Guatemala Human Rights Commission/USA

Violence Against Women: 2010

 

December 14, 2010: U.S. Senate approves IVAWA. The Senate Foreign Relations Committee today passed bipartisan legislation written by Chairman John Kerry (D-MA) that will establish a comprehensive, five-year strategy to reduce the levels of violence against women and girls globally. [Full press release]

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October 20, 2010: Violence against women has increased after Tropical Storm Agatha. In a study recently conducted by the Presidential Women’s Secretariat (SEPREM), it is apparent that violence against women has grown approximately 4% post Agatha.  The study was conducted in 30 departments in 10 municipalities.  The increase is in departments with the greatest storm damage, such as Chimaltenango, Sololá, Quiche, El Progresso, and Suchitepéquez.  SEPREM is looking to designate funds in the national Reconstruction Plan to help women lessen their dependence on their husbands and thus escape situations of violence.  The study also found that there has been a 7% decrease in children attending school since Agatha hit. [Siglo XXI]

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September 17, 2010: Human Rights Ombudsman will denounce Guatemalan State at the Inter-American Commission (IACHR) on Human Rights for lack of attention to femicides. The head of the Human Rights Ombudsman's Office, Sergio Morales, will present a formal case against the Guatemalan government for the lack of public policies that deal with the prevention, investigation and prosecution of femicides. Morales will ask the IACHR to order immediate implementation of national prevention policies, and establish State responsibility for human rights violations by not guaranteeing protection for women. Morales noted that femicides have increased 79% in the last six years. In 2009, 720 women were killed, an average of 60 each month. [Siglo XXI]

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July 15, 2010: Training police agents, prosecutors, and judges on the manner in which they should approach a victim of armed violence and of violence against women. An agreement between the Minister of the Interior, Carlos Menocal, and the National Coordinator for the Prevention of Domestic Violence and Violence against Women (CONAPREVI) seeks to reduce domestic violence, maintain better statistics, and improve care to the victim, among others.

Read Full Article in English//Lea Articulo en Español en El Periodico

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July 12, 2010: Guatemalan women could get asylum based on gender violence

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July 6, 2010: Guatemala, El Salvador, and Honduras: the highest femicide in the world. In a presentation in Costa Rica as part of the U.N. Campaign to End Violence against Women, Carlos Castresana cited statistics that show Central America, especially Guatemala, El Salvador, and Honduras, as a focal point for violence against women. To combat the high levels of impunity in convicting the perpetrators of femicide, Castresana recommends the creation of an international convention to establish uniform definitions in regards to gender-based violence and the major crimes that it encompasses.

Read Full Article in English//Lea Articulo en Español en CIMAC Noticias

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June 29, 2010: The National Civil Police (PNC) in Guatemala revealed that, so far in 2010, 532 women have been violently murdered. According to analysis by the National Coordinator for the Prevention of Domestic Violence and Violence against Women (CONAPREVI), the PNC has registered 532 violent deaths of women in Guatemala for 2010, of which only 45 percent had the necessary information to determine if they were femicide or not. The Ombudsman’s Office for Human Rights (PDH) stated that femicide rose by 16 percent in 2010 when compared to 2009.

Last weekend, the authorities discovered case number 532, an indigenous woman who was abandoned in a patch of reeds on the Santa Teresa farm in Villa Canales. They do not know the cause or her identity; neither do they have leads on who could be responsible.

In Guatemala, the Alliance for Action (CERIGUA) has a Campaign for Access to Justice, which tries to create a positive way for the State to diminish the high index of impunity that surrounds this type of crime.

According to the Alliance, which is a group of women’s organizations, the justice system registered a 99 percent impunity rate in cases of femicide, violence against women, rape, and other violent crimes that are the result of a society that is based on principles of male superiority.

The campaign attributes the impunity to poor handling of crime scenes and lack of information compiled by public prosecutors because they prevent the gathering of information that would allow the cases to be heard.

According to the Committee of Ministers of Central American Women (COMMCA) other factors contributing to the high number of women being killed are organized crime, delinquency, drug-trafficking, and inner-family violence. [Noticias de Guatemala]

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June 6, 2010: Taken to Trial for Femicide. Guatemala’s Criminal Court decided to bring to justice Francisco Chocoj for the killing of his 24-year-old niece in a hotel in Guatemala City’s Zone 5.

On October 27, 2009, he decapitated his niece and cut off her hands and genitals.

At 4:30pm on the 27th, he entered the hotel and asked the doorman for the last room. He indicated that a woman would arrive and ask for him in about half an hour. For that reason, he requested the doorman take down her name and let her pass as soon as possible.

The girl arrived 20 minutes later and entered the room. After an hour, Chocoj left and told the doorman that the woman would leave later because she was bathing.

A little later, the employee was near the room and observed blood stains. Upon entering the room, he saw the woman under the bed without a head, but the head never appeared.

The doorman, who became a key witness, helped create to create a photo of the perpetrator. When they showed the relatives of the victim, they were surprised to find that the characteristics matched those of the uncle of the girl, Francisco Chocoj. [Prensa Libre]

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May 25, 2010: Women’s Forum Inaugurated. The First Central American Women’s Dialogue was held, were 500 women discussed possible solutions to the five main regional problems; violence and crime; citizen security; economic development; public administration and education and health. Vital Voices, founded by Hillary Clinton, Secretary of State to the United States, organized this event. According to the organizers, the meeting seeks for women to learn about successful experiences, discuss and proposes efficient solutions for the region, as well as to create a network that promotes positive results and provides opportunities to empower leaders. [Prensa Libre]

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May 10, 2010: Report places Guatemala as country with worst maternal and infant care. According to the report “ State of the World's Mothers 2010” by Save the Children, Guatemala is the worst place to be a mother in Latin America. One hundred and sixty countries were examined, placing Guatemala in 109 th place, ranking the lowest in Latin America. The criteria taken into consideration reveals that one out of every 71 women risk their life while giving birth and only 41% will receive medical attention. The report also shows that only 34% of women use contraceptive methods and that 35 out of 1,000 children under the age of 5 die due to lack of specialized health care.

The Human Rights Ombudsman, Sergio Morales, highlighted that the result of this report should be “embarrassing for government authorities”, he added “many discourses have indicated the reduction of maternal/infant mortality, though the results are contrary and the report serves as evidence to that”. See PrensaLibre and InfanciaHoy.

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April 20, 2010: Court give sentence of 163 years to murderers of three young girls. Áxel Noé Cho Aspuac, Luis Roberto Socoreque Mashán and Moroni Hared Silva Urbina were condemned last night to 150 years in prison for the murder of three girls, ages 7, 8 and 12, plus an additional 13 years for sexual violence against the oldest.The court also ordered each perpetrator to pay the mother Q100 thousand ($12.2 thousand), as reparations. The girls were attacked on their way to school on May 29, 2009. They were found with their throats slit in Chicamén, San Lucas Sacatepéquez, Sacatepéquez. The case was litigated by the Survivor's Foundation.
The murder of the Suruy sisters shook Guatemalan society and caught the attention of the international communtiy. During the first day of the trial, U.S. Ambassador Stephen McFarland was present, along with Spanish Ambassador Carmen Díez Orejas and French Ambassador Michelle Ramis, and multiple human rights organizations. On the last day of the trial Yener Plaza, mayor of San Lucas Sacatepéquez, assisted the hearing.
[Prensa Libre] [elPeriodico] Read background information (en espanol) on the case.

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March 4-5, 2010: Court of Conscience makes history in Guatemala. Guatemala marked a historic moment for women, when for the first time the Court of Conscience against Sexual Violence during the Internal Armed Conflict took place in Guatemala City. Indigenous women came forward and gave their testimonies of sexual violence committed against them during Guatemala’s armed conflict from 1960-1996. At the end of the hearings, the ‘Judges of Conscience’ issued a statement later signed by honored witnesses. The statement condemned the Guatemalan state for its role as violator of the rights of women. It also blamed the state’s justice institutions for the lack of speedy trails for women, especially indigenous women.[...] Read full article.

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January 19, 2010: Central America: Common Territory for Femicide

 

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