Unofficial translation by the Network in Solidarity with the People of Guatemala (NISGUA). 

You can find the original statement in Spanish further below. // Puedes encontrar el comunicado original en español más abajo.

WE KEEP SEARCHING FOR THEM, UNTIL WE FIND THEM

On the occasion of JUNE 21st, NATIONAL DAY AGAINST FORCED DISAPPEARANCE, relatives of victims, collectives and organizations commemorate and dignify the life and memory of all people detained and disappeared by the State during the internal armed conflict in Guatemala.

This commemoration was instituted by the Congress of the Republic in 2004, to dignify the victims of forced disappearance during the armed conflict and in memory of 27 union leaders of the National Workers’ Central (CNT) who were kidnapped and disappeared by the repressive forces of the State on June 21st, 1980.

The crimes of forced disappearance are permanent and never expire even if the whereabouts of the victims are known. It is essential to continue the search for the disappeared persons, to find the truth and demand justice without resting, until the victims and their families are dignified, and to promote the conscience that these serious crimes should not be committed again in Guatemala, or anywhere else in the world.

On this symbolic date, the relatives, collectives and organizations that make up the Genocide Never Again Coalition:

  • Condemn the serious regression of the justice system in cases that try former military officers as responsible for forced disappearance, genocide, sexual violence and crimes against humanity.
  • Demand that the Congress of the Republic create the National Commission for the Search of Persons Victims of Forced Disappearance and other forms of Disappearance, set forth in Bill 3590.
  • Demand that the Presidential Commission for Peace and Human Rights (COPADEH) implement the National Plan for the Dignification of Victims, which includes the recovery of files related to the National Reparations Program.
  • Demand that the State comply with its obligation to guarantee the right of the families to know the truth, to preserve memory and to provide comprehensive reparations to the victims.
  • Urge the people of Guatemala to keep the memory alive.

NATIONAL DAY AGAINST FORCED DISAPPEARANCE

GENOCIDE NEVER AGAIN COALITION

Guatemala, June 2025