Guatemala Police Archives Update #2

Here's another article, from the BBC, about the mildewy mass of National Police files recently discovered in Guatemala.

The records, dating back over 100 years, contain evidence of human rights violations committed by Guatemala's notorious security forces, particularly during the 36-year armed conflict.

It is hoped that these photos, videos and documents will help guide Guatemala towards attaining two highly-elusive goals: truth and justice.

Guatemala secret files uncovered
By Simon Watts
BBC News

Investigators in Guatemala have made a discovery that brings hope to tens of thousands of families still waiting for justice, nearly a decade after a brutal civil war.

They have found a huge archive of paperwork stored by the National Police - a force whose reputation for violence was so bad that it was disbanded as part of a peace settlement in 1996.

Officials say the archive contains 75 million pages of documents, as well as photographic and audio evidence.

Human rights groups want the discovery to kick-start government efforts to deal with the legacy of decades of state repression of left-wing guerrillas, which had a devastating effect on Guatemala's civilian population.

Of course, the discovery of the archives is just the first step on the road to obtaining justice for the victims....

Daniel Wilkinson, of the New-York based group Human Rights Watch, said the National Police papers would help complete the picture of how state repression worked.

"Guatemala now has documents that go into great detail about individual victims, about the operations that led to peoples' deaths," Mr Wilkinson said.

"So a lot of the holes in the history will be filled in."

Human Rights Watch says access to the documents will help relatives still waiting to bury their dead or to learn how loved ones died.

"There are tens of thousands of families in Guatemala living with the ongoing trauma of having relatives killed or disappeared," Mr Wilkinson said. "There may be information that's critical for those particular families to deal with their loss and suffering".

The most difficult challenge will be to use this new evidence for criminal prosecutions. Guatemala has a poor record of convicting human rights abusers because of a lack of political will and because the judicial system is easily pressured.

Read the entire article

Resources:

Guatemala Police Archives Post

Guatemala Police Archives Update

Human Rights Watch

Tags: Guatemala, Police, Archives, Violence, Justice