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> Attacks against human rights defenders in Guatemala have doubled over the last five years. NISGUA's teams of on-the-ground international human rights monitors work to deter violence in communities, courtrooms and at public events. > Former dictator Efrain Rios Montt, who ruled during the bloodiest period of the war, currently holds a seat in the Guatemalan Congress. He is wanted for genocide and crimes against humanity. > The Xalalá hydro-electric dam is rejected by 90% of the local population because it would displace thousands of indigenous people and damage farmlands and forests. > Almost 400 mining concessions have been granted to transnational gold, silver, nickel, and zinc companies in Guatemala, posing severe threats to rural communities' social and environmental well-being. | |||||||||
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Survivors Demand the Release of Military Documents
NISGUA
2/18/2009
In another precedent-setting decision, Guatemala's highest court once again upheld prior court decisions denying former General Efrain Rios Montt's efforts to block the release of four military documents from the armed conflict that could be used as evidence in the genocide cases.
On February 13, 2009, the Association for Justice and Reconciliation and the Center for Human Rights Legal Action (CALDH), the organizations pushing the genocide cases forward, organized a march in Guatemala City's center. With the support of other organizations working for justice for crimes of the past, the group gathered in front of the Presidential Offices to demand that Guatemalan President Alvaro Colom ensure that the documents be released. Inside the Presidential Offices, the AJR met with the Secretary of the Peace (SEPAZ), Orlando Blanco, the president's spokesperson, Fernando Barillas, and the Head of the Presidency, Fernando Fuentes Mohr.
The AJR hopes to have the documents in hand in time for the Day for the Dignification of the Victims of the Armed Conflict, on February 25, one year after the President publicly stated that the documents should be released. As stated by the AJR, "This is an opportunity for thousands of victims of the internal armed conflict to get justice for the grave human rights violations committed by the Army; this makes it possible for Guatemalans to learn the truth and to reconstruct historical memory, while also providing some guarantee that history will not be repeated."
NISGUA observed the march and continues to accompany the AJR in its struggle for justice.
TAKE ACTION! In our 2008 fall mailing we included an action asking President Colom to take measures to end impunity in Guatemala. Among the actions requested in the letter is the release of the military archives. We are in the final push for this action, so if you have not already signed, please do so online now. Click here to ask the president to respect the victims' right to the truth and ensure that these four military documents are released!
Click here to read the
AJR
communique in Spanish.
Click here for more information on the genocide
cases.
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