The Accord on Strengthening of
Civil Society and the Role of the Army in a Democratic Society, one of the
peace accords, acknowledged the Guatemalan legal system to be one of the most
significant structural weaknesses of the state. It set up a review on
strengthening it, which reported in April 1998, “The Guatemalan judicial system has been at the service of the
political, economic and military powers’ elite and has not satisfied the needs
of all Guatemalans, the majority of whom are poor.”
It seems that little has
changed. Not only have we seen the ruling against extradition in the Menchu
case, but also in another case related to gold mining the powerless seem to be
being trodden on again. We have reported elsewhere on the Marlin gold mine, and
there is plenty of other material out there about the controversy this has
caused. In January people from communities around the mine presented a petition
about problems the mine is causing them. On leaving the offices they were then
attacked by mine security staff, suffered some injuries, but escaped and
reported the matter to the police. Later that day about 600 community members blocked
the road to the mine in protest. The blockage stayed in place for ten days until
the company agreed to negotiate about their concerns. However, the company then
initiated proceedings against community members for incitation to delinquency,
threats, coercion, and minor injuries. On 11
December two community leaders were found guilty of causing injury and were
sentenced to two years in prison.
This looks horribly like another case of criminalising
legitimate and peaceful protest and isn’t the first time this has happened. Let’s
remember the case brought against the peaceful protesters at the Chixoy dam,
which went as far as accusing them of “endangering state security”, or the case
brought against the indigenous mayor of Solola, who was accused of “terrorism
and sabotage”, among other things, after a protest at Los Encuentros turned
nasty when the police intervened. In that case the Panamerican Highway had been blocked in protest at the passage of mining
equipment for the aforementioned Marlin gold mine.
Update 24 December 2007: an excellent background article on this case, written by two people who were present, has been published on the accompaniment coordination blog.
As we reported in another post, the Guatemalan Congress has been debating a new adoption law. This law was passed on 11 December, after a great deal of pressure was applied by organisations lobbying for children's rights and foreign governments. Such was the interest that ambassadors of several European nations were present in Congress for the final voting, as reported in Prensa Libre. They had already sent a letter expressing their interest in the law being passed and having also suspended inter-country adoptions from Guatemala.
The new law creates a National Council of Adoptions, Consejo Nacional de Adopciones, which will consist of representatives from the Supreme Court, Foreign Ministry and Presidential Secretariat of Social Welfare. Once the law comes into force only lawyers from this new governmental entity will be able to handle the paperwork for adoptions. Also, babies to be put up for adoption will be required to stay with their birth mothers for the first six weeks of their lives. Their will also be special centres where children will be looked after before being adopted by their new parents.
Casa Alianza have welcomed the news after years of lobbying for adoptions to be better regulated. However, not everyone is pleased. Susana Luarca, representing the Defenders of Adoption Association, said they would contest the law before it came into force and claimed the state would be unable to look after orphans, and accused the visiting ambassadors of racism and interfering. Susana Luarca is a well-known scourge of those who have tried to clean up the adoption trade, for such it has become, in Guatemala. She is a lawyer who handles adoptions. In 1997 she brought a defamation case against Bruce Harris, then director of Casa Alianza, after he took part in a press conference reporting the findings of an investigation into adoptions. The investigation, which was a joint effort between the Attorney General's Office and Casa Alianza, made allegations about corrupt practices against her and other lawyers. After more than six years of legal process the case was dismissed.
It remains to be seen whether the new system will take back control of what should be a noble institution, where the welfare of children comes first, from those who have made it synonymous with deception and profiteering where children are mere merchandise. There are some interesting views in this editorial and comments from elPeriodico.
En la madrugada del 8 de diciembre, Felipe Álvarez, miembro del Consejo Comunitario de Desarrollo (COCODES) de la comunidad de Microparcelamiento El Naranjo, salió de su casa en El Naranjo para dirigirse en bicicleta a la granja en la que trabajaba. Su cadáver fue hallado por agentes de policía hacia las 5:45 de la mañana de ese mismo día en una cuneta, a unos 10 kilómetros al sur de su casa, de camino a la granja. Tenía un disparo en la cabeza y tres en la espalda. more»
This excellent weekly report can't be found on the web- we publish it here with kind permission from CDHG on this blog. INFORME SEMANAL SOBRE DERECHOS HUMANOS Comision de Derechos Humanos de Guatemala
======================================= Fuentes directas CDHG, Prensa Libre, Siglo Veintiuno, El Periódico, Guatemala Hoy ======================================= CDHG 2 Av. 4-66, apto. C-4, zona 1. Tel/Fax: (502) 22203576 /22534285 E-mail: cdhg@intelnett.com =======================================
These are the headlines- for the full report click on 'more':
- Fundación Menchú denuncia anomalías en juicio contra líderes campesinos
- Caso masacre de las dos erres: FAMDEGUA señala complicidad de MP, CSJ y CC
- CNOC solicita a autoridades electas priorizar proyectos de seguridad alimentaria
- En Alta Verapaz, campesinos y ambientalistas protestan contra explotación petrolera
- Conmemoraron el Día Mundial de la Lucha contra el Sida; hay 120 mil personas infectadas more»
I came across this interesting interview of a man called Abraham Ajiataz. His story reminded me of many other courageous Guatemalans I've met who've battled against the odds to get the education the deserve. Abraham now supports others to have the opportunity to do the same and have access to education. Here's more on the work of the Guatemala Friendship School Foundation:
The Guatemala Friendship School Foundation is a non-profit organization working to provide a quality education for those who otherwise couldn't afford to learn.Construction began in 1998 and since 2001 we have been operating a school called Instituto K'amawanik' in the highland village of Momostenango.
The school gives all students the opportunity to learn regardless of age, income, religion, or gender. We have educated over 100 students and our numbers are growing each month. The Guatemala Friendship School Foundation is dedicated to the support and continued growth of Instituto K'amawanik'.
The UK government has just announced that it will suspend adoptions from Guatemala until it can be confident that its adoption processes are completely above board. more»
Great to see 'Entremoles a Guate' still going and producing as informative programmes as ever on interesting projects in Guatemalan civil society. This episode looks in particular at the work going on in the Cinemateca Universitaria and the work of Walter Figueroa.
When I saw this painstaking work to preserve the heritage of Guatemala, I couldn't help thinking of the moment that haunts Guatemala and underlines the need for heritage. The fateful moment when Diego de Landa burnt countless manuscripts containing years and years of Mayan culture. This was cultural imperialism at it most criminal. A kind of cultural genocide.
It's hard to imagine what the Western world would have been like if say the Romans or the Persians had decided to burn every paper containing the old and new testaments of the bible- and then on a whim another power had burnt the entire work of Socrates, Plato, Homer and Archimedes. It's unimaginable- but this is what happened to the Mayans and was repeated all over Latin America.
This excellent weekly report can't be found on the web- we publish it here with kind permission from CDHG on this blog. INFORME SEMANAL SOBRE DERECHOS HUMANOS Comision de Derechos Humanos de Guatemala
======================================= Fuentes directas CDHG, Prensa Libre, Siglo Veintiuno, El Periódico, Guatemala Hoy ======================================= CDHG 2 Av. 4-66, apto. C-4, zona 1. Tel/Fax: (502) 22203576 /22534285 E-mail: cdhg@intelnett.com =======================================
These are the headlines- for the full report click on 'more':
- CC favorece a militares acusados de genocidio; deja sin efecto indagatorias
- Parlamento Europeo, preocupado por la pésima situación de los DDHH en Guatemala
- Organizaciones conmemoran Día de la No Violencia contra las mujeres
- Sectores opuestos a la minería exigen cese de imposición, represión y persecución contra comunidades
- Según informe de PNUD, Guatemala ocupa el último lugar en Desarrollo Humano more»
Welcome, Guatemala Solidarity Network (GSN) based in the United Kingdom supports the people of Guatemala who continue to struggle for change after centuries of oppression, violence, racism and exploitation.
You can keep in touch with all the news and views on Guatemala in many, many blogs and sources of information here via Pageflakes.
