Advocacy and Accompaniment Successes
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Advocacy and Accompaniment Successes
9/20/2004

Since 2002, NISGUA has provided regular accompaniment and advocacy support to the organization Families of the Detained and Disappeared of Guatemala (FAMDEGUA), the primary institution responsible for advancing the Dos Erres case.

Ever since serious exhumation and investigation work began on the Dos Erres case, those involved have been subject to serious acts of intimidation and nearly constant surveillance.  In response, NISGUA has issued a series of urgent actions as well as co-sponsored a paid ad denouncing the constant violence and advocating for the Guatemalan courts to expeditiously address this precedent-setting case.

Additionally, due to the failure of the Guatemalan State to address this heinous crime, FAMDEGUA collaborated with the Center for Justice and International Law (CEJIL) to submit the case before the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights in 1996.  Thanks to support from the Moriah Fund, in 2002, NISGUA was able to provide FAMDEGUA with monetary assistance, which enabled staff members to attend important Commission hearings and meetings in Washington, D.C. on the Dos Erres case.  On FAMDEGUA's trips to D.C. in support of the case, NISGUA has also regularly provided housing, transportation, and other logistical support.  Finally, NISGUA staff has co-organized and accompanied FAMDEGUA lobbying visits to Congress, the State Department, the World Bank, and the Inter-American Development Bank, among other policy making institutions.