Kate Doyle, of the National Security Archive, writes that “in a surprise move, the Guatemalan government has announced the effective closing of the “Peace Archives,” one of the most active and important institutions created in the wake of the 1996 peace accords to promote peace, truth and reconciliation.”

She goes on to say that “the closing of the Peace Archives ends an important source of support to human rights prosecutions in Guatemala, and may in part reflect the current government’s particular distaste for the genocide cases.”

There are wider implications as well as “the dismantling of the Peace Archives is a loss to human rights and justice initiatives around the world as well, given growing international interest in “archives of repression” such as Paraguay’s Archives of Terror, the Stasi files of former East Germany, and the Cambodia genocide archives, among others.”

This potentially has huge importance in the struggle for justice in Guatemala. You can read more

Categories: Justice