Guatemala Human Rights Commission/USA

April 23-May 9: Speaking Tour with Iduvina Hernandez

Schedule of Events

Militarization, Human Rights and Threats to Justice in Guatemala 

Since the election of former General Otto Pérez Molina to the presidency in Guatemala, the country has seen disturbing trends toward re-militarization and repression of social movements. Iduvina Hernández, a Guatemalan journalist and human rights defender, will discuss the impact of powerful retired military officers implicated in crimes against humanity on national security policy as well as the recent moves to criminalize indigenous activists defending their right to their ancestral lands. 

Iduvina Hernández 

Iduvina Hernández Batres is an activist and human rights defender who has tirelessly fought for human rights and justice in her native Guatemala. She was born in Guatemala City, where she received an education which emphasized a spirit of service to humanity. That culture, and examples within her family, led to her decision to work for a change in Guatemala.  In the late 1970’s Iduvina was actively involved in student movement at the University of San Carlos, where she was studying Psychology, at a time of extreme violence and repression toward that group. In 1984, she was forced into exile in Mexico after the death of her colleague.  In Mexico, she worked as a journalist, a career she continued when she returned to Guatemala. Iduvina also studied Professionalism in Journalism at the Central American Journalism Program at Florida International University.  

After the signing of the Peace Accords in Guatemala in 1996, Iduvina worked on a project of conflict transformation. Then, in 1999 she began to work with the Myrna Mack Foundation and with the Commission on Historical Clarification. She is currently the Director of the Association for the Study and Promotion of Security in Democracy, a non-governmental organization that works to improve security, reduce impunity, and improve the democratic process in Guatemala.   She has extensively studied the reform of the Guatemalan intelligence services, which were responsible for many human rights abuses during the civil war. She is also a frequent contributor to the online news agency Plaza Publica.  Iduvina has received threats of violence due to the nature of her work, but continues to advocate for accountability and justice in her country.

 

Still to come:

California

May 1, 12:15 pm
University of San Diego
Location: University of San Diego, Joan B. Kroc Institute for Peace and Justice Room H/I

May 1, 7:30 pm
Neighborhood Congregational Church in Laguna Beach, CA
Location: 340 St. Ann's Drive, Laguna Beach, CA 92651

May 2, 6:30 pm
University of California – Santa Barbara
Location: University of California, Santa Barbara South Hall Rome 1623

May 4, 11 am
University of California – Los Angeles
Location: University of California - Los Angeles, Charles E. Young Research Library, Room 4/5

May 4, 6:30 pm
SEIU Local 721
Location: SEIU Local 721, 1545 Wilshire Blvd., Los Angeles

Washington, DC

May 8, 5:30pm
Panel Discussion after screening of "The Echo of Pain of the Many"
The Elliot School of International Affairs, Lidner Family Commons
1957 E Street, NW, Washington, DC

May 9, 12 pm
Society for International Development
Location: The QED Group, LLC, 1250 Eye Street, NW, Suite 1100, Washington, D.C.

 

 

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