PBI first operated a project in Guatemala from 1983-1999, which closed following the Peace Accords. Unfortunately, the human rights situation soon began again to deteriorate, and local organisations asked PBI to return.
The current project opened in 2003. PBI now accompanies around 10 organisations nationwide with 10 international volunteers based in Guatemala City.
Who we protect in Guatemala
The organisations and social movements we accompany are searching for the truth about Guatemala’s civil war, for compensation, reconstruction and respect for the war’s victims; they are fighting against the repression of defenders of human rights, and raising issues concerning environmental degradation and access to land.
Fighting impunity
PBI accompanies groups that carry out exhumations of clandestine mass graves, as well as lawyers and human rights organisations threatened and harassed for their work challenging impunity for past human rights violations.
- Human Rights Law Firm (BJDH)
Defenders of land rights, culture and natural resources
The concentration of ownership of land, and lack of acknowledgment of ancestral land rights is one of the main problems affecting indigenous people in Guatemala and was a root cause of the armed conflict. These days organisations continue to expose the negative impact of illegal exploitation of forestland and natural resources, as well as defending the rights of communities affected by mega-projects (open air mining, hydroelectric projects, oil extraction, etc).
- Ch’orti Campesino Central “New Day” (CCCND)
- The K’iche’ Peoples Council (CPK)
- The Cunén Communities Council (CCC)
- The Ecumenical and Social Coordination for the Defense of Life in Zacapa and Chiquimula in the Macizo del Merendón
- Peaceful Resistance of La Puya
- Peaceful Resistance of La Laguna
- The Verapaz Union of Campesino Organisations (UVOC)
Peten
Although we do not accompany in Peten every six months PBI Guatemala undertakes a visit as a way of following up on the human rights situation.