Dear Friends,
For 36 years, Guatemala suffered through an internal armed conflict in which at least 200,000 people were "disappeared" or killed. State-sponsored violence was widespread, entire villages were burned and razed, and rape was commonly used as a weapon of war against women. Numerous investigations have concluded that the vast majority of these human rights violations were conducted by members of the Guatemalan Army or intelligence services.
Today, a decade after the conflict's resolution, many of those responsible have escaped prosecution and now work with the police or private security forces. Perhaps it is no wonder that violence against women continues unabated, and that the perpetrators are virtually never brought to justice.
Human rights groups have documented a sharp increase in the rate of "femicides" or killings of women in Guatemala since the beginning of 2000. As of August 2006, 2,300 Guatemalan women had been murdered, and only 17 cases had been resolved, including both convictions and exonerations. In fact, so few convictions have been handed down that there is almost complete impunity for those who murder women in Guatemala. Investigators mishandle crime scenes and officials blame the victims themselves, often deciding that their murders are not worth investigating because they are deemed to be "nobodies."
The Women's Edge Coalition and the Center for Gender & Refugee Studies have joined together to condemn the institutional acceptance of violence against women in Guatemala. In November 2006, members of the U.S. House of Representatives introduced a resolution calling on the Secretary of State to urge the Government of Guatemala to improve its procedures for investigating and prosecuting crimes of violence against women. Representative Hilda Solis of California re-introduced the resolution (H. Res. 100) in January 2007, and a vote is expected in the House very soon. (A similar resolution is currently being considered in the Senate.)
Join us in asking your representative in Congress to sign on as a co-sponsor of H. Res. 100. To identify and contact your Congressperson in the U.S. House of Representatives, click here; to check and see if your representative is already a co-sponsor of H.Res. 100, click here. If he or she has not yet signed on, you will find a sample message that you can personalize and send below.
The war in Guatemala is long over. It's time for Guatemalan women to enjoy the benefits of peace.
In Solidarity,
Karen Musalo
Director
Center for Gender & Refugee Studies
Barb Gottlieb
Director of Outreach & Membership
Women's Edge Coalition
[SAMPLE MESSAGE]
Dear Representative [name],
During Guatemala's decades of internal armed conflict, state-sponsored violence was widespread, and rape was commonly used as a weapon of war against women. Numerous investigations have concluded that the vast majority of these human rights violations were conducted by members of the Guatemalan Army or intelligence services.
Today, a decade after the conflict's resolution, many of those responsible have escaped prosecution and now work with the police or private security forces. Perhaps it is no wonder that violence against women continues unabated, and that the perpetrators are virtually never brought to justice.
Human rights groups have documented a sharp increase in the rate of "femicides" or killings of women in Guatemala since 2000. As of August 2006, 2,300 Guatemalan women had been murdered, and only 17 cases have been resolved, including both convictions and exonerations. In fact, so few convictions have been handed down that there is almost complete impunity for those who murder women in Guatemala. Investigators mishandle crime scenes and officials blame the victims themselves, often deciding that their murders are not worth investigating because they are deemed to be "nobodies."
I urge you to join your colleagues in Congress in condemning the institutional acceptance of violence against women in Guatemala by signing-on as a co-sponsor of H. Res. 100, which encourages the Guatemalan government to bring an end to these crimes. To co-sponsor H. Res. 100, contact Representative Hilda Solis's office at (202) 225-5464.
The war in Guatemala is long over. It's time for Guatemalan women to enjoy the benefits of peace.
Sincerely,
[name & address]
