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Where and Who We Accompany
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Genocide Case Accompaniment

Since 1997, the Center for Human Rights Legal Action (CALDH) has been preparing legal cases in Guatemala against former dictators Romeo Lucas García (1978-1982) and Efrain Ríos Montt (1982-1983), along with their respective military high commands. The charges include genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes committed in 1981 and 1982. The United Nations Historical Clarification Commission (CEH) underscored the need for such legal action when its final report concluded that genocide had been committed in Guatemala between 1981 and 1983. The CEH recommended that those responsible for planning and directing the genocide be brought to trial and convicted.

In April 2000, survivors and witnesses from nine communities formed the Association for Justice and Reconciliation (AJR) and named CALDH as its legal advisor. (Under the Guatemalan legal system, plaintiffs are represented by the government’s Public Prosecutor and have the right to further representation by an independent lawyer or legal advisor.) The AJR and CALDH presented their first collective legal complaint to the Guatemalan Public Prosecutors Office on May 3, 2000 against Lucas García. The AJR soon grew to include 20 communities and a second collective complaint was filed on June 6, 2001 against Ríos Montt. Both cases involve charges of genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes.

Unlike the Catholic Church’s REMHI report and the UN Truth Commission report, these legal cases require the plaintiffs to give public testimony. The victims of these crimes have expressed willingness to testify and are actively participating in the cases. One of the primary concerns of this project has been the physical safety of the participating witnesses. The AJR requested international accompaniment as one way to contribute to the safety of the witnesses. G.A.P. has responded to this request with accompaniers in the Ixcán, Ixil, and Rabinal regions. These placements are part of a greater, coordinated effort between a number of international accompaniment organizations.

International Coordination

Since February 2000, G.A.P. staff members have been working with representatives of other accompaniment organizations from Austria and Quebec – and more recently Sweden and France – to respond to the request for accompaniment and to set up structures that would create relations of trust between CALDH, the accompanied, and the international accompaniers. These groups also established communication with other accompaniment groups in Canada, Denmark, Germany, Great Britain and Switzerland that support the initiative by recruiting accompaniers. CALDH is also in contact with other international organizations that have had experience with accompaniment, including Amnesty International, which disseminates information about the legal project.

Those international organizations with accompaniment coordinators on the ground in Guatemala (NISGUA and groups from Austria, Quebec, and later Sweden and France) formed a coalition called the “Coordinating Committee on International Accompaniment in Guatemala” (CAIG) to provide accompaniment to the genocide cases. The project of accompanying the genocide cases is referred to as ACOGUATE. The participating groups sought and obtained funding for a Coordinator position. The Coordinator relies on the support of existing organizational infrastructure and works in coordination with CALDH, the existing accompaniment organizations, and the accompanied communities. He is also in charge of orienting, training and placing the international accompaniers; following up on accompaniment in the various regions of the country; and disseminating information and urgent actions at an international level. ACOGUATE holds monthly four-day trainings for new accompaniers. The training covers the legal framework for the genocide cases, security and communication procedures, and detailed information about the regions and communities where the accompaniers will work. G.A.P. accompaniers are also expected to attend a weeklong training in the U.S. prior to going to Guatemala.

Where G.A.P. Accompanies

G.A.P. contributes eight case accompaniers—four in the Ixcán (sponsored by the NH-VT Guatemala Accompaniment Project, the Needham Congregational Church, CCGAP, and KGAP/GNIB), two in the Ixil region (supported by UUCAN and CAMINOS), and two in Rabinal (sponsored by the Church of the Brethren and UUCAN).

Ixcán – The Ixcán region is in the northern third of the El Quiché department. A lowland jungle area, it is hot and humid with an extended rainy season of up to eight months. Approximately thirty-five years ago, land-starved Maya from the western highlands began carving out communities in what had been almost completely uninhabited jungle. Their success, in a large part due to the highly organized and cooperative nature of their communities, drew the attention of political and military leaders who feared the growing strength of people who had previously been struggling to survive. By the mid-1970s, political and military powers were attacking individual community leaders – such as catechists and teachers – and the Ixcán was one of the regions hardest hit during the scorched earth campaign of the early 1980s. Because of its location next to the border, many families fled into Mexico when their communities where attacked and burned.

Ixil – Also in El Quiché, the Ixil triangle – formed by drawing lines between Santa María Nebaj, San Gaspar Chajul and San Juan Cotzal – is much higher, drier and cooler than the Ixcán. Again, it was one of the areas targeted by the military during the brutal campaigns of the early 1980s. The people did not have as easy access to the Mexican border, however, so many chose to go into hiding in what became Communities of Populations in Resistance (CPRs) or were forced to live in villages under strict army control (model villages).

Rabinal – Located about five hours by bus from Guatemala City in the department of Baja Verapaz, the larger town of Rabinal is surrounded by valley as well as mountain communities. It is warm, but depending upon the altitude of the specific community, it can also be cool in the late afternoon. Similar to the Ixcán and Ixil, the people living in Rabinal were targeted during the most violent periods of the civil war for their suspected collaboration with guerilla forces.

For more information about the cases, visit www.justiceforgenocide.org/genocide.html and www.caldh.org

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