Group items tagged

In an effort to tie the three bookmarked articles together, this piece also discusses relevant material to Nelson's "Reckoning" alongside the movie, "When the Mountains Tremble". This article too discuses the idea and reality of Femicide or the genocide against women in Guatemala that still occurs to date. While the other readings set up an outline of what acts occur against women and the lack of influence police powers have, this article flashes numbers at the reader as a shock value to paint a picture of the immense number of women who have experienced brutality. While the other articles have mentioned the extent to which corruption influences the lack of punishment, this author seeks punishment in a different way. While doing research in Guatemala, he took victims who have been harmed themselves or have lost close ones to the war to the mountains to confront the militia men as a form of satisfaction or justice since the impunity rate is 97% in Guatemala. He explained that the gratitude of victims explaining their feelings to murderers would be far more reaching than formal punishment from the criminal justice system ever could be.

This is an article from the NY Times that discusses the controversy surrounding the Supreme Court of Argentina's decision to decriminalize the private consumption of illicit drugs.

In August, the Supreme Court of Argentina decriminalized the private use of illicit drugs. Such inquiries as to whether to accept drug use, help those who are addicted, or maintain the prohibition have arisen internationally at an increased rate recently. The Argentine administration felt that the war on drugs has not succeeded as predicted and it should focus on "treatment (more than) punishment."

Although the previously bookmarked article seeks to establish an outline of the human or women rights violations that occur within Guatemala, here, author Karim Velasco, sheds light upon newly distinguished laws and explains despite their hopeful goals, why they have ceased to work effectively. She argues that because of the "lack of effective investigation and prevention strategies of the Guatemalan authorities", women continue to be raped, tortured, and murdered at an increasing rate. Because of pressures from the European Parliament to abide by human rights laws, "on April 9, 2008, Guatemalan Congressed passed the 'Law Against Femicide and other Forms of Violence against Women Act' to severely punish any kind of gender-based violence..." However, because the violence stems from the power inequality between men and women in the first place, there is little belief or evidence that this Act will be implemented or strongly enforced by the men in power who seek to represent masculinity or display a constant idea of machismo.

This webpage, although short and succinct has a lot to offer about the basic principles of Human Rights in Latin America. Many of the links at the bottom of the page are also valuable in shaping our understanding of the peoples' rights throughout different countries. The United States grants freedom to the people and allows its citizens many rights and privileges that other countries do not. This website is especially interesting because it discusses the different levels of crime and punishment for each Latin American country.

An audio clip of a woman telling her story of her illegal abortion and the repercussions it had on her body and her presence within her society. Again, we see the struggle between the religion of Mexico and the push for women's rights.

This article discusses the recent visit to Venezuela from the leader of Libya Moammar Gadhafi to meet with President Chavez. While there the two signed a declaration claiming no one will be punished for fighting for their freedom with "self-determination" as terrorists. The hope is that the document will limit influence of Western Nations such as the United States and Britain from interfering in global affairs.

Guatemalan authorities work towards moving Guatemala away from its dark past. They want to ensure that people who are found guilty of having anything to do with the persecution of many indigenous people during the civil war are punished in some way.

The article entitled "Guatemala's 'Femicide' Crisis" seeks to explain the implications of the unnecessary and brutal mass killings occurring amongst women in Guatemala mostly by male gangs. Because the killings have exceeded such an unusual extent, it has been deemed a "Femicide", otherwise known as a "Gendercide" or a genocide directed mainly against females. The ages of girls or women discussed in this article being raped, beaten, and murdered range from three year old toddlers to middle aged women. Not only do gangs of men perform these acts for no reason other to establish masculinity within their affinity groups. Moreover, the law enforcement agencies are so corrupt that it was said, "justice imposed by the state is non-existent" and "only two per cent of crimes against women are solved." This article seeks to establish the problem that is still going on even after the forty-year civil war while other chosen articles are determined to look for solutions.

In 2005, 665 women were killed in Guatemala. The crimes are rarely investigated and not one has been solved. This article is gives first-hand accounts of the atrocious crimes committed. Because of the lack of investigation and corrupt police force, nothing is ever done to bring justice to the women and their families. Including the murders during 36 years of civil war, there have been three generations of killers who have murdered without punishment. The president of Guatemala, Oscar Berger, insists that he is optimistic of change in the form of better police forces. In truth, "the killings will not sop unless the justice system works".