET // Foto de uno de los talleres de ACODET de liderazgo de mujeres. Crédito de foto: ACODET Read our solidarity update here! // ¡Lea nuestro boletín aquí! In this solidarity update, we hope you [...]
"Their truth is our truth". Illustration by CALDH. On September 16, 17 and 18, survivors of massacres that occurred in the Ixil region gave their testimonies as pretrial evidence in the case against retired military officer Luis Enrique Mendoza García who was Chief of Army Operations in the government [...]
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 [...]
Archive picture of Marco Antonio Molina Theissen On Wednesday, August 19 a closed hearing was held to resolve the petition of substitute measures for 3 high-rank military officials who currently are in the Guatemalan Military Hospital, arguing the dangers to their health in the face of [...]
Beloved community, we write this Solidarity Update with broken hearts. Rubén Herrera of the Departmental Assembly of Peoples of Huehuetenango (ADH) passed away on July 22. We honor Rubén and we stand in solidarity with Rubén's family and the ADH. We also invite you to watch [...]
[Español abajo] NISGUA denounces the attack on social activist Tania Palencia We are deeply concerned about the attack at the home of social activist Tania Palencia on May 22 . Tania is a human rights defender and has made fundamental contributions to Guatemalan social movements, and is also an [...]
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 [...]
NISGUA joins CALDH in denouncing the break-in of the home of Esteban Celada. Esteban is a well known Guatemalan lawyer who currently represents the girls massacred in a state-run youth shelter "Hogar Virgen de Asunción" in 2017. To date, there have been 39 attacks on Esteban, who also worked [...]
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, [...]
In September, NISGUA had the honor of hosting a delegation to Guatemala for representative leaders of the Indigenous Environmental Network (IEN). The delegation featured talks with women land defenders, cultural exchanges, and a community visit to the Chixoy River watershed. There is also so much that cannot be captured [...]
Mientras Guatemalan realizaba sus elecciones generales el 16 de junio, el sistema de justicia hizo una captura importante. Detuvieron al ex-general Luis Enrique Mendoza en Baja Verapaz, cuando él fue a votar. Mendoza había sido prófugo durante casi ocho años. Mendoza fungió como Director de Operaciones (S3) durante la [...]
As Guatemala held its general elections on June 16, the justice system made an important arrest. They captured retired general Luis Enrique Mendoza in Baja Verapaz, as he went to cast his ballot. Mendoza had been on the run for nearly eight years. Mendoza served as Chief of Operations [...]
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 [...]
Organizaciones en Guatemala, entre ellas CALDH e HIJ@S, publicaron una carta abierta denunciando el intento del Congreso a aprobar una iniciativa de ley garantizando amnistía. La iniciativa de ley arriesgaría décadas de lucha por justicia, dejando los responsables de crímenes de lesa humanidad libres. La carta rechaza estos intentos [...]
Guatemalan partner organizations, including CALDH and HIJ@S, published an open letter denouncing Guatemalan congressional attempts to pass amnesty legislation. The proposed legislation could overturn decades of work for justice, allowing those responsible for crimes against humanity to walk free. The letter rejects these latest attempts to legislate impunity, at the expense [...]
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 [...]
For a downloadable version of this media advisory, click here. For nearly a year and a half, Guatemalan President Jimmy Morales has repeatedly defied the rule of law by attacking the UN-backed International Commission Against Impunity in Guatemala (CICIG). On January 7, Morales announced that his administration would [...]
A survivor of sexual violence waits outside the courtroom for the Military Zone 21 case. Photo Credit: CALDH This article is about Indigenous women seeking justice for systematic sexual violence that was used as a tool of war against them. It contains several explicit descriptions of [...]
En este boletín el equipo de ACOGUATE subraya varios desarrollos en casos jurídicos de alto perfil, incluyendo el caso por genocidio, el caso de Las Dos Erres y el caso de la Mina San Rafael. También explica unos puntos en la coyuntura de Quiché y Ixquisis. ¡Haz clic en [...]
News recap: Court affirms that the state enacted genocide, but finds Rodríguez Sánchez not guilty in a split decision; Constitutional Court upholds temporary suspension of Escoal mine and calls on the State to consult impacted Xinka communities. This and more in this month's solidarity update. [...]
We will use this genocide verdict to leave a good tree planted, with strong roots -- the fruits of which will be enjoyed by our children. - Edwin Canil, President of the Association for Justice and Reconciliation, survivor and plaintiff organization On September 26, in a split, 2-1 decision, [...]
Today, the trial against former Head of Military Intelligence José Mauricio Rodríguez Sánchez is expected to reach a verdict. As a key player under Efraín Ríos Montt’s 1982-1983 dictatorship in Guatemala, Rodríguez Sánchez stands accused of genocide and crimes against humanity against the Ixil people. Over the past year, [...]
"We're motivated to come here - come and listen, to see whether or not there will be justice in Guatemala." Today, the genocide retrial against former head of military intelligence José Mauricio Rodríguez Sánchez moved into powerful closing arguments, where plaintiffs synthesized key points in the [...]
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! [...]
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 [...]
On April 1, 2018, former Guatemalan dictator Efraín Ríos Montt died from a heart attack at the age of 91. Having initially been convicted in 2013 of genocide and crimes against humanity against the Ixil people, he died under house arrest facing a retrial. Today, survivors organized with the [...]