On June 9, Guatemala’s justice system granted substitute measures and house arrest to former high-rank military officials Benedicto Lucas García, Manuel Callejas y Callejas, and Francisco Luis Gordillo Martínez, who were sentenced in 2018 for their participation in the illegal detention, torture, and sexual assault of Emma Guadalupe Molina [...]
In May 2018, the judges of the Highest Risk Court C sentenced General Manuel Benedicto Lucas García, former head of the Presidential General Staff; Manuel Callejas y Callejas, former intelligence chief; and Hugo Ramiro Zaldaña, former intelligence officer, to 58 years in prison; and to 33 years in prison [...]
On February 25th, NISGUA was present at the march and commemoration held in Guatemala City for the National Day of Dignification for the Victims of the Internal Armed Conflict (IAC). This is an important day nationally for honoring the memory of those whose lives the Guatemalan state and military [...]
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 [...]
Following the news that eleven alleged perpetrators in the Military Diary case have been detained on May 27 of 2021, we express our solidarity with the family members of the disappeared people. These family members have struggled for 38 years to discover what happened to their loved ones who [...]
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 [...]
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: [...]
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 [...]
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 [...]
As several grave war crimes cases have been temporarily suspended, the lawyer of five senior military officials convicted in the Molina Theissen case (including Benedicto Lucas García and Manuel Callejas y Callejas) made another attempt to release convicted war criminals, this time using the pandemic as an excuse. Survivors [...]
On October 2, the First High Risk Appellate Court announced their decision to maintain Judge Claudette Domínguez in the CREOMPAZ case, despite the plaintiffs' lawyers' arguments that Judge Domínguez may have direct or indirect interest in the outcome of the case. Domínguez’ sister is an active-duty military physician and [...]
News recap: Prayerful action on the Equinox at the Ohlone Shellmound and Village Sacred Site in California; Genocide retrial moves to Nebaj to hear testimonies from elderly and protected witnesses; Nearly 40 years later, former military officials stand trial for crimes against the Molina Theissen family; NISGUA's latest report celebrates community [...]
News recap: Ixil communities celebrate ancestral resistance during the Day of Dignity; Land defender Angélica Choc appeals the acquittal of Mynor Padilla, accused of murdering her husband; Communities fighting to protect the Oxec and Cahabón Rivers denounce decision by Constitutional Court; On World Environment Day, the IACHR calls for the protection [...]
The following is a narrative account by a current NISGUA accompanier who was present at the burial of the remains of eight people from Alta Verapaz, disappeared by the Guatemalan military in 1982. These eight individuals are among the 565 that have been uncovered by the Guatemalan Forensic Anthropology Foundation [...]
During our fall tour, “Guatemalan women healing towards justice,” community psychologist Maudi Tzay met with hundreds of students, activists, psychologists, and healers from across the U.S. to speak about the groundbreaking case of Sepur Zarco and the critical work of Guatemalan feminist organizations to create spaces for healing grounded in [...]
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 [...]
In commemoration of the National Day Against Forced Disappearance in Guatemala, we share words from photographer CPR.Urbana on the importance of photography in the recuperation of historical memory. CPR.Urbana describes their project in the following way: The Communities of People in Resistance (CPRs) were civilian fronts of resistance against the counter-insurgent [...]
Photo of 14-year-old Marco Antonio Molina Theissen. Photo credit: Lucrecia Molina Theissen The submission of preliminary evidence in the Molina Theissen trial was expected in Guatemala's First Instance Tribunal last week but was halted by a defense appeal on the issue of amnesty. The court had previously ruled [...]
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 [...]
The following was written by Amanda Kistler, an international accompanier from 2008 - 2009 with NISGUA. She was based out of Guatemala City and accompanied the plaintiffs in the Choatalúm trial. This article originally appeared on NACLA. Original article can be found here. On August 31, a tribunal [...]