August 30th is the International Day of the Victims of Enforced Disappearances. We remember the estimated 45,000 people who were disappeared, according to the United Nations–sponsored Truth Clarification Commission (CEH), during the internal armed conflict (1960-1996) that took place in… Read More ›
Forced disappearance
A personal story of the “Disappeared” in Guatemala
The annual commemoration of the International Day of the Disappeared takes place on August 30th and aims to draw attention to those people who have been imprisoned without their friends or relatives knowing where or why; also to highlight the work of… Read More ›
A question of disappearance
It is rare that Guatemala gets any attention in the chambers of Westminster, so I was pleased to see that a parliamentary question has been asked about it recently. During the fourteenth session of the UN Human Rights Council a… Read More ›
Historic first sentence against former member of Guatemalan military for crime of forced disappearance
On the evening of Thursday 3rd December, a court in Chiquimula made history by sentencing former army colonel Marco Antonio Sánchez Samayoa and three former military commissioners, José Domingo Ríos, Gabriel Álvarez Ramos and Salomón Maldonado Ríos to 40 years… Read More ›
Awaiting sentence in forced disappearance case
It is anticipated that the judges’ verdict will be delivered in the very near future in the case of El Jute – the case of the forced disappearance of eight inhabitants of the rural community of the same name in… Read More ›
Historic conviction in forced disappearance case
On the 31st August, 2009, former military commissioner Felipe Cusanero Coj was sentenced to 150 years of prison for the forced disappearance of six members of the community of Choatalum in the department of Chimaltenango, between 1982 and 1984. Although… Read More ›
Great news in a case of forced disappearance
It’s exciting being here in Guatemala when there are advances in the trials we follow. Last week some great news came out about the case of forced disappearance in the village of Choatalum, the only case currently being tried for… Read More ›
Groundbreaking Arrest Made in Guatemalan Disappearance Case
In a break in one of Guatemala’s most notorious human rights crimes, a Guatemalan police officer has been arrested in connection with the abduction and disappearance 25 years ago of labor activist Édgar Fernando García. The arrest, on 5th March,… Read More ›
