Guatemala currently faces a delicate political situation that could

Guatemala currently faces a delicate political situation that could trigger further human rights violations and complete impunity. THEREFORE: The undersigned organizations and individuals from around the world to the national and international public opinion declare: As known to world public opinion, over the past few weeks the first trial for GENOCIDE in the Americas has been taking place in Guatemala against former de facto president General José Efraín Ríos Montt and General Jose Mauricio Rodriguez, former chief of military intelligence (G‐2) during Rios Montt’s dictatorship. Both face charges of genocide and crimes against humanity. The prosecution accuses them of ordering and being responsible for 15 massacres carried out in the northwestern department of Quiche in Guatemala between 1982 and 1983, in which more than 1771 people were killed: men, women, children and the elderly, mostly Maya‐Ixil indigenous population. On Thursday, April 18, 2013, after more than a month of hearings, Judge Carol Patricia Flores of the Court of the First Instance High‐Risk A, annulled the genocide trial and declared the proceedings null and invalid, leaving the victims and witnesses in a state of vulnerability, as well as prolonging the situation of impunity and further undermining the rule of law and the justice system in Guatemala. Suspending the trial against former dictator Rios Montt and his former chief of intelligence Jose Mauricio Rodriguez is an illegal maneuver on the part of the defense and the most conservative sectors of Guatemalan society. If this aberrant resolution is confirmed, it will jeopardize in Guatemala the consolidation of the rule of law based on justice and democracy as the way to build a prosperous and peaceful nation. Therefore, we request the following: First: To the Constitutional Court, immediately confirm the continuation of the trail, annulling the decision emitted by Judge Carol Patricia Flores. Second: To the government of Guatemala, guarantee the respect of human rights and the lives of the witnesses and survivors of the massacres that have testified, as well as those of the members of the organizations of the prosecution. Third: To the Government of Guatemala and the institutions responsible for providing security to the people of Guatemala, the effective investigation, detention and prosecution of those responsible for political repression, harassment, persecution and murders of community leaders and human rights defenders in Guatemala. Seven leaders have been killed in recent months; several are in prison for their work against mining concessions and the extractive industry, and the reckless exploitation of the country’s natural resources, as is the case of Ruben Herrera in the department of Huehuetenango. Fourth: We express our deepest solidarity with the people of Guatemala at this crucial time faced by the Guatemalan justice system, and especially with the people, organizations and institutions involved in this historic trial that may be the beginning of the end of impunity in Guatemala. April 23, 2013 Asociación de Mujeres de Guatemala –AMG – España Association des Guatémaltéques du Québec Asociacion de Amistad con el Pueblo MAPUCHE ‐ Italia Asociación Guatemalteca Canadiense –ASOGUATE‐ Toronto Asociación Kultura Mapuche‐ Suecia Asociación Salvadoreña Canadiense, ASALCA, Toronto, Canadá Associazione di promozione sociale turismo Feltre – Marco Turra Presidente‐ Belluno, Italia Australia‐Cuba Friendship Society, WA Branch, Australia A.I.N.S. Onlus – Nicola Grignani, Italia Avanzada Bolivariana en Canadá Barrio Nuevo, Toronto, Canadá CASA latino‐américaine, Québec, Canadá CEDHPA, Italia Comisión Europea de Derechos Humanos y Pueblos Originarios – CEDHPA ‐ Suecia CHE Project, Hamilton, Canadá Circulo Terra Nuova di Ancona ‐ Italia Coalición “Todos por Guatemala”‐Canadá Colectiva de Mujeres Feministas de Izquierda‐ Guatemala Colectivo de Chilenxs, Suiza Colectivo Internacional Ojos para la Paz (Purificación González de la Blanca) España Comisión de Defensa de Libertades de Prensa y DDHH de la Asociación Brasileña de Prensa –‐Mario Augusto Jakobskind (Presidente) Rio de Janeiro, Brasil Comité Trabajadores Chilenos Exiliados, Toscana, Italia Comité de Solidaridad con Guatemala, London, Ontario Conseil central de Québec Chaudiére Appalaches (CSN) 250 sindicatos (40,000 miembros) Consejo de Juventudes Indigenas – Guatemala Consejo Nacional de Desplazados de Guatemala ‐ CONDEG Consensus Cross‐Cultural Communications and Multimedia, Ottawa, Canadá Consigliere comunale San Martino Siccomario (Pv)‐ Emanuele Chiodini ‐ Italia Coordinadora de Pueblos Originarios de El Salvador (CRPO) Dipartimento di Scienze Mediche Chirurgiche e Neuroscienze, Sezione Scienze Neurilogiche Universitá degli Studdi di Siena –Dott.Gianna Berti‐ Italia – Equipo de Comunicación de las Alcaldias Ixiles –Alessandra Vecchi Equipo Latinoamericano School of The Americas Watch Familiares de Ejecutados Políticos, Chile FENOCIN – Viviana Elizabeth Rojas Flores, Ecuador Fundación Emil Bustamante, México Fundacion Hijos del Maiz, España Guatemala Community Network, Toronto, Canadá Grupo Cultural Victor Jara, Toronto, Canadá Hijos‐Guatemala Hombres Contra la Violencia, El Salvador Il Sud Siamo Noi di Ravenna,‐Dr. Guiseppe Tadolini‐ Italia LACASA, London, Ontario L`associazzione Stelle Cadenti, Artisti per la Pace –Nicoletta Crocella‐ Italia Latin American Trade Unionists Coalition (LATUC‐National) Canadá Latin American Trade Unionists Coalition (LATUC‐Ontario) Canadá Latin American Researchers of Ontario (LARO) Coordinating Committee 2012‐2013, Canadá Libres del Sur la Plata, Argentina –Nemesio Amaro San Román Lisangá Culture in Movimiento – María Teresa Messidoro‐ Italia Movimiento Indígena Abya‐Yala, Toronto, Canadá Mujer Palabra ‐ Michelle Renyé ‐ España Observatorio Por La Paz, Capannori, Italia Observadores de la Escuela de las Américas – Chile Ojos para la Paz, (Berta Igoa Fornés) Valencia, España Ojos para la Paz, Sergio Lambertucci, Argentina Ontario Federation of Labour –OFL‐ Canadá (54 sindicatos y un millón de miembros) Organization québécoise de solidarité internationale pour les droits humains (OQSIDH) People for Peace – London, ON Canadá Organizacion IU‐CA – Maria Jose Villaverde, España Programas “Leña al fuego” y “Aguantando de Pie” – Herman Schiller – Buenos Aires, Argentina Radio Region XIV Gotemburgo‐ Asociada a Red Radios Naciones Unidas ‐, Suecia Red Latinoamericana y del Caribe de Solidaridad, Toronto, Canadá Rompiendo el Silencio – Fredericton NB, Canada Rompiendo Muros, Marta Speroni, Argentina Servicio Paz y Justicia en América Latina –SERPAJ‐ Colombia (Blas Garcia Noriega) Servicio Paz y Justicia Paraguay –SERPAJPY – (Lilian Alfonso y Ramón Corvalan) Sociéte Culturelle Uashteu, Quebec, Canadá Sunday Poetry, Toronto, Canadá SUR Societá Umane Rsistenti, Italia Tzijolaj – Ottawa, Canadá Waterloo Region Mayan Project, Canadá X‐Comulgados – Guatemala Winston Orrillo, Premio Nacional de Cultura del Perú Dr. Martín Almada, Paraguay, Premio Nobel Alternativo de la Paz 2002 Saúl Pérez – Presbitero Kaqchikel de Chimaltenango de la Iglesia Evangélica Nacional Presbiterana de Guatemala Alejandra Rabinovich, Militante, trovadora en Canto de Todos, Argentina Jorge Arriaga Rodríguez ‐ Guatemala Verónica Ramos, Estocolmo, Suecia Reina del Carmen Lopez Karla Maldonado –Argentina Luis Carlos Maldonado – Guatemala Aldo Zanchetta ‐ Italia Diana Cameros – Guatemala Jordi Muñoz, España Nelton Rivera ‐ Guatemala Verónica Ramos ‐ Chile Alejandro Jusim, trovador en Canto de Todos, Argentina Rosina Valcárcel, Escritora, Antropóloga, Lima, Perú Franco Casagrande, Italia Paula Ferré, trovadora en Canto de Todos, Argentina Carmen Reina – Guatemala Carlo Dore, Italia Alejandro López – Chile Kazia Paola Orantes Salazar ‐ Guatemala Fernando Flores – Chile Luca Saltalamacchia – Italia Isabel Valenzuela – Chile Carlo Nobilj – Antropólogo Museo Nacional Etnográfico Luigi Pigorini, Roma Italia Raúl Rovida – Filólogo, Candidato a Magister en Socio‐linguistica de al U.N., Colombia Olga Domené – Venezuela Aldo Zanchetta, Italia María Asunción Martin Ripoll, España Betzabé Alonso – Guatemala Julio Estévez Illescas – Argentina Alessandra Veci, Italia Mariajose España – Guatemala Manuel Ortega Guerrero, Sevilla, España Adriana Goñi Godoy, Antropóloga, Chile María Laura Ramognino, Argentina JuanjoMiera Dirube, España Máximo Arnoldo Curruchich Cúmez – Guatemala RicardoGayol Rodriguez, España Diana Avila Paulette – Periodista, Perú Nicoletta Manuzzato, Periodista, Milano, Italia Rosario Vargas Rosa, España Tulio Quaianni, Médico, Milano, Italia Dr. Geral Rowe (Cientifico) Montreal, Canadá Licda. Brisna Caxaj‐Rowe (Pedagoga) Montreal, Canadá Antonio Casarini, Italia Lola Garcia Sousa, Sevilla, España Vivian Seguin, Ottawa, Canadá Laura Avalos, Ottawa, Canadá Berta Lopez Parrondo, España Nicanor Roldan Quintana, España Ana Maria Fernanadez, Benidorm, España Alba Patricia Hernández, Historiadora, México