The following results were accomplished in partnership with the exceptional people and organizations LWB Canada supports on a daily basis.
1. Former Guatemalan dictator José Efraín Ríos Montt was found guilty by a court in Guatemala for planning and implementing a genocidal policy against the Ixil people. This is the first time on a global scale that a national court has handed down a sentence to a former Head of State on grounds of genocide.
2. Five of the military men who perpetrated the Dos Erres massacre in Guatemala received sentences for committing crimes against humanity in the form of torture, rape, and murder on more than 200 non-combatant defenseless civilians. This was one of the most emblematic trials relating to the massacres committed during the genocide of the Ixil Maya people.
3. The Port-au-Prince Court of Appeal recognized there was serious evidence pointing to the participation of former Haitian dictator Jean-Claude Duvalier in crimes against humanity. The decision marks a pivotal moment in history, recognizing the application of international law in Haiti, including the concept of crimes against humanity and statute of limitations surrounding this category of crimes.
4. Nigerian national Amina Lawal was released after her death sentence by stoning for conceiving a child outside of wedlock was overturned, marking the end of death sentences or cruel corporal punishment according to Islamic law (Sharia) in northern Nigeria.
5. A Truth, Justice and Reconciliation Commission (TJRC) was established in Mali, becoming the main pillar in the peace process by enabling tens of thousands of victims of conflict to be heard and establish truth on crimes committed during the conflict, including sexual violence; and issue recommendations to put the country and region on the path to reconciliation and stabilization.
6. Women victims of conflict in Colombia and Mali have taken matters into their own hands thanks to programs that have helped them take back ownership of knowledge on what happened. They actively participate in the transitional justice process and contribute directly and tangibly to peacebuilding.
7. Reproductive health rights are now protected following a decision by the Inter-American Court of Human Rights on the issue of criminalization of abortion raised by the Manuela case in El Salvador. The landmark decision is a victory for the region in that it also establishes specific obligations for the protection of the lives of women affected by obstetric emergencies.
8. The Court of Appeal of Kayes in Mali affirmed the customary property rights of victims of descent-based slavery (whereby a person is considered a slave based on their ancestors’ status as slaves) over agricultural land they had been farming for their “masters”. The decision represents a key judicial reversal which will allow other victims to claim rights to their property.
9. Military personnel were convicted and the Guatemalan State was held responsible for the sexual exploitation of Mayan women at the Sepur Zarco military base, an historic step forward in the recognition of violence against women in the context of armed conflict and the exploitation of “comfort women” as war crimes.
10. Former chief of the Colombian security services Jorge Noguera was convicted for his links to paramilitary groups and his participation in their criminal activities, including the murder of a human rights defender – a case that contributes to dismantling a hidden network of organized collusion between part of the Colombian political class and the paramilitaries.
11. Through frontline outreach services, victims of the 2010 earthquake in Haiti – including victims of sexual violence in camps for internally displaced people – received access to legal representation and justice.
12. A specialized tribunal dealing with human trafficking was established in Guatemala. It has heard
hundreds of cases of human trafficking and sexual exploitation, improving access to justice for victims, and helping authorities fight these crimes more effectively and become a model internationally.
13. The concept of “transfeminicide” was recognized by the Inter- American Court of Human Rights (ICtHR), which declared the Honduran State responsible for the death of Vicky Hernández, a trans woman murdered during the coup in 2009. This is the first time that charges have been brought against a State by the ICtHR on grounds of transfeminicide.
14. After years of standstill, representatives of victims’ associations and the UN are finally liaising directly with each other about
the UN-caused cholera epidemic that killed tens of thousands and affected hundreds of thousands of people.
15. Investigations and court actions put an end to the scandal of “false positives”, a system whereby the Colombian State granted bonuses to members of law enforcement agencies for each “guerrilla fighter” supposedly “killed in combat”, when in fact the killings involved the extrajudicial execution of hundreds of vulnerable civilians with no connection to the armed conflict. The practice has been recognized as a crime against humanity.
16. A Honduran court sentenced the murderers of Berta Cáceres, a well-known defender of indigenous peoples’ rights and of the environment, who was killed for opposing extractive activities on the ancestral territories belonging to the Lenca people.
17. Colombia’s Council of State recognized the Anchicayá community’s right to compensation following a spill of toxic sediments into a river that is essential to the livelihoods of the community.
18. Alejandra, a girl who was gang-raped, and her mother Flor, obtained justice by securing the conviction of the perpetrators of the crime and by challenging the failures of the Honduran State to prosecute cases of sexual violence. The ruling set a precedent and will allow Alejandra to rebuild her life.
19. The Inter-American Court of Human Rights recognized the responsibility of the Guatemalan State regarding five massacres perpetrated by army officials and militia members of the Civil Self-Defense Patrols, who took the lives of more than 330 people in Rio Negro between 1980 and 1985.
20. The Canadian legal community mobilized and led a public campaign to repatriate Canadian citizen Omar Khadr, who was wrongfully detained and arbitrarily tried in Guantanamo as a minor, in violation of international and Canadian law.