The cynics amongst you might think that my title is a little ironic, and perhaps complain that Jennifer Harbury only talks about the Bamaca case. However, I would put a positive spin on it, as it seems to me to… Read More ›
Justice
Massacre remembered – current struggles in mind?
Exactly 32 years ago today a massacre took place in the small town of Panzos, in Alta Verapaz. A group of campesinos had gathered in the town square to protest about the depredations of local landowners, among them the town’s… Read More ›
Guatemalan Lynching; a symptom of postwar insecurity and racist leadership
Another great article from GSN accompanier Sam… Implications of the findings of the UN High Commission on Guatemala. On Wednesday 24th of March 2010 the UN Deputy High Commissioner Kyung-wha Kang gave an analysis of the status of Guatemala’s… Read More ›
‘La isla – Archives of a Tragedy’
“From behind protective masks, almost two hundred, mostly young people look through and clean stacks upon stacks of papers and documents at long tables in a cold and run down building in Guatemala City. The mountains of folders are one… Read More ›
“The palm has more right to water than us”
The psychologist Abraham Maslow proposed that humans have a hierarchy of needs, from the most basic, required for our very survival, to what he called the need for self-actualisation. These needs are often visualised as a pyramid, with the most… Read More ›
Jesus Tecu Osorio wins the 2010 Baldwin Medal of Liberty Award
You may have noticed that we put up a call for letters of support for Jesus Tecu Osorio as a nominee for the Baldwin Medal. Over the years GSN has had a great deal of contact with Jesus and we… Read More ›
Recognition: Yes, Reconciliation: Maybe, Justice: No
GSN volunteer Sam, who is currently in Guatemala working as an international accompanier recently sent us this report from a symbolic trial of those accused of perpetrating mass rape as a weapon of war during the armed conflict. On the days… Read More ›
‘Our lives can be cut short at a stroke’
‘This is a time of great tension because we know that at any moment, when we least expect it, our lives can be cut short at a stroke’. So titled an article by Danilo Valladares for Inter Press Service. As… Read More ›
Guatemala has the justice it pays for.
Recently, Barbara Schieber in The Guatemala Times, published a piece which again highlighted the contradictions in Guatemala around state responsibility and state ability to tackle the endemic violence affecting that country. The Association of Bi-national Chambers of Commerce (ASCABI) has… Read More ›