March 4, 2019
The following is a joint press release of the World Organization Against Torture (OMCT) and Union for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders in Guatemala (UDEFEGUA), released in Spanish and translated into English by PBI-USA.
February 6, 2019
On January 7, Guatemala's institutional crisis reached a climax. The government unilaterally terminated the agreement with the United Nations for the permanence of the International Commission Against Impunity in Guatemala (CICIG), granting a period of 24 hours for its officials to leave the country. The decision was announced by the Minister of Foreign Relations, Sanda Jovel, to the Secretary General of the UN, Antonio Guterres.
January 25, 2019
December 14, 2019
On the 20th Anniversary of the UN Declaration on Human Rights Defenders, defenders accompanied by PBI reflect on the importance of the Declaration as well as the accompaniment and international solidarity provided by organizations such as PBI.
In Guatemala, the number of human rights defenders murdered in 2018 continues to rise. Several indigenous leaders struggling to defend their lands are among those killed. As of September 21, twenty-one (women) human rights defenders have been killed in Guatemala this year. Read below for more updates from Guatemala.
Over two weeks in September and October, PBI-USA staff members, Amelia Parker and Pat Davis, traveled to PBI projects in Mexico and Guatemala to visit with accompanied defenders and gain a better understanding of their struggles, spend time with PBI volunteers and learn about their daily activities, as well as meet with U.S. and international authorities to share PBI’s concerns regarding the current human rights situation facing the defenders we accompany. Below, we share a few stories from the field.
On October 16, President Donald Trump threatened to suspend all funding and aid to Honduras if a migrant caravan originating in Honduras and headed north is not stopped. When he made the statement, the caravan of some 3,000 immigrants had already crossed into Guatemala. "The United States has strongly informed the President of Honduras that if the large Caravan of people heading to the US is not stopped and brought back to Honduras, no more money or aid will be given to Honduras, effective immediately!" Trump tweeted.
Over three days, 40 human rights defenders from the Americas, Europe, Africa and Asia came together in Brussels to exchange experiences and knowledge about holistic protection. This meeting allowed us to analyze the global tendencies that impact our risk as well as identify our common needs as a collective of human rights defenders. The sessions allowed us to construct a common narrative and key messages and recommendations to political actors in the European Union and its member states.
Guatemalan President Jimmy Morales, in an August 31 press conference in Guatemala City, announced the non-renewal of the mandate of the International Commission against Impunity in Guatemala (CICIG). The UN-backed body has been helping Guatemala’s courts fight corruption for the past eleven years.
