The ICJ convened two workshops in Guatemala City from 11 to 13 February for more than 30 lawyers and more than 30 representatives of victims’ organizations on the international law and standards that apply to the investigation of unlawful death and enforced disappearances.
The workshops were conducted as part of the project under the ICJ’s Global Accountability Initiative entitled, Promoting justice for extrajudicial killings and enforced disappearances in Colombia, Guatemala and Peru, and supported by the EU European Instrument for Democracy and Human Rights (EIDHR). The project promotes accountability of perpetrators and access to effective remedies and reparation for victims and their families in cases of extrajudicial killings and enforced disappearances.
The workshop for lawyers was inaugurated by the President of the Board of Lawyers of Guatemala, Ovidio Orellana. The workshop with representatives of victims organizations was inaugurated by the Chief of Cooperation of the European Union Alberto Cortezón.
Participants in the workshops emphasized that the Guatemalan public authorities must respect and effectively impolement the the revised Minnesota Protocol on the Investigation of Potentially Unlawful Death, and that there was a need to reinforce advocacy strategies for the respect of the Protocol by the Guatemalan Human Rights Institutions.
The Presidential Commission on Human Rights (COPREDEH) and the Ombudsman´s Office participated during the workshop with victims’ organizations. They committed themselves to take the necessary actions to incorporate into their work the principles and content of the Minnesota Protocol, as a complementary tool to other conventions and binding law.
Contacts:
Ramón Cadena, Regional Director of ICJ’s Central America Office, email: [email protected]
Kingsley Abbott, Senior Legal Adviser & Coordinator of the ICJ’s Global Accountability Initiative, email: [email protected]
Carolina Villadiego Burbano, ICJ Legal and Policy Adviser, Latin America, and Regional Coordinator of the Project, email: [email protected]