July 1, 2010
Panner's article, Danger in Guatemala, examines the CICIG and the current state of political institutions in Guatemala, looking at their capacity and willingness to fight corruption and organized crime.
June 24, 2010
Senator Patrick Leahy comments on the need for the UN to appoint a replacement CICIG Commissioner with demonstrated expertise, the need for the Guatemalan government to select a new Attorney General that is willing to work closely with the Commission, and the need for the different branches of the Guatemalan government to work together to prevent corruption and strengthen democratic ...
June 14, 2010
WOLA would like to call your attention to a statement from the Myrna Mack Foundation in Guatemala about the current state of injustice in the country, the resignation of Carlos Castresana and the need to pass from frustration and indignation to the reaffirmation of the fight against impunity.
(Available in Spanish only)
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June 10, 2010
WOLA would like to call your attention to Congressman Engel's statement on Carlos Castresana's resignation from the commission to combat impunity and corruption in Guatemala, CICIG.
December 22, 2009
President Álvaro Colom should release all military archives related to Guatemala's internal armed conflict before the mandate of the Presidential Commission for the Declassification of Military Archives expires in January 2010. Publishing these files would allow the perpetrators of the mass atrocities committed during this conflict to be brought to justice.
October 9, 2009
WOLA and other human rights organizations recently sent this letter (in Spanish only) to Guatemala's Attorney General calling upon him to investigate death threats against leading advocates for transitional justice and women's rights in Guatemala.
August 10, 2009
WOLA wrote the following letter to Guatemala's Attorney General Amílcar Velázquez Zárate in support of Raul Figueroa Sarti's appeal against a copyright infringement. Figueroa Sarti is the owner of F&G Editors, a publishing company that has published innumerable works on human rights in the country. WOLA fears the charges against Sarti are baseless and meant to be an ...
June 25, 2009
This report paints a portrait of the police in Central America today. It draws on interviews conducted by in-country experts with government officials, current and former police, representatives of international aid agencies, and civil society leaders in El Salvador, Guatemala, and Honduras.
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May 14, 2009
Eight US human rights groups wrote the following letter to Guatemalan President Alvaro Colom. The groups expressed profound concern about the series of death threats and reported surveillance by unidentified persons recently received by staff members of two prominent human rights organizations, Security in Democracy (SEDEM) and the Unit for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders in Guatemala ...
April 29, 2009
Four leading international organizations that work on Guatemala urged the Interior Minster to reverse his recent decision dismissing important human rights advisors. The advisors were responsible for two important institutions that had made real progress in investigating attacks against Guatemalan human rights defenders.
April 9, 2009
As the Obama Administration defines its Western Hemisphere policies, we believe that U.S. policy towards Guatemala should strengthen its focus on human rights. Particular attention should be paid to bringing the perpetrators of mass atrocities to justice, protecting human rights defenders, strengthening labor rights, and supporting the efforts of the International Commission against Impunity in Guatemala (CICIG) to investigate ...
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February 5, 2009
Declassification of military archives should be a priority for the new Minister of Defense in Guatemala, according to US human rights organizations. The group wrote the following letter to Major General Abraham Valenzuela González, urging him to address these past gross violations of human rights. They underscore that much of the continued lawlessness in Guatemala stems from the ...
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January 23, 2009
A group of US-based NGOs wrote the following letter to Attorney General Velásquez in Guatemala. The group expresses its worry about recent attacks and threats against human rights defenders including Fredy Armando Peccerelli of the Fundación de Antropología Forense Guatemala, (FAFG).
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January 13, 2009
A fascinating look at the advocacy campaign around the pioneering multilateral commission called CICIG.
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November 10, 2008
Activist and videographer Miguel Arturo Albizures Pedrosa became yet another human rights defender to fall victim of intimidations in Guatemala after filming a demonstration against government officials. On October 30, gunmen opened fire on his home, though luckily no one was hurt. Albizures is the Vice-President of Asociación COMUNICARTE, a media organization that has produced videos on human ...
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October 30, 2008
Pierre Frühling, development expert with extensive diplomatic and consulting experience in Central America, has recently released a report entitled: Violence, Judicial Corruption, and Fragile Democracies: Reflections on the current situation in Central America. It is currently available through its Guatemalan publisher, F&G Editores.
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