The Rigoberta Menchu Tum Foundation
Women Nobel Peace Laureates Congratulate Three New Women Laureates
The women Peace Laureates of the Nobel Women’s Initiative—Jody Williams (USA), Shirin Ebadi (Iran), Mairead Maguire (Ireland) and Rigoberta Menchú Tum (Guatemala)—today sent letters of congratulations to the three women who today were jointly awarded the Nobel Peace Prize: Liberian President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, Liberian activist Leymah Gbowee and Yemini opposition leader Tawakkul Karman.
“Your victory today is a victory for all women around the world struggling for peace, justice and equality,” said Jody Williams, who won the Nobel Peace prize in 1997 for her work to ban landmines. “We are inspired by your example of nonviolent action in the face of brutal violence, discrimination and injustice. You remind us that with women’s bold action, there is hope for a better world.”
With today’s announcement, there are now nine living women Nobel Peace Laureates in the world, and 15 since the creation of the prize. Wangari Maathai, winner of the Nobel Peace prize in 2004 for her work on environment and democracy, died late last month. Sirleaf and Gbowee are the second and third African women to have received the Nobel Peace prize.
In awarding the prize, the Nobel Committee recognized the contribution of Sirlief, Gbowee and Karman in the “non-violent struggle for the safety of women and for women’s rights to full participation in peace-building work.” Sirleaf and Gbowee won for their visionary contributions to women’s equality and peace in Liberia, a country that was devastated by 14 years of civil war. Karman was honored for her brave campaign to challenge the repressive rule of the Yemini President Ali Abdullah Saleh.
Karman joins Shirin Ebadi, who won the Nobel Peace prize in 2003 for her work to bring equal rights to women in Iran, as the second Muslim woman to win the Nobel Peace prize.
“As a Muslim woman, I am well aware of the difficult and severe conditions of your work and struggle,” said Ebadi in her letter today to Karman. Karman receives frequent death threats, and was thrown in jail last January. “I admire your tremendous work and courage. This victory will certainly inspire and reassure the million of Muslim women who suffer from discrimination and who fight for equality of rights between men and women—and also sends a message to countries going through the Arab Spring that true democracy will only be achieved if women also receive equal rights.”
Our satisfaction with decision in the case of Dos Erres
Today, Tuesday August 2, 2011, four former kiabiles (specialized elite
military in the fight against insurgency) were sentenced to six thousand
years in prison in a legal process started 12 years ago and 29 years
after the slaughter.
Rigoberta Menchu Tum Foundation expressed its satisfaction with this
historic decision of the Guatemalan justice system, which unveils the
practice of extermination and genocide suffered by hundreds of
communities identified by the army as social bases of insurgent groups.
Although this is the first step in seeking justice, further steps are
lacking such as prosecuting the masterminds.
We congratulate FAMDEGUA for their tireless fight for justice, the
surviving victims who overcame fear and all persons and organizations
that accompanied this process.
We urge the justice system to take up other cases of crimes against
humanity committed during the internal armed conflict that are still
detained, in order to further strengthen the confidence that finding
justice is possible.
While the suffering of victims and their families can not be
compensated, it is essential for national reconciliation, reparation and
dignity, that full justice is realized in these cases with the
conviction of the perpetrators and masterminds of the crimes committed
against the Guatemalan people.
Guatemala, August 5, 2011
More about: Dos Erres, slaughter, Guatemala, Rigoberta Menchu
Foundation, the fight against impunity
Imagine a serial killer who rapes and tortures women and girls before murdering them, then leaves their dismembered bodies in public places-and the police do nothing.
Imagine that there's not one serial killer, but many, and the terror has been going on for more than a decade.
That's Guatemala. So far, nearly 5,000 women and girls are dead. MADRE is determined to stop these atrocities.
*Can we count on you to help?* https://org2.democracyinaction.org/o/5095/shop/custom.jsp?donate_page_KEY=3913
These murders bear the hallmarks of violence that US-backed fighters used against women during the 1980s. Nearly a million Guatemalan men were trained to brutalize women during that civil war http://www.madre.org/index/meet-madre-1/where-we-work-53/guatemala-167.html. The terror lives on because these men-absorbed into criminal networks and even into the police-were never brought to justice or rehabilitated.
Today, the murder rate in Guatemala is higher than it was for much of the civil war-and there is almost total impunity because of corruption.
*It's going to take all of us working together to fight a danger so entrenched, so pervasive and so evil. Can we count on your support?*
The women of our sister organization, the Barcenas Women Workers' Committee, face this threat every day. When I recently visited them, I heard mothers say that they are afraid to send their daughters to school for fear that they will never see them alive again. That's what happened to Betty Gonzalez, who still counts the days since her teenaged daughter, Rosemary, was murdered two years ago.
Betty has struggled to seek justice, but so far, the police have barely investigated, and court cases have gone nowhere. Betty dreams of the day when she will find justice for Rosemary's killing.
When I asked Betty and the other women what they need most, they shared their vision of an urgent care center for women. This sanctuary will provide first aid, counseling, violence prevention and legal services. Your gift http://org2.democracyinaction.org/o/5095/shop/custom.jsp?donate_page_KEY=3913 can make this possible.* "
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Your gift today will give women and families a chance to be heard in court. More legal counselors are needed to handle the stream of anguished families pursuing justice, and your support will help us make legal aid services available.
We're starting with Rosemary's case, and we will make sure the eyes of the world are trained on that courtroom, through media campaigns and outreach to our supporters.
With your help, until this fight for justice is won, we'll give women the strength to go on.