Contact:
Ernie Schibli, Public Education Coordinator
Tel.: (514) 933-6797
Home: (514) 481-6544
Email: ernie@s-j-c.net
Guatemalan community psychologist Carlos Paredes to speak at Montreal event commemorating the 28-year anniversary of Panzós massacre.
Montreal- 17 May 2006 – The Social Justice Committee will next week host the conference Between Pain and Hope: Fighting for Dignity in Guatemala commemorating the 28-year anniversary of the Panzós massacre. Guatemalan community psychologist Carlos Paredes, project coordinator for ECAP (“Community studies and Psychosocial Action Group”) in the department of Alta Verapaz (which includes the municipality of Panzós), will discuss his experience working with victims and survivors of the infamous massacre, which occurred on the 29th of May 1978.
On this date, the Guatemalan military opened fire on a crowd of indigenous peasants who had staged a public demonstration in the hopes of resolving ongoing land distribution problems in the region. Approximately 60 people were killed and another 40 were wounded in this massacre, which ushered in a campaign of generalized repression and terror against indigenous groups at the hands of the Guatemalan army throughout the late 1970’s and early eighties.
Between Pain and Hope: Fighting for Dignity in Guatemala takes place at Concordia University Loyola Campus (7141 Sherbrooke West), room CC-310, next Tuesday, May 23rd at 7 p.m. Mr. Paredes’ presentation will be in Spanish with English translation, and is preceded by a 20 minute video documentary on the Panzós massacre entitled “Morir para ganar la vida” (“Dying to make a living”-in Spanish with French subtitles). For more information on this event, or to request an interview with Mr. Paredes, please contact the Social Justice Committee.
As co-organizer of Mr. Paredes’ Montreal visit (in collaboration with Projet Accompagnement Québec-Guatemala), the Social Justice Committee continues to raise public awareness on the Guatemalan people’s struggle against impunity and the ongoing situation of violence against human rights defenders in the country.