At the request of the Comisión de los derechos humanos de Guatemala, the Permanent Peoples’ Tribunal held a session on Guatemala in Madrid from 27 to 31 January 1983, one year after General Efraín Ríos Montt’s coup d’état. The proceedings revealed the military regime’s shift towards authoritarianism, the suspension of constitutional rights, and the systematic violation of human rights. The testimonies and documentation gathered revealed the impact of the ‘tierra arrasada’ strategy and traced the historical origins of the repression back to the entrenched dynamics of political exclusion, racial discrimination, and military control that emerged after 1954.
Particular attention was paid to the situation of Indigenous peoples and women, and it was recognised that the destruction of villages, deportations and violence against civilians constituted elements of a strategy of annihilation that could be considered genocide
The session also examined the role of churches in protecting victims, the international dimension of the conflict — particularly the role of the United States in the region — and the relationship between peoples’ rights, resistance and peace. In this context, the Tribunal affirmed the legitimacy of resistance as an essential component of the struggle for the recognition of peoples’ rights, and of the peace process.
Requesting organisations: Comisión de los derechos humanos de Guatemala
Documentation: