Cooperant Update: poem from tribunal tower 42 years into the future: will we have unlearned genocide?

poem from tribunal tower 42 years into the future: will we have unlearned genocide? April 24, 2024 By: Romi Fischer-Schmidt, New Hope Foundation cooperant This is a reflection on the experience of walking with four Maya Achi women survivors (Pedrina López Depaz, Paulina Ixpatá Alvarado, Máxima García Valey, Margarita Alvarado [...]

Rabinal Legal Clinic Psychologist Speaks about Day for Dignity of Internal Armed Conflict Victims

Yesterday, Guatemala celebrated the 25th National Day for the Dignity of the Victims of the Internal Armed Conflict. Survivors from across the country marched through Guatemala City to honour the loved ones who were taken from them by state violence, to demand the return of the disappeared, and to call [...]

2024-10-31T11:22:39-04:00February 26th, 2024|Truth, justice & impunity|

Day 6 & 7 of the Rancho Bejuco Trial: Presentation of witnesses for the defence

The day started with Maya Kaqchikel researcher Aura Cumes' presentation of her expert report on Harassment, Persecution and Displacement in Xesiguan, Rabinal. The report examined the Achi people’s experience of Guatemalan military control during the Internal Armed Conflict. Cumes found that the army used the Achi people themselves against their [...]

2024-04-15T09:43:00-04:00June 29th, 2023|Truth, justice & impunity|

Day 5: Rancho Bejuco Trial – Testimonies Speak to Genocidal Violence, Role of Parallel Forces

The court buildings where hearings are taking place. Photo credit: Lenora June 15, 2023 Written by Lenora A Pattern of Genocidal Violence Four witnesses shared recorded testimonies today. While the sound was not very good and it is preferable to have the witness present, it was crucial to [...]

Day 4: Rancho Bejuco Trial – Survivors Continue to Share Painful Testimony

June 14, 2023 Written by Lenora [Content warning: Survivor testimony contains graphic and disturbing descriptions of the aftermath of the massacre.] Three more witnesses from Rabinal gave testimonies today. Three Witnesses Remember the Family Members They Lost, Demand Justice The first witness, Paulina Alvarado Ixpatá, is one of the 36 [...]

2024-04-15T09:43:48-04:00June 16th, 2023|Truth, justice & impunity|

Day 3: Rancho Bejuco Trial – Survivors, Expert Witnesses Speak

June 13, 2023 Written by Lenora [Content warning: Survivor testimony contains graphic descriptions of the aftermath of the massacre.] Today witnesses for the prosecution continued to provide testimony in the Rancho Bejuco case. As a reminder, 11 men stand accused in the Rancho Bejuco massacre. On July 29, 1982, 10 [...]

Cooperant Update: The Struggle for Justice Continues in Rabinal Vecinos Case

The Rabinal Community Legal Clinic (ABJP). Photo credit: Sabrina Jeria By: Sabrina Jeria, a cooperant with the Rabinal Community Legal Clinic Ongoing Threats to the Struggle for Justice Almost every day, a new headline demonstrates the ongoing dismantling of the rule of law and the erosion of Guatemala’s [...]

Cooperant Update: Annual Commemoration to Honour Victims of Rio Negro Massacre

Altar honouring the 177 victims of the March 13th, 1982 massacre at Pak’oxom in Rio Negro (photo credit: ADIVIMA) Sabrina Jeria, a cooperant at the Rabinal Community Legal Clinic, shares her reflections following the March 13th commemoration of the Río Negro massacre. On March 13, I accompanied a [...]

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