The Association for Justice and Reconciliation addressed the United
Nations Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues in New York City today. We are honored to provide the exclusive English translation of the declaration. Read the Spanish version here.
Association for Justice and Reconciliation
Declaration to the United
Nations Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues, 12th Session
New
York, NY, May 22, 2013
Brothers and sisters of
the indigenous peoples of the world and members of the Permanent Forum:
We, as indigenous
peoples, stand on the threshold of a new era of shared struggle. In this
spirit, we come to ask that the Assembly recommends to the state of Guatemala
that justice for our people prevails and that a strong foundation be built to
construct new, more just, and harmonious relations for all.
On May 10, Guatemala
set an example for the world by being the first country to emit a sentence for
genocide against a former head of state in a national court. We, the plaintiffs and members of the
Association for Justice and Reconcilation, have seen this process as an
opportunity to recuperate the truth that has been denied to our families and to
Guatemalan society in general. It is an opportunity to confront the past and
address the root causes of the discrimination we suffer as indigenous peoples
in Guatemala today.
However, the sentence
has just been annuled by the highest court in the country. This takes place in
a context where business elites and groups linked to the military who carried
out the extermination rejected the sentence and sought to create terror by
encouraging social polarization and calling for society to deny the truth. What
happened this week in Guatemala is not coincidence, but part of a political
structure that denies us justice. We have spent 12 years preparing evidence and
arguments, dealing with all manner of obstacles. The moment we begin to move
forward, the legitimacy of judicial processes is questioned and we hear
officials threatening lawyers and judges. Despite all of this, our cause does
not end here.
Today, more than ever,
it is imperative we continue to demand justice and face the past to ensure acts
of genocide never again take place in Guatemala and the Guatemalan state
respects, protects and promotes the rights of indigenous peoples. As long as
this does not happen, the state will continue to deny our rights and facilitate
the dispossession of the lands and natural resources that are fundamental to
the material and spiritual life of indigenous peoples. Brothers and sisters: we
must stop the continuation of genocide in Guatemala.
Not
in Guatemala nor any other place in the world: Genocide, never again
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