History was made on Thursday when a U.S. District Court Judge in Southern Florida, William J. Zloch, sentenced former Guatemalan special forces soldier Gilberto Jordán to ten years in federal prison. Jordán was convicted of lying on his citizenship application to hide his role in the 1982 massacre of hundreds of unarmed civilians in Dos Erres, Guatemala. In condemning Jordán to the maximum time allowed by law for naturalization fraud, Judge Zloch made clear that he intended the ruling to send a clear message that “those who commit egregious human rights violations abroad” cannot find “safe haven from prosecution” in the United States. The sentence marks the first time that any of the dozens of Kaibil special forces who carried out the murders almost 28 years ago has been prosecuted.
It has now been six months since Haiti’s devastating earthquake. In
this time, international governments, aid organizations and concerned
individuals have donated vast amounts of money and countless hours to
the relief effort. But, there are still real concerns about recovery
efforts. Last week, TransAfrica
Forum hosted a congressional briefing,“Haiti Six Months Later:
Reports from the Ground,” to share the
devastating news: “what has emerged in the six month period since the
quake is a confusing mix of good intentions gone awry.”
On Wednesday, June 30, the House Agriculture Committee votes on H.R. 4645, the Travel Restriction Reform and Export Enhancement Act, which restores U.S. citizens' right to travel to Cuba, creates jobs in the U.S., and puts food on Cubans' tables. What happens Wednesday will determine if this landmark legislation sees the light of day on the House floor this summer or dies in committee. The LAWG Cuba Team will be on the Hill (in 1300 Longworth) for the vote on the bill, championed by Chairman Collin Peterson of Minnesota (picture right), at 2pm EST. You can follow our "live-tweets" via Twitter or tune in online through the Agriculture Committee's website. Live video coverage can be found here once the "mark-up" begins.
Here’s an update on the recent natural disasters that have hit Guatemala from Kelsey Alford-Jones of the Guatemala Human Rights Commission/USA (GHRC/USA):
A week after Guatemalans experienced a dual assault from Pacaya Volcano and Tropical Storm Agatha, volcanic ash still hangs in the air. Over 80,000 people wait in emergency shelters—the homes, crops and livelihoods of many completely destroyed.
The pursuit of justice “is a challenge that we have been called to take on, and we have no idea how far this journey will lead us,” said Guatemalan human rights defender Jesús Tecú Osorio at a reception in his honor on May 17th, 2010. Human Rights First and the Guatemala Human Rights Commission (GHRC) organized this gathering to celebrate Tecú’s selection as winner of the 2010 Roger N. Baldwin Medal of Liberty Award for international human rights defenders.
Take a look at a quality analysis by Salvador Sarmiento of the Robert F.
Kennedy Center for Justice and Human Rights of the road to travel
between an apparently successful donors conference and the actual
delivery of well-targeted aid, published on the Center for International
Policy’s Americas Program blog.
We thought you should hear this story from Lisa Bonds, with our partner
Lutheran World Relief in Colombia. See LWR’s blog on Colombia and other
topics by clicking here.
“I joined my Lutheran World Relief colleagues and Rosario Montoya, the
Director of Fundacion Infancia Feliz, in a visit to the ‘Finca la
Alemania,’ the German farm… As we drove to the farm, Rosario briefed us
on the farm's history and the people who had recently returned to the
farm after having been displaced by one of the most feared paramilitary
leaders, called ‘the Chain,’ in the state of Cordoba...
Amanda Martin of the Guatemala Human Rights Commission/USA provides this important update on the arduous search for justice in the cases of disappeared Guatemalans.
On December 3, 2009, a former military official and three former commissioners were sentenced to 53 years in prison for the forced disappearance and illegal detention of six people in El Jute, Guatemala in 1981. This marks the first time in Guatemalan history that a high-ranking military official has been sentenced for forced disappearance. In the sentence, thetribunal also ordered an investigation of former defense minister Angel Anibal Guevara, former head of Defense Security (EMD) Benedicto Lucas Garcia, and other officials and soldiers assigned to the same military base as the guilty parties in 1981.
After months of a virtual standstill in Honduras between democratically elected President Manuel Zelaya and regime leader Roberto Micheletti, we might be seeing the end of what one writer called, “The Little Coup That Couldn’t.” On October 29th, Honduras’ defacto leader Roberto Micheletti agreed to step down, allowing the Honduran Congress to decide whether President Zelaya would be returned to power. But, the fate of democracy in Honduras still remains to be seen.
Writing a few days ago in El Espectador, columnist Felipe Zuleta
reported that mothers of young men killed by the Colombian military
have begun receiving anonymous threats.
The mothers live in the poor Bogotá suburb of Soacha, where in 2008
elements of the Colombian Army abducted young men, killing them and
later presenting their bodies as those of illegal armed group members
killed in combat. When news of the Soacha killings broke in September
2008, the scandal forced the firing of 27 Army personnel. Murder trials
have been proceeding very slowly, with an increasing likelihood that
some of those responsible may not be punished.
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On Wednesday, June 30, the House Agriculture Committee votes on 
