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A decade has passed since the end of Guatemala’s devastating thirty-six year civil war. The Peace Accords that formally ended the war established a framework for ensuring the human rights of the country’s indigenous Mayan majority. However, ineffective public institutions, pervasive corruption and violence, and a culture of impunity for human rights abusers continue to prevent the implementation of the Accords.
Guatemalan human rights activists are pressing for the government to prosecute the military and paramilitary forces responsible for atrocities during the civil war as well as for continuing attacks against human rights defenders. They call for access to land for peasant farmers violently displaced during and after the war, and with no other means to provide for their families. Guatemalan rights defenders also insist on a justice system that protects the rights of vulnerable populations, such as women and indigenous people.
The Fund does not restrict its grant-making to particular human rights issues. But, in response to on-the-ground priorities, the Fund’s grant-making strategy for Guatemala is: 1) to promote the establishment of rule of law via a) supporting Guatemalan organizations that are pressing the government to hold human rights abusers accountable and b) supporting local efforts to increase access to justice for vulnerable populations such as women and indigenous peoples; and 2) to promote land rights for peasant farmers and indigenous peoples.
