Eulogia Lopez is a Maya Kaqchikel woman representing the Association for Justice and Reconciliation (AJR) in Guatemala. The AJR represents victims from the 20 rural communities who have charged the high military command of the regimes of Fernando Romeo Lucas García (1981-1982) and Efraín Ríos Montt (1982-1983) with genocide. The lawsuit against Ríos Montt, currently president of Congress in Guatemala, is Central America's first lawsuit to accuse a sitting politician of genocide.
Ms. Lopez is from the community of Santa Anita las Canoas, Chimaltenango, where on October 13, 1982, the Guatemalan army encircled the village and gathered more than 100 men for a meeting near the church. After separating young people, adults and elders into rows, 24 men from the group were taken inside the church, where they were chained, tied with ropes and tortured all the night, their screams heard throughout the village. The following morning, six men were taken from the group, tied to the barbwire fence of the church and executed in front of the community. The army threatened the community not to denounce these acts, and then proceeded to do the same to another six men. Ms. Lopez's husband was among the murdered. Following the executions, the soldiers looted and burned the homes in the village, and destroyed fruit trees and corn.
Ms. Lopez previously participated in activities coordinated by CONAVIGUA (The National Council of Widows of Guatemala) and GAM (the Mutual Support Group for family members of the disappeared) in her community.
In her presentation at the Law School, Ms. Lopez will talk about her testimony and the upcoming genocide trials.
This event is presented by the Network in Solidarity with the People of Guatemala (NISGUA) in conjunction with Los Niños de Nuestros Corazones (an organization for adoptive families with children from Latin America)and the Committee in Support of the Social Movement for Democracy in Guatemala (CAMSDEGUA), and co-sponsored by the UW Law School's Frank J. Remington Center.
Submitted by on October 14, 2002
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