We recently received a communication from Guatemala that contained a letter from Jennifer Harbury outlining the latest facts on the case of her late husband Efraín Bámaca and his assassination by the Guatemalan military.
As you may know, this case has been before the Inter-American Court of Human Rights (CIDH) who were scathing about the Guatemalan judiciary in regard to the case.
For some background on the story you can read here and here.
We received the letter in Spanish and translated into English and any errors in the translation are ours.
The letter refers to the Guatemalan judicial process which is very complicated from our perspective in the UK. It is still worth reading.
You can read it here, in English, and here, in Spanish.
Right on the deadline given by the Interamerican Commission of Human Rights (CIDH, in Spanish) for compliance, the Guatemalan government has responded positively to their request that mining activities at the Marlin mine be suspended.
The Interamerican Commission on Human Rights recently concluded a visit to Guatemala. As one of the American bodies charged with oversight of the respect for human rights it periodically visits member states. These visits are part of its monitoring role, and form part of the input into its reports. The delegation's primary points of interest were the progress of cases against former high command in the civil war for human rights abuses, indigenous people and the safety of human rights defenders.
