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 [...]
Next week, a verdict is expected in the retrial of José Mauricio Rodríguez Sánchez, former head of military intelligence under General José Efraín Ríos Montt’s 1982-1983 dictatorship in Guatemala. Rodríguez Sánchez faces charges of genocide and crimes against humanity for the particular role he played in classifying the entire [...]
News recap: "This Land is Ours": Hundreds march to demand the restitution of stolen and occupied lands at site of Military Zone 21; Former military officers to stand trial for crimes committed against Molina Theissen family; Thousands respond to international call to action against violent repression of peaceful protest in Casillas; Inter-American [...]
News recap: The women of Sepur Zarco celebrate one year since the verdict and continue to call for dignified reparations; La Puya celebrates five years of resistance; UC Berkeley students take action in solidarity with victims of the fire at a state-run home for youth. This and more in this month's [...]
"This experience will be a legacy for new generations, showing that even war has limits. It is a clear message that confirms the commitment that justice and society have to human rights, to promote a much longed-for peace, and allows us as a society to advance, together with the women, [...]
Yesterday marked one year since former members of the Guatemalan military were found guilty for crimes against humanity committed at a military base in the eastern community of Sepur Zarco. At great personal risk, 15 Q’eqchi' women gave preliminary testimonies in 2012 where they documented in detail the violence they survived [...]
Photo: Holly Sheenan. News recap: Celebrating the one-year anniversary of the Sepur Zarco verdict; Civil suit continues against the Ministry of Energy and Mines, in an attempt to cancel Las Lajitas license; Hundreds respond to calls for urgent action on the murder of environmental defender Sebastián Alonso Juan; Protect sacred sites: Respond [...]
Photo: CPR Urbana News recap: Lucas García to be tried for the disappearance of Marco Antonio Molina Theissen; Staff member from the environmental justice law firm CALAS is murdered; The municipality of Mataquescuintla re-affirms 2012 referendum results that voted ‘NO’ to mining; “Guatemalan women healing towards justice” tour build U.S.-Guatemala connections in [...]
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 the lead-up to the “Guatemalan women healing towards justice: the case of Sepur Zarco," NISGUA sat down with Maudi Tzay, a community psychologist with ECAP, to talk about the Sepur Zarco trial, community processes of healing, and the important work women survivors are doing as they seek justice [...]
NISGUA habló con Maudi Tzay, una psicóloga comunitaria con el Equipo de Estudios Comunitarios y Acción Psicosocial (ECAP), sobre el caso de Sepur Zarco y el papel integral de los procesos de sanación en los movimientos por la justicia transicional. Entre el 7 - 10 de octubre, Maudi recorrerá a [...]
MEDIA ADVISORY Contact: David Imhoff, (510) 763-1403, david@nisgua.org Event Details: U.S. Speaking Tour to visit AZ, TX, CA, OR, and WA, October 7-24 (Guatemala City/Oakland, CA): Maudi Tzay, a Guatemalan community psychologist with the Community Research and Psychosocial Action Team (ECAP), will tour the United States in October to [...]
Comunicado Contacto: David Imhoff (510) 763 - 1403, david@nisgua.org Gira de charlas en los EE.UU. visitará a AZ, TX, CA, OR y WA, 7-24 de octubre (Ciudad de Guatemala/Oakland, CA): Maudi Tzay, una psicóloga comunitaria con el Equipo de Estudios Comunitarios y Acción Psicosocial (ECAP), recorrerá a los Estados [...]
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 [...]
On June 7, Judge Claudette Domínguez of Guatemala’s High-Risk Crimes Court “A” ordered eight former military officers to stand trial for crimes against humanity in one of the largest cases of forced disappearance in Latin America’s history. The legal case is built on eyewitness and expert testimonies, documentary evidence, [...]
A major legal victory took place in Guatemala earlier this year, when for the first time, sexual slavery was successfully tried as a crime against humanity. A former Colonel and Military Commissioner were convicted for crimes against humanity for sexual violence and sexual and domestic slavery committed against Q’eqchí [...]
We are excited to announce that our Fall 2016 speaking tour, “Guatemalan Women Healing Toward Justice: the case of Sepur Zarco,” will feature Maudi Tzay, a psychologist with the Community Studies and Psycho-social Action Team (ECAP). Maudi has played a crucial role in integrating healing practices into movements for [...]
News recap: Final arguments heard to determine whether CREOMPAZ case will be sent to trial; More than 99% of participants vote ‘NO’ to resource extraction in Quesada municipal consultation; Guatemala’s highest court upholds suspension order for El Tambor Mine; Announcing our 2016 Fall tour: “Guatemalan Women Healing Toward Justice.” This [...]
February 28, 2016 marked a big step forward for justice in Guatemala when a verdict was reached in the Sepur Zarco trial. For the first time in the Americas, a national court successfully tried sexual slavery as a crime against humanity for crimes committed on its soil. As NISGUA, we acknowledge [...]
¿Por qué es el caso de Sepur Zarco un caso emblemático para Guatemala? El caso Sepur Zarco es un caso emblemático por varias razones. En primer lugar, porque es el primer caso que se ha presentado en los tribunales de justicia de Guatemala por violencia sexual durante el conflicto armado. [...]
Women survivors of Sepur Zarco stand and raise their hands in acknowledgement of the guilty verdict and sentence. Photo: EPA Yesterday marked an historic day for both Guatemala and the world in the struggle to seek justice for gender-based crimes. Retired Coronel Esteelmer Reyes Girón and former [...]
Luz Méndez, former director and current board member of the National Union of Guatemalan Women (UNAMG) spoke with NISGUA about the historic Sepur Zarco case that is currently being prosecuted in Guatemalan courts. UNAMG is one of the organizations that make up the Alliance to End Silence and Impunity and [...]
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 [...]
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 [...]
On June 22, 2015, Judge Miguel Ángel Gálvez ruled to accept witness testimonies and other evidence in the Sepur Zarco sexual slavery case. This is the first case of its kind to be heard in Guatemala courts and will be presided over by Judge Yassmín Barrios. The case first [...]
Ex-colonel Esteelmer Reyes Girón and ex-military commissioner Heriberto Valdéz Asij were arraigned and ordered to pre-trial detention on June 23 by Tribunal "B" of the High Risk Crimes Court. The two will remain in prison while they await trial on charges of assassination, forced disappearance, and crimes against humanity. [...]