Monthly information packets from PBI-Guatemala

MIP 62 November 2008

Congress of the Republic Approves 2009 State Budget and Solidarity Tax - Activist leader denounces armed attack - COPREDEH President’s house raided - Human Rights Ombudsman acts against Police director over passive and omissive attitude to violence - Death squads operating freely - Changes in production and land use provokes food insecurity - Disturbances and injuries follow highway blockades demanding land and agrarian reform - Platform promotes approval of Rural Development Law - Social organisations accuse the State over violation of the rights of Indigenous Peoples - More opposition to mining - Bidding for construction of hydroelectric project declared abortive - Maquilas (garment factories) violate women’s rights, says Human Rights Ombudsman.

MIP 62 November 2008 (pdf 656 KB)

MIP 61 October 2008

CELEBRATION OF THIRD 'SOCIAL FORUM OF THE AMERICAS' IN GUATEMALA CITY - Ministry of Defence refuses to turn over files to SEPAZ -Myrna Mack Foundation alledge "Cases of violence against justice officials are not investigated" - US to train kaibiles (Guatemalan Special Forces) for anti-terrorism - CALDH presents report: In 2007, 30% of violent deaths of youths were extra-judicial - Security Forces evict 200 Suchitepéquez families - Executive and social sectors achieve consensus on Rural Development Law - Catholic Church denounces Marlin Mine contamination in San Marcos - Huehuetenango residents reject mining licensing concessions.

MIP 61 October 2008 (pdf 127 KB)

MIP 60 September 2008

Organisations and government bodies condemn attempt against environmental activist - President denounces espionage and dismisses the heads of the SAAS and the SAE - The Women’s Sector denounces the failure to apply the Law Against Feminicide - According to the CNOC, three thousand families have been displaced in the Verapaces - Peasant organisations demand a dignified dialogue with the government - Residents of San Antonio Suchitepequez reject privatisation of water service

MIP 60 September 2008 (pdf 264 KB)

MIP 59 August 2008

Monthly Information Package covering the activities of PBI during August 2008. Current situation: Judge frees 43 detained during the State of Emergency declared in San Juan Sacatepéquez - National Civil Police arrest ex- member of congress for alleged links to murders of Salvadorian delegates - Organisations lobby for rights of indigenous communities draft law - Violent forced evictions from market are denounced in Coatepeque - Human Rights Ombudsman warns Government of food problems.

MIP 59 August 2008 (pdf 218 KB)

MIP 58 July 2008

CC upholds sentence for assassination of Bishop Juan Gerardi - Government will not extend State of Prevention in San Juan Sacatepéquez - New threats against Judge Eduardo Cojulún - Guatemala ratifies Protocol of Convention against Torture - First effects of DR-CAFTA begin to appear in agriculture - Rise in petroleum prices and growing popularity of biofuels spark increased demand for land

MIP 58 July 2008 (pdf 178 KB)

MIP 57 June 2008

Notes on the current situation: Dialogue with the guatemalan authorities and the diplomatic corps - Army suspends annual 30 June march - CSJ reject legal action by Rios Montt - CONGCOOP propose expropriation of 18,000km of unused land

MIP 57 June 2008 (pdf 246 KB)

MIP 56 May 2008

Notes on the current situation: - 162 women recorded dead in less than 4 months. - Organisations request PDH intervention on issue of adoptions. - Union member assassinated in Izabal. - Judge who attended the Spanish National Hearing on genocide denounced death threats. - Totonicapán inhabitants denounce deforestation before National Forest Institute. - San Marcos communities march and rally to reject mining activities.

MIP 56 May 2008 (pdf 414 KB)

MIP 55 April 2008

Notes on the current situation: - Álvaro Ramazzini receives death threat. - Law against feminicide is approved by Congress. - Quiche´s Sentencing Tribunal convicts ex police officer Antonio Rutilo Matías López for rape. - Civil organisations condemn Guatemala´s failure in accomplishing CIDH resolutions ten years after Gerardi´s murder.

MIP 55 April 2008 (pdf 308 KB)

MIP 54 March 2008

Notes on the current situation: - Women demand legal framework to defend their rights. - First trial for forced disappearance. - President Colom says no to the death penalty in Guatemala. - State Violence against ‘terrorist’ campesinos. - US deports Guatemalan migrants.

MIP 54 March 2008 (pdf 212 KB)

MIP 53 Febuary 2008

Peace Brigades International - Monthly Information Package 2008

MIP 53 Febuary 2008 (pdf 208 KB)

MIP 52 January 2008

Notes on the current situation: - Spanish judge asks for international cooperation in the investigation into genocide in Guatemala. - Campesino Organisations demand resolutions to agrarian debt and violent evictions. - US deports 346 Guatemalan migrants.

MIP 52 January 2008 (pdf 125 KB)