Fundacion Soros–Guatemala

The Fundación Soros–Guatemala carried out over 50 projects in 2006. The projects focused on efforts to promote relationships among citizens, civil society groups, and government to improve cooperation and participation in developing public policy; strengthen the rule of law and fair election procedures; support development of media that provide citizens with diverse information and promote critical thinking; and improve public accountability of the country’s justice and security institutions.

The following briefs describe some of the foundation’s activities and achievements in 2006.

Indigenous Women Gain Access to Political Power

A foundation program to increase women’s political participation helped indigenous women join local election boards and prepared nine women to stand as candidates in the 2007 municipal elections. Most program participants were leaders from indigenous women’s groups in politically marginalized rural areas that were hard hit by years of war. The program also provided managerial training for women who head local councils and have growing responsibilities for implementing and securing funding for community development projects.

Ethnic Youth Help Each Other Confront Adversity

Youth leaders, with support from the foundation, assisted young people from Guatemala’s multiple and often marginalized ethnic groups. Youth leaders from the Mam ethnic group living along the Mexican border organized activities and services to help young people in their communities deal with issues like violent crime, drugs, and HIV/AIDS. The project brings young people between the ages of 16 and 30 together in community centers where peer leaders help them resolve problems related to immigration, education, and discrimination. Peer leaders also act as trainers and representatives to help ethnic youth express their interests and needs to local officials and agencies.

Training Improves Crime-Scene Investigations

The foundation and international funders initiated training programs to improve Guatemala’s criminal-investigation procedures, which are currently marked by problems ranging from improper handling of evidence to investigators who examine crime victims’ retinas looking for images of the perpetrator. The foundation’s three-year project to improve forensic practices—a crucial component for pursuing justice after years of war and establishing public confidence in the police, civil authorities, and the rule of law—focuses on prosecutors, police officers, firefighters, journalists, and government agencies. The project will train investigators in advanced forensic techniques and increase the amount of physical evidence available for use in trials.

Group Takes Aim at High-Level Human Rights Violators

Civil society efforts to pursue justice and accountability for atrocities committed during Guatemala’s armed conflict focused on holding officials responsible for planning and implementing massacres. ADIVIMA, a local legal advocacy and victims’ rights group supported by the foundation, built upon its investigations of secret burial grounds by bringing cases against the military directly. The strategy pursues not only rank-and-file executioners, but also the officers and military planners who gave the orders for crimes against humanity such as extrajudicial killings, forced disappearances, and genocide.