The Washington Office on Latin America (WOLA) have done a series of short reports looking at Trends of the Decade. Guatemala features in various themes, but I thought to concentrate on the Fight Against Corruption and CICIG’s legacy. Since 2007, Guatemala’s… Read More ›
Human Rights
Safe Third Country?
In November, a 23-year-old Honduran man became the first asylum seeker to be sent from the US to Guatemala under the “Safe Third Country” deal. Since then, it appears that up to two dozen asylum seekers have been flown to Guatemala. Two… Read More ›
2019 – a year of violence
UDEFEGUA has just reported on the number of personal attacks against human rights defenders in Guatemala this year, up to the middle of December. From the infographic, above, it reports that this year was the fourth most violent year out… Read More ›
The cold cases of Guatemala’s civil war were impossible to identify—until now
Decades after 45,000 people vanished in Guatemala, an anonymous skeleton finally gets a name. Nina Strochlic writes in the National Geographic For 14 years, a human skeleton known as 317-38-10 sat in a cardboard box stored in a metal shipping… Read More ›
PBI – Indigenous land defenders criminalized for opposing open-pit mine, dam
Brent Patterson, of PBI Canada writes, On December 20, the Peace Brigades International-Guatemala Project posted, “Today we have accompanied the Law Office of Human Rights to Puerto Barrios at the initial debate hearing of Eduardo Bin Poou, Q’eqchi’ defender and… Read More ›
Central American mine resistance visits Vancouver
Hayley Woodin writes on BIV’s resources and agriculture website. It was the first advocacy effort of its kind in a mining conflict that has spanned a decade, three countries and multiple legal challenges. In November, a representative of Guatemala’s Indigenous… Read More ›
Another Senior Military Official Indicted on Genocide Charges in Guatemala
By Jo-Marie Burt and Paolo Estrada for International Justice Monitor Last week, a Guatemalan court indicted another senior military official accused of genocide and crimes against humanity against the Maya Ixil population. The official, retired army general Luis Enrique Mendoza… Read More ›
Court Indicts Senior Military Officials for Genocide
By Jo-Marie Burt and Paolo Estrada for International Justice Monitor. On Monday,(25th Nov), Judge Miguel Ángel Gálvez of High Risk Court “B” ruled to approve the indictment involving charges of genocide and crimes against humanity against three members of the… Read More ›
Joint Declaration on the Guatemala Police Archive
This post from the National Security Archive (NSA) website, by Kate Doyle with Megan DeTura. ‘The Historical Archive of the National Police of Guatemala (AHPN) is in trouble. This unparalleled collection of Guatemalan police records, renowned throughout the hemisphere and… Read More ›
Former Guatemalan Army Chief Accused of Genocide, Crimes Against Humanity, and Forced Disappearance
By Jo-Marie Burt and Paolo Estrada, on the IJM website, earlier this week. Guatemala’s Attorney General’s Office presented its indictments against two of the three senior military officials charged in a new grave crimes case regarding the Maya Ixil genocide,… Read More ›