Former military leader Efrain Rios Montt’s conviction for genocide and crimes against humanity has been overturned, but there is reason to hope (Photo Credit: Johan Ordonez/AFP/Getty Images).

Not if Rios Montt and his powerful friends have their way.

Amnesty International joined human rights organizations from Guatemala and around the world in applauding the historic conviction of former dictator Rios Montt on charges of genocide on on May 10. This particular trial established his responsibility for the murder of 1,771 indigenous people the forced displacement of tens of thousands others from the the Ixil triangle region of southern Quiché - only a fraction of the crimes committed by the military under Rioss Montt’s 1982 to 1983 rule. (See the report of the Guatemalan Commission on Historical Clarification).  Unfortunately, the Guatemalan Constitutional Court overturned this verdict on May 20 for unclear reasons.

It has taken over thirty years to bring Rios Montt to justice. This trial itself has faced numerous delays and obstacles, including interference that threatened to restart the proceedings in April. Each time, however, pressure from inside Guatemala and around the world has moved justice forward. We must keep up the pressure so that Rios Montt is punished for not only the crimes covered in this trial, but the other horrific human rights abuses that occurred as part of his scorched-earth strategy against indigenous civilians.

It is very discouraging to see powerful forces in Guatemala granting Rios Montt yet another chance to escape justice. There is, however, reason to hope. Not too long ago, no one would have thought that any of the leaders of the so-called “Dirty War” in Argentina would ever face justice. Junta member Jorge Rafael Videla was convicted, however, and spent his remaining years in jail. He died in prison earlier this week – while continuing to face charges for more of the crimes he committed in office.

Can there ever be justice in Guatemala? There can be, if the relatives of Rios Montt’s victims, the civilians he drove from their homes, and human rights advocates like you and I have our way.

Women, girls, men and boys take to the streets in Nicaragua on the Day for the Decriminalization of Abortion in Latin America and the Caribbean (Photo Credit: Grace Gonzalez for Amnesty International).

What if she was your mother, your sister, or your friend?  Would you tell her to press charges? Or would you tell her she should work things out with her husband in order to keep the family (including any children) together? In other words, would you want her to be safe, or remain in danger of further abuse and even death?  I hope you would tell her to get out of there and call the police.

In Nicaragua, however, pressing charges may no longer be an option. Last year, Nicaragua passed Law 779, the Integral Law against Violence Against Women. One of its key provisions is that it does not allow mediation to replace criminal punishment of abusers. Tracy Robinson, the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights Rapporteur for Women’s Rights, called the law “an important step forward.”

Now, Amnesty International is warning that opponents of Law 779 may overturn this key provision on the ground that it “breaks up families” - as if growing up in a climate of violence is good for children. They want to allow mediation as an alternative to punishment in cases involving less than five years of jail time. Doing so will only contribute to a climate of impunity that tells abusive partners that their behavior is acceptable.

Wife beaters are bullies – cowards who target victims who can’t fight back on the assumption that nobody else will stand up for them. The Nicaraguan government must stand up for victims of gender-based violence by punishing the criminals who harm them.

While defending Law 779 is very important, Tracy Robinson of the Inter-Americna Commission recognized that the Nicaraguan government needs to do much more to protect women’s rights. Nicaragua is one of a handful of countries that bans abortion under all circumstances, including the woman’s health. Right now, the danger of such a law is being clearly demonstrated in nearby El Salvador, where the government refuses to allow 22-year-old Beatriz’s doctors to provide the treatment they say is necessary to save her life.

Unlike Amnesty, the Honduran government has not demonstrated interest in identifying and punishing those behind attacks on journalists. In its 2012 report on conditions in Honduras, the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) indicated that the government has not solved 80% of the cases of journalists murder in the nation. 15 of these murders took place since the 2009 coup. Last month, the CPJ reported an attempt on the life of Honduran television journalist Fidelina Sandoval.

Please take action and tell the Honduran authorities that they must protect Héctor Longino Becerra and his family, and that they must find and punish those responsible for attacks on journalists and other human rights defenders in their country.

This post is also available in Spanish.

Protesters at a demonstration outside the Supreme Court of Justice in San Salvador. The sign reads, “If Beatriz were your daughter, would it be illegal to save her life?”(Photo Credit: Courtesy of Agrupación Ciudadana por la despenalización del aborto Terapéutico, Ético y Eugénesico).

Officially, El Salvador does not have capital punishment. The result will be the same, however, for “Beatriz,” a 22-year-old whose “crime” consists of needing an abortion to save her life. Abortion is illegal in El Salvador law under all circumstances, including rape, incest, and maternal health. Beatriz has a history of lupus, kidney problems, and other health conditions that her doctors have indicated place her at high-risk for pregnancy-related death. She is currently four and a half months pregnant. Preventing her from receiving an abortion is therefore comparable to a death sentence. This, in turn, will leave her one-year-old son motherless.

But surely, you may think, some Salvadoran doctor will ignore the law for the higher goal of saving this woman’s life. In November, I posted an account of another Salvadoran woman, “Mery,” who was turned in to the police by her own doctors after suffering complications from a clandestine abortion. While this may appear shocking to readers in the United States, Salvadoran law requires doctors to do so. “Beatriz” and her doctors have to worry that someone will turn them in if they proceed without explicit government authorization.

The Salvadoran government’s position is even more difficult to understand because Beatriz’s doctors have determined that the fetus she is carrying is deformed to such a degree that it is highly unlikely to survive after birth. How can the life of a young mother be worth sacrificing for an unviable pregnancy?

Please tell Salvadoran President Mauricio Funes and Health Minister Dr. María Isabel Rodríguez to allow the Beatriz and her doctors to make this life-or-death situation without government interference. Amnesty International also urges the Salvadoran government decriminalize abortion and assure that women and girls have access to abortion in any case where it is necessary to protect their health or in which the pregnancy is the result of rape.

This post is also available in Spanish.

Back in January, I wrote a blog entry asking you to write letters to Guatemalan authorities urging them to protect Rosa Franco, a mother who has faced numerous death threats during her 11-year struggle for justice in the murder of her daughter, Maria Isabel. In response to all of the letters she received from activists around the world, Guatemalan Vice President Roxana Baldetti made a public commitment to support the investigation of this case. She also pledged to take further action on the broader issue of the widespread violence against women in her nation.

Naturally, this is not the end of the story. We need to keep up the pressure so that Baldetti will turn her words into actions. But her acknowledgement of the seriousness of this case and gender-based violence in general are an important step forward—a step that came thanks to YOU!

You can read about other positive results from your actions in the report.

Relatives of victims of Guatemala’s civil war attend the trial against Rios Montt for genocide during his de facto 1982-83 regime (Photo Credit: Johan Ordonez/AFP/Getty Images).

Tuesday, March 19 marks the beginning of the trial of former Guatemalan dictator Efraín Rios Montt for the deaths of 1,771 individuals and the forced displacement of tens of thousands more from the Ixil triangle region of southern Quiché department.

It is important to remember that the crimes covered in this trial are only a fraction of the widespread, systematic human rights abuses that the Guatemalan military committed under Rios Montt’s brief reign in 1982 and 1983. The military massacred or disappeared tens of thousands of Guatemalan civilians in the months following the coup that brought Rios Montt to power. Furthermore, the Commission on Historical Clarification (CEH) blamed the Guatemalan government for acts of genocide because:

“Between 1981 and 1983, the Army identified groups of the Mayan population as the internal enemy, considering them to be an actual or potential support base for the guerrillas….the Army…defined a concept of internal enemy that went beyond guerrilla sympathizers, combatants or militants to include civilians from specific ethnic groups….the reiteration of destructive acts, directed systematically against groups of the Mayan population, within which can be mentioned the elimination of leaders and criminal acts against minors who could not possibly have been military targets, demonstrates that the only common denominator for all the victims was the fact that they belonged to a specific ethnic group and makes it evident that these acts were committed “with intent to destroy, in whole or in part” these groups.”

This trial offers hope to all the families of tens of thousands Guatemalans killed by Rios Montt’s forces.  They have waited 30 years, knowing that Rios Montt could die before ever facing justice – like Augusto Pinochet (Chile), Roberto D’Aubuisson (El Salvador), and Rene Emilio Ponce (El Salvador). Now, he is closer to joining Alberto Fujimori (Peru) and Jorge Rafael Videla (Argentina) on the growing list of convicted human rights abusers.

The timing of this trial also coincides with the International Day for the Right to the Truth Concerning Gross Human Rights Violations and for the Dignity of Victims on Sunday, March 24. Join us in celebrating this important step toward truth and justice at Amnesty’s Annual General Meeting (AGM)! And keep pressing for truth and justice around the world!

More than 10,000 Catholics gathered to commemorate the 30th anniversary of the assassination of of Archbishop Oscar Arnulfo Romero, a prominent human rights defender who was murdered during the Salvadorean civil war (Photo Credit: Jose Cabezas/AFP/Getty Images).

On Friday, March 22, Salvadoran torture survivor Carlos Mauricio will address the opening ceremony at Amnesty International’s Annual General Meeting (AGM) to commemorate four important anniversaries for El Salvador and the international human rights movement.

1. On March 15, 1993, the United Nations Truth Commission issued its report on human rights abuses committed during the civil war in El Salvador (1980-1991). Unlike many other truth commissions, this international body identified the names of those found responsible when it established that there was “overwhelming evidence.”
2. The Salvadoran government protected these individuals from prosecution and further investigation by quickly passing a second amnesty law on March 20, 1993. The 1992 amnesty law already protected anyone not named by the Truth Commission. Amnesty International has repeatedly called for these laws to be overturned, a position supported by several rulings by the Inter-American Human Rights Court.
3. These events occurred just before another important milestone for El Salvador, the anniversary of the assassination of Archbishop Romero, an outspoken human rights defender, on March 24, 1980. The Truth Commission Report identified death squad leader Roberto D’Aubuisson as the individual who ordered Romero’s death. The 1993 amnesty law protected D’Aubuisson for the rest of his life.
4. In recognition of the importance of Archbishop Romero’s role standing up for justice in El Salvador and as an inspiration for human rights defenders throughout the world, the United Nations declared that International Day for the Right to the Truth Concerning Gross Human Rights Violations and for the Dignity of Victims would be held on anniversary of his death, starting on March 24, 2011.

The 1992 and 1993 amnesty laws have served to continue the impunity that has plagued El Salvador. Amnesty International issued a statement on the 20th anniversary of the Truth Commission Report, demonstrating the consequences of this impunity for those survivors who continue to seek truth and justice. The statement by Washington Office on Latin America (WOLA) on the anniversary of the report contains an excellent analysis of the structural damage caused by the amnesty laws, with particular evidence on how they have led to police corruption, the militarization of public security, and extremely high levels of violent crime.

I hope that you will join us at the AGM in Tysons Corners to commemorate these important dates and to demand both truth and justice.

On March 8, two men on motorcycles cut off Carlos Hernández’s pickup truck fired eight 9mm bullets at him, killing him. Hernández was a member of several community organizations and labor groups, including:

• The Camotán Peasant Farmers Association
• The New Day Peasant Farmer Coordination
• The Coordination of Popular, Indigenous, Church, Trade Union and Peasant Organizations of the East (COPISCO)
• The National Front for the Struggle (FNL)
• The Executive Committee of the Guatemalan National Trade Union of Health Workers (SNTSG)

You may recall the SNTSG from a blog I wrote in December, about four Central American cases in Amnesty’s Transforming Pain into Hope report about Human Rights Defenders in the Americas. One of the cases featured in that report was that of Luis Ovidio Ortíz Cajas, the Public Relations Secretary of the Executive Committee of the SNTSG. An unknown assailant killed Ortíz Cajas and three other men on March 24, 2012—a little less than one year before this latest killing.

Carlos Hernández had received a death threat by phone on February 21. Two members of the New Day Peasant Farmer Coordination, Omar Jerónimo and Damaso Aldana, also received threats and now fear that they will suffer the same fate as Hernández.

Amnesty International has issued an Urgent Action on this case calling on the Guatemalan government to:

• Thoroughly investigate the murder of .Carlos Hernández and punish those responsible.
• Protect all members of the New Day Peasant Farmer Coordination.
• Remember and recognize the right of union activists and other Human Rights Defenders to operate without fear of reprisals.

Please write to the Guatemalan authorities before Omar Jerónimo and Damaso Aldana become the next victims.

Anyone targeted by graffiti such as this would have cause for alarm. Unfortunately, the situation is much worse for Vindel because of the pattern of homophobic violence in his country. According to the International Gay and Lesbian Human Rights Commission (IGLHRC), at least 31 LGBT individuals were murdered in Honduras—a small country with a population roughly the same size as that of New York City—from June 2009 to January 2011.  A report by the Honduran government’s own Human Rights Commissioner found that at least 20 LGBT people were murdered in 2010 and 2011.

The individuals who threaten, rape, and murder members of the LGBT community in Honduras are confident that they will not be punished because they commit these acts of homophobic violence in a climate of impunity. The Honduran authorities have still not brought any charges, for example, in the 2009 murder of LGBT activist Walter Trochez. This climate of impunity is made even worse by the ongoing threats and attacks against journalists and other human rights defenders in Honduras.

Take action and tell the Honduran government that Patricio Vindel must not become the latest victim of homophobic violence in their country!

Unfortunately, violence against LGBT individuals and activists in not unique to Honduras. You can find out more about attacks on lesbian and gay human rights defenders in the Americas in Amnesty International’s Transforming Pain into Hope report (see pp. 42-44.)

Following his bloody overthrow of the democratically elected Allende Government in 1973, Pinochet murdered thousands of dissidents and outlawed opposition parties. Like many dictators, he legitimated his rule by holding a plebiscite on a “constitution” that gave him unchecked power in 1980. He was able to do so, of course, because the climate of fear and impunity guaranteed his victory.

Facing growing international pressure to step down, General Pinochet tried to pull this same trick again in 1988, by offering a pseudo-election in which Chileans could vote to either let Pinochet remain in office for another eight years or hold a presidential election the following year. Given that he was writing the rules again, how could human rights activists and other opposition groups possibly win? It seemed hopeless.

But it wasn’t! No!, an Oscar-nominated film, tells the story of the brave and creative Chileans who helped their fellow citizens stand up and say, “NO!” to repression. This movie opens in New York and Los Angeles on February 15. You can find a list of theatres and dates for other cities by clicking here.

We can all learn a lot from this story. Pinochet was voted out of office and he has since died while facing the increasing likelihood of prosecution for human rights abuses and corruption. But there are still dictators in this world, and we continue to need brave and creative activists to force them from power. Governments and private actors continue to threaten and attack human rights defenders throughout Latin America. Even in the established democracies of the United States and Europe, we must find new strategies to say “NO!” to torture, indefinite detention, and execution by drone.

There is further reason for hope. Just as I never believed that the 1988 plebiscite would force Pinochet from power, I never expected the Chilean soldiers who tortured and killed musician Victor Jara to be brought to justice. But that is happening!