Month: January 2013

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Guatemala: Ruling on former president a positive step for justice

Amnesty International
29 January 2013

Guatemala: Ruling on former president a positive step for justice

Monday’s ruling that General Efraín Ríos Montt and his former head of military intelligence, General José Mauricio Rodríguez Sánchez, should stand trial for the massacre of almost 2,000 people in the 1980s is a crucial step towards justice, truth and reparation, Amnesty International said today.

Ríos Montt, who held power from March 1982 to August 1983, and Rodríguez Sánchez will be tried for their alleged responsibility over the deaths of the mainly Mayan villagers in a series of massacres during that period.

“This decision strengthens justice in Guatemala, as accountability for past crimes begins to emerge” said Sebastian Elgueta, Amnesty International researcher on Central America.

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Call on President Obama to Keep His Promise and Shutter Guantanamo Bay Now

Amnesty International
Press Release
January 7, 2013

Broad Coalition Calls on President Obama to Keep His Promise
and Shutter Guantanamo Bay Now
Groups will mark 11th anniversary of first detainees imprisoned at Guantanamo Bay
with rally, march and vigil starting at Supreme Court

Contact: Sharon Singh, ssingh@aiusa.org, 202-675-8579, @spksingh

(Washington, D.C.) – A broad coalition of human rights groups and other like-minded organizations will mark the 11th anniversary of the first detainees being jailed at the U.S.-controlled detention facility in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, on Friday, January 11, 2013, with a rally, march and vigil in Washington, DC. The participants will begin with a rally in front of the U.S. Supreme Court, then march on Pennsylvania Avenue to the southeast corner of the Ellipse, for a vigil with the White House in the background.

There are solidarity events occurring in Chicago, Dallas, Detroit, Los Angeles, Miami and London, England.

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