September 2007 e-newsletter
Inter Pares' E-Newsletter
Searching for Justice in Guatemala
In this e-newsletter:
- Letter of Introduction
- Excerpts from:
- Searching for Justice in Guatemala
- Breaking Silences
- Notes from an Encuentro
- A few facts about Guatemala
- Public events: Confronting sexual violence in armed conflict
- Videos: GMOs in Africa and Anti-Terrorism and Human Rights
- Publication: Reclaiming the romance
Links
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August 27, 2007
Dear friends,
A decade after peace accords ended Guatemala's 36 years of armed conflict, the wounds of war are still open. Today, the peace accords remain largely unimplemented, the justice system lacks independence, corruption is rampant, and there is a lack of political will to address human rights violations and end impunity.
Despite this context, women and men are working to rebuild their communities, to challenge ongoing militarized structures of power, and to search for truth, justice, and reparations for war crimes, including sexual violence. We profile some of this work in our September Bulletin, entitled The Search for Justice in Guatemala.
We know that the struggle against impunity in Guatemala often comes at a very heavy price, and this was made even more real to us with recent attacks and acts of intimidation against our main counterpart in Latin America, Project Counselling Service (PCS), as well as against the local Guatemalan organizations with whom we work. However, moments of danger are also moments of courage and hope, and we have been overwhelmed by the many Canadians who responded by sending letters to Canadian and Guatemalan authorities, expressing their concern. Thanks to their support, PCS and our colleagues in Guatemala know that they are not alone, that they have the support and solidarity of all who hold dear the principles of peace and justice. This is invaluable. Please refer to our Web site for an update on our response to the situation in Guatemala.
Your ongoing commitment, and that of thousands of Canadians, has helped ensure that this sensitive and important work continues. Thank you for your solidarity - it means the world to us.
As usual, if you have questions or comments, we invite you to share them with us.
Sincerely,
Samantha McGavin
P.S. Please send in your gift today, so that together we can continue to promote human rights and justice for all.
Searching for Justice in Guatemala
In the fall of 2006, Inter Pares staff Alison Crosby and Samantha McGavin travelled to Mexico, Guatemala, and El Salvador. The following is excerpted from Samantha's travel journal about the Guatemala portion of their trip.
It seems as if all of Inter Pares' stories about Latin America include tales of bumpy roads, and now I understand why. Alison and I have just spent a week driving along extremely long, winding, and uneven roads in the rural areas of Chiapas, southern Mexico; our journey will now take us across the border into Guatemala, where we will spend the next week.
Click here to read the rest of this article
Breaking Silences
Several years ago, Inter Pares organized an exchange between Guatemalan and Burmese women whose lives and experiences had been profoundly affected by the devastation of war. Their conversations took place in crowded refugee camps along the winding Thai-Burma border and in remote communities of returned refugees in Guatemala. Participants talked to one another about the daily struggle to have their voices heard in decisions affecting their lives. They expressed their desire to actively participate in building more peaceful and just communities for themselves and their families.
Across boundaries of language and culture, Guatemalan and Burmese women found many commonalities in the brutality of their experience of violence, and in their strength and determination to effect change. ...
Click here to read the rest of this article
Notes from an Encuentro
In May 2007, some 60 people gathered together in a beautiful old convent in Antigua, Guatemala to talk about a subject that has touched the lives of so many women the world over - the use of sexual violence as a weapon of war. As activists, academics, lawyers and psychologists from Guatemala, Colombia, Peru, Chile and Costa Rica, as well as from Canada and the United States, participants had come together to find ways to support women survivors of this terrible crime in their search for justice and healing on their own terms. ...
Click here to read the rest of this article
A few facts about Guatemala
Guatemala has approximately 12 million inhabitants, including 25 different sociolinguistic groups, 22 of whom are Mayan in origin. Despite being the majority of Guatemala's population at over 60%, indigenous people are also the poorest and most marginalized Guatemalans. They were the explicit targets of the violence that devastated Guatemala for 36 years, most of it orchestrated by successive military dictatorships after the 1954 military coup that overthrew the democratically elected government of Guatemala. The UN-sponsored Truth Commission report, released in 1999, found that in the worst period of the armed conflict, this violence amounted to genocide against the indigenous population. Over 200,000 people were killed or "disappeared," and up to two million people internally and externally displaced - a third of the country's population at the time. ...
Click here to read the rest of this article
Public events: Confronting Sexual Violence in Armed Conflict
This September, Inter Pares will hold public events in Ottawa and Toronto with our colleagues from Latin America, Asia and Africa. We invite you, your family and friends to join us to hear the inspiring stories of activists who are fighting for women's rights around the world. Hear about their struggles to promote women's participation in critical peace processes and assist survivors of sexual violence during armed conflict in their search for healing and justice. Please visit our Web site at http://www.interpares.ca/conflict for more information, or contact Rachel Gouin at rachelg@interpares.ca, 613-563-4801 or 1-866-563-4801 (toll-free).
Videos
GMOs in Africa: Presentations to the public hearings of the Commission on the Future of Agriculture and Agrifoods in Québec
In March 2007, an African delegation came to Canada to raise awareness among decision-makers about the pressures on Africa to use genetically modified organisms (GMOs) in its agricultural sectors. The delegation from COPAGEN (Coalition pour la protection du patrimoine génétique africain, or the Coalition for the Protection of African Genetic Heritage) criticized the enormous pressures African countries are facing to open their doors to GMOs, whether from Western trade missions, from international development projects, or from the World Bank.
Click here to watch these interviews (in French only).
Anti-Terrorism and Human Rights
Warren Allmand, prominent international human rights consultant and member of the International Civil Liberties Monitoring Group (ICLMG), of which Inter Pares is a founding member, delivered the keynote address to Inter Pares' Annual General Meeting in April 2007. Under the theme of "Anti-Terrorism and Human Rights," Warren offered his reflections on the conclusions of the Arar Commission and criticized the current security establishment, which is increasingly threatening our rights and freedoms rather than protecting them.
Please click here to watch some excerpts from this evening.
Publication
"Reclaiming the romance," keynote address by Molly Kane at Concordia University's Institute in Management and Community Development, June 2007 (pdf)
This address was presented at the opening session of the IMCD's 15th annual Summer Program, "What are we part of? Personal Choice and Political Action." Reflecting on dilemmas and opportunities for community organizers and activists throughout the world, Molly invites us to unveil the cracks in power structures and to find hope in history and in people's stories from around the world.
Please click here to read this presentation.
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Abonnez-vous à la version française
Inter Pares Web site
PDF version of this Bulletin
This Bulletin on the Web
Send an e-card
Inter Pares
221 Laurier Avenue East, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada K1N 6P1
Phone (1-613) 563-4801 or (1-866) 563-4801 (toll free) Fax (1-613) 594-4704
With the support of thousands of Canadians, Inter Pares works in Canada and around the world with social change organizations who share the analysis that poverty and injustice are caused by inequities within and among nations, and who are working to promote peace, and social and economic justice in their communities and societies. Charitable registration number (BN) 11897 1100 RR000 1.
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