Searching for Justice in Guatemala
Huehuetenango
Huehuetenango's central square
Huehuetenango, the western department of Guatemala bordering with Mexico, is one of the richest in diversity of indigenous cultures and languages. It was also one of the areas of the country hardest-hit by violence during the armed conflict. There is a strong presence of returned refugee communities in Huehuetenango, and there are high levels of poverty and illiteracy. PCS has recently established a local office to support victims' groups (people affected by the violence) in local peacebuilding and democratization processes, especially those favouring women's and indigenous people's participation. They are also promoting migrants' security and human rights, as people pass through Huehuetenango on their way to Mexico and beyond.
Participants listening during the forum
We are in Huehuetenango to participate in the "National forum on Latin American experiences in truth, justice, and reparations," organized by PCS, which has brought together local and national women's organizations, human rights organizations, and victims' organizations. Diana Avila, Executive Director of PCS, and Iliana Estabridis, coordinator of PCS' regional gender-based violence program, have come as well as most CAMEX staff. The audience also includes high-level political figures, such as the director of the National Reparations Program (PNR) and representatives from the local human rights ombudsman's office. Together they listen while presenters address the legal, mental health, symbolic and material aspects of reparation, both in Guatemala and in other Latin American contexts. Angélica Lopéz, a Mayan activist from Advocates for Change, speaks about the violence women suffered during the conflict, and the terrible repercussions for these women, and their families and communities.
Forum participants in discussion
The forum is an important opportunity for civil society in Huehuetenango to come together to talk, learn, and plan how they can influence and participate in the PNR. There are many challenges with the PNR: the logistical and political difficulties in establishing a victims' registry; whose names will be eligible for inclusion; how to go beyond financial compensation to symbolic and other forms of reparation, such as education and health services. At the end of the forum, participants decide to create a local roundtable to coordinate work and to ensure that the voices of those most affected by the armed conflict are included in all national-level discussions concerning reparations.
| Reviewed July 31, 2009 |  |
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