Support the Survivors of Mayan Genocide; USAID funding gone

UPDATE!

The New York Times Magazine has just published a photoessay of the Achi women who brought their rape-as-a-weapon-of-war case to court and won convictions against the perpetrators.

It will be on the cover Sunday 23 August, but has been released digitally https://shorturl.at/khvbE

The women are represented by the Peoples Law Firm (Asociación Bufete Jurídico Popular -ABJP) The ABJP's funding vanished abruptly when USAID was shut down.

This fundraising campaign began on behalf of another group of ABJP's clients, the Achi-Maya hamlet of Los Encuentros, village of Rio Negro, in Rabinal, Baja Verapaz, Guatemala. The people of Los Encuentros are seeking support to construct a memorial to remember loved-ones who perished during the Guatemalan genocide.

We are hopeful that we will exceed our goal. Once our goal for a memorial has been reached, any additional funds will go to support the ABJP staff who continue to advocate for reparations from the Guatemalan government on behalf of the truly valiant women who fought and won the historic wartime rape case covered in the NYTimes Magazine photo essay. The ABJP staff continue their work without compensation.

About Los Encuentros

Along with complainants from other indigenous communities, Los Encuentros is represented in another historic criminal case against 14 high-level ex-military officers who have been indicted for crimes against humanity for running Latin America's largest detainment center to detain, torture, kill, and bury "the disappeared."

The Achi-Maya of Los Encuentros want to construct a permanent memorial to preserve historical memory, to remember the victims, and their own struggle for justice.

My name is Kathy Dill. I am an anthropologist. Thirty years ago, when I was conducting fieldwork with local Achi-Maya human rights defenders in Rabinal, Baja Verapaz, Guatemala, I met Jesus Tecú Osorio, the founder and director of The People's Law Firm (Asociación Bufete Jurídico de Rabinal - ABJP - abjprabinal.org).

The ABJP's success in national and international courts delivers justice to families and supports the protection of human, indigenous, and women's rights.

Any small donation to help the survivors of Los Encuentros and the ongoing struggle for justice for the Achi women, would be tremendously appreciated.

Thank you!

Muchas gracias!

Maltiox!