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GUATEMALA - DICTATOR GENOCIDE WAR TRIAL - JUSTICE & RIGHTS FOR WOMEN SURVIVORS OF RAPE & SEXUAL VIOLENCE

 

http://us5.campaign-archive1.com/?u=8416da9df57d4044c795f3fcb&id=b9648a0ffc&e=805f62f2d1

Dear Women’s Link Friends and Supporters,
 
History is being made in
Guatemala. For the first time ever, a dictator is being tried in his own country for crimes of genocide and war. This is a huge step forward for justice, and Women’s Link is making sure that women are taking part.
 
From 1982 to 1983 General Ríos Montt carried out a campaign of genocide with the aim of destroying the Mayan population. In
Guatemala, as in all wars and conflicts that have occurred throughout history, sexual violence and rape against women and girls were core tactics for destroying and terrorizing the Mayan people.
 
In December we told you how Women’s Link is working with Mayan women to end the silence about the systemic crimes committed against them during the Guatemalan genocide. We are now excited to share that just last week, Women’s Link Senior Attorney Paloma Soria took the stand as an expert witness on gender and international human rights, in order to testify about the ways in which women and girls were targeted by the military. When she took the stand, dozens of survivors were present as their stories and the atrocities they lived were finally brought forth as international crimes; no longer seen as "collateral damage."
 
We look forward to reporting back to you as the trials progress in this historic moment for women’s rights and for justice.
 
Thank you so much for making this important and historic work possible, and for your partnership with Women’s Link as we fight for justice and the rights of women worldwide.
 
With appreciation,

Viviana Waisman
 
P.S. Interested in learning more? Read my article in Huffington Post about how this trial is a huge opportunity for gender justice  (available in Spanish only) and read this summary of Paloma expert intervention last Friday at the trial.