Thurday, July 8, 2010
Letter to President Ingeniero Álvaro Colom Caballeros, Guatemala - NWI (Spanish)
Nobel Women's Initiative wrote a letter to Guatemalan President Colom Caballeros commending his decision to implement the recommendations of the Inter-American Commission of Human Rights as well as pushing the president to further implement laws to protect the rights of indigenous communities in Guatemala.
Thursday, July 8, 2010
Nobel Women's Initiative Declaration on the human rights situation in Guatemala (Spanish)
Wednesday, July 7, 2010
Guatemalan tied to massacre pleads guilty in U.S.- Reuters
A former Guatemalan soldier pleaded guilty on Wednesday to concealing his role in a 1982 massacre of peasants by the army in his homeland.
Tuesday, November 24, 2009
16 Days of Activism against Violence against Women
Thursday, July 2, 2009
This JASS Alert – the first of our new urgent action communications – is dedicated to the Guatemalan women courageously battling for justice and democracy in a context of unchecked violence. Concerned that this human rights catastrophe may be invisible to the world, we join with our human rights allies to mobilize attention and solidarity to protect these brave rights defenders, including kidnapped activist Gladys Monterrosa. The information in this Alert draws from our May 2009 fact-finding mission with partners Sinergia No’j, the Petateras and Radio Feminista (FIRE), and with high-level legal experts. We urge you to get involved.
As we were preparing this Alert, news broke of the coup d’état in Honduras. We urge you to contact your law-makers to demand the return to the rule of law and the reinstatement of the democratically elected president of Honduras, Manuel Zelaya.
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Context
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Femicide – the systematic murder of women for political reasons because they are women – is an accurate description of the current violence in Guatemala. Impunity and ungovernability are what result when organized crime takes advantage of a privatized and corrupt government to undermine the rule of law.
Thirty-six years of internal armed conflict in Guatemala left more than 100,000 dead and 50,000 disappeared at the hands of government, police and military forces. Indigenous people, women and opposition parties were especially targeted. Over 350 indigenous communities were literally erased from the map, and clandestine cemeteries are still being uncovered, with countless human rights violations left unpunished.
Since the signing of Peace Accords in 1996, police data show a continuous increase in rates of violence against women: from 313 murders in 2002 to almost 600 murders in 2006. In 2008, 722 women were murdered in Guatemala but, despite a law passed in April of 2008 against femicide and other forms of violence against women, only three of the 722 cases have been fully investigated and prosecuted.
Impunity and corruption have been rampant in the Guatemalan government and military since the armed conflict, with many officials today having strong links to organized crime and narco-trafficking operations. The majority of those who committed crimes against women have not been brought to trial, and many of the women who were victims of abuse and torture during the conflict must still face their aggressors on a daily basis.
The violence that was exerted against indigenous communities and opposition groups during the armed conflict has now spread to all sectors of society. Human rights defenders have been particularly targeted, as in the case of the recent kidnapping and torture of Gladys Monterrosa, a well-known lawyer and women’s rights defender. She was abducted on the morning of March 25, the day after her spouse, Guatemalan Special Prosecutor for Human Rights, Sergio Morales, released a report on human rights abuses during the armed conflict, based on documentation found in the Historical Archives of the National Police.
View the short video "Guatemala: A History of Violence and Struggle."
Against all odds, Guatemalan citizens are amongst the best organized and most politically skillful in Central America. Powerful social movements, including those of indigenous peoples, organize Guatemalans together across class and ethnic diversity. Many human rights NGOs are documenting, mobilizing and advocating, despite growing fear and uncertainty.
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“For indigenous women, the issue of violence is complex because we have been historically silenced, and it has been a long struggle for us to break that silence and demand our rights.” Hortensia Simón, Asociación Moloj
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Action by JASS and Allies
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- JASS and our allies, accompanied by one of international human rights lawyers handling the Juarez femicide case, Rhonda Copeland, conducted a fact-finding mission, May 13-14, in Guatemala City. Several women’s and human rights organizations gave testimony, including CONAVIGUA, Moloj, Sector de Mujeres, and the Human Rights Commission. The Guatemalan Petateras organized a Forum on Violence at San Carlos University, where testimonies and facts were shared among international and Guatemalan feminists to shed light on the situation of violence in Guatemala. View the short video "Feminist Transformation Watch: Guatemala."
- An Observatorio de la Transgresión Feminista/ Feminist Transformation Watch was organized to accompany the fact finding mission using radio and other media to spotlight the women on the frontline and the facts about violence.
- The JASS cross-regional office continues to network and promote international solidarity and awareness on violence against women in Guatemala through newsletters, bulletins and conferences.
Read the Guatemalan Synthesis, the report on the fact-finding mission
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“The growing re-militarization and proliferation of weapons throughout the country only reinforce the wall of impunity that encircles Guatemalan society. This context has produced a constant war against women that is characterized by gender-based violence on the streets, at home and in the workplace. Women human rights defenders also confront harassment and violence in their struggle for justice.” From the Nobel Women’s Initiative Declaration in Support of Guatemalan Women, May 2009
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What You Can Do
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"We demand that the government respect our basic human rights, such as the right to life, health, education and employment. Today is a day filled with hope for change for our lives and the lives of our daughters and sons." Sandra Gonzalez, la Asociación de Mujeres Trabajadoras de la Maquila
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Further Information
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The Guatemala Human Rights Commission/USA Report on Guatemalan Femicide Law
Washington Office on Latin America (WOLA): Violence Against Women in Guatemala
UNIFEM: Violence Against Women
Oxfam International
Amnesty International: Stop Violence Against Women Campaign
Good Practices in Legislation on Violence Against Women
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