WUNRN
GUATEMALA: 12 Years After Conflict,
Few Solutions for Internally Displaced Persons or Other Victims -
Women
Over
200,000 people were killed or disappeared at the height of the conflict between
1981 and 1983, and between 500,000 and 1,500,000 people were internally
displaced or fled the country. Although the majority of IDPs returned to their
homes shortly after they fled, a large number of people remained displaced
throughout the country. Most of these longer-term IDPs settled in the shanty
towns of the capital Guatemala City, where they worked in the informal sectors
as street sellers, domestic workers or in factories, or on the southern coast,
where some worked as seasonal labourers on large land holdings. Many displaced
people emigrated to seek work in the United States.
Political developments over the past decade have had little impact on the
structural inequalities that triggered the armed conflict, and many Guatemalans
remain among the poorest people in the western hemisphere. Crime rates have
escalated since the official end of the war in 1996, and Guatemala is in 2008
among the most violent countries in the world that is at peace. The time
elapsed since the end of the conflict, and the complex and protracted crisis
the majority of Guatemalans face regardless of whether they were displaced are
good reasons to stop counting IDPs. Yet IDP organisations claim their members
are still suffering from trauma, loss of land, work and indigenous language
rights, and still facing the widespread impunity of those who perpetrated
abuses against them.
Full
Text Link - Internal Displacement Monitoring Centre:
_____________________________________________________________________
Mujer
en Panajachel, Sololá, Guatemala
Amnesty International
USA
The
prevalence of violence against women in Guatemala today has its roots in historical
and cultural values which have maintained women’s subordination. These
circumstances were most evident during the 36-year internal armed conflict that
ended with the signing of the United Nations-brokered Peace Accords in 1996. Of
the estimated 200,000 people who "disappeared" or were
extra-judicially executed during Guatemala’s internal armed conflict, a quarter
of the victims were women.
The
consequences of the internal armed conflict in terms of the destruction of
communities, displacement, increased poverty and social exclusion has a bearing
on levels of violence against women today as does the failure to bring to
account those responsible for past human rights violations.
______________________________________________________________
Internal Displacement Monitoring Centre
Almost twelve years after the end of Guatemala’s 36-year civil war
in 1996, the merit of considering internally displaced people (IDPs) separately
is open to debate. Some claim that the many problems still shared by IDPs and
other groups of victims render the category obsolete, but others argue that the
number of forcibly displaced people still unable to regain their land or
reintegrate elsewhere means the distinction remains important.
Over 200,000 people were killed or disappeared at the height of the
conflict between 1981 and 1983, and between 500,000 and 1,500,000 people were
internally displaced or fled the country. Although the majority of IDPs
returned to their homes shortly after they fled, a large number of people
remained displaced throughout the country. Most of these longer-term IDPs
settled in the shanty towns of the capital Guatemala City, where they worked in
the informal sectors as street sellers, domestic workers or in factories, or on
the southern coast, where some worked as seasonal labourers on large land
holdings. Many displaced people emigrated to seek work in the United States.
Political developments over the past decade have had little impact on the
structural inequalities that triggered the armed conflict, and many Guatemalans
remain among the poorest people in the western hemisphere. Crime rates have
escalated since the official end of the war in 1996, and Guatemala is in 2008
among the most violent countries in the world that is at peace. The time
elapsed since the end of the conflict, and the complex and protracted crisis
the majority of Guatemalans face regardless of whether they were displaced are
good reasons to stop counting IDPs. Yet IDP organisations claim their members
are still suffering from trauma, loss of land, work and indigenous language
rights, and still facing the widespread impunity of those who perpetrated
abuses against them.
Nonetheless, no national or international institutions are specifically
targeting IDPs or their organisations. In January 2008, the United Nations and
the social-democratic government elected in November 2007 set up the
International Commission against Impunity in Guatemala (CICIG). One of the tasks
of the new Commission will be to investigate crimes and the criminal networks
that emerged after the conflict, with the intention of offering some justice to
the victims, whether internally displaced or not.
================================================================
To contact the list administrator, or to leave the list, send an email to:
wunrn_listserve-request@lists.wunrn.com. Thank you.