Raising awareness
A lawyer from Guatemala stops in Charlottetown to advocate for Indigenous Maya-Achi people
Gloria Reyes saw the many human rights violations, massacres and mass graves during Guatemala’s 36-year armed conflict.
She heard the voices of Indigenous Maya-Achi women of Rabinal, many who suffered sexual violence at the hands of military controlled militias, something she came to consider a tactic of genocide.
For Reyes, the only recourse was to seek justice support for the survivors and ensure that something like this would never happen again.
“I became a lawyer, specifically to help women who do not have access to justice or who need help fighting for their human rights,” said Reyes in an all-Spanish interview with The Guardian on Tuesday morning.
Reyes, who spoke at UPEI’s SDU Main Buiding on Oct. 28 as a part of her speaking tour around the Maritimes, is origin- ally a teacher. However, human rights and women’s rights were always close to her heart, but she felt she could do more to help women as a lawyer.
“I originally (do) family law or cases around families, but it led me to cases around women, which I thought were really important because the justice system needs to recognize the violence and torture levelled at these women. They need to listen.”
A part of the Rabinal Legal Clinic, Reyes is speaking throughout the Maritimes about the case of 36 Maya-Achi women seeking justice for sexual violence committed at the height of the Guatemalan internal armed conflict. The speaking tour, organized by the Maritimes-Guatemala Breaking the Silence Network (BTS), also had Reyes speaking at events in Tatamagouche, Moncton, Fredericton, Antigonish and Halifax.
Seven former members of militarycontrolled militias called the civil defense patrols are accused of crimes against humanity, including sexual violence, torture, and illegal detention. Reyes said the cases of these women are especially important because these women should not be silent about violence perpetrated against them and the other women of their communities.
“It sets an example for other women, encouraging them to denounce violent acts,” she said.
The Maya-Achi women’s case, whic has spanned over 10 years, has faced many obstacles. For example, in June, the presiding judge, Claudette Dominguez, dismissed charges against the six accused men. However, the prosecution is appealing the decision.
On Sept. 9, Dominguez was removed from the case because of her “prejudicial questioning of victims and evidence of bias relating to her sister’s position in the military”.
Reyes says most Indigenous people in
Guatemala are vulnerable because they have no power.
“They don’t have access to things like education in their rural communities and are always vulnerable to this type of violence.”
Because of this, and a racist and misogynist military system, Maya-Achi communities encounter intense violence, which can take aim at the women of those communities specifically.
Reyes and the Rebinal Legal Clinic offer free legal help for these women, but she said bringing awareness to this issue and gaining support from outside the community will also help them gain the justice that they deserve.
BTS Maritimes co-ordinator Stacey Gomez said the organization has engaged with Guatemala since the 1980s, working with Guatemalan organizations like the Rabinal Legal Clinic to invite guests like Reyes to the Maritimes to shed light on human rights issues.
“There are similar issues playing out here in Canada, and although much is different there is much similarities, and it is important to be engaged in solidarity and make those connections to what is happening locally, globally,” said Gomez.
She said nine Canadians, including one person from P.E.I., will be heading to the Guatemala to meet with Guatemalan organizations, including the Rabinal Legal Clinic, in November.
With bringing attention to this issue, Gomez said she is calling on Maritimers and Canadians to throw their support behind these Maya-Achi women.
“With this speaking tour, BTS and people throughout the Maritimes join the 36 women in calling for justice in this case.”