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Association for the Integral Development of the Victims of Violence in the Verapaces, Maya Achi

ADIVIMA (Asociación para el Desarrollo Integral de las Víctimas de la Violencia en las Verapaces, Maya Achí) is directed by the mission to: seek solutions to social, economic, educational and political problems caused by the internal armed conflict of the 1980's that widows, orphans, survivors, and victims face; help ensure the carrying out of the Peace Accords signed by the Guatemalan government and the United Revolutionary National Guatemalans and the completion of reports by the Commission of Historical Clarification and REMHI (Recovery of Historical Memories); construct monuments in honor of the 49 massacres in different communities in Baja Verapaz; facilitate the process of reflection and healing; and empower the communities so that they can be influential in governmental and social affairs and in the solutions to their own needs. (From ADIVIMA’s website).

• Taking advantage of the political opening that occurred in Guatemala in the mid-1990s, ADIVIMA'S members filed requests for exhumations, pressed charges against war criminals, called demonstrations, and erected monuments in memory of the victims. Within months, ADIVIMA had attracted 800 members. (ADIVIMA- Getting Organized)

• As part of the drive to create a "collective memory," ADIVIMA has created a museum. Four of its members spent a month in Oaxaca, Mexico, learning how to organize a museum, catalogue items, and collect oral histories. The exhibition was displayed in the church for a month and is now awaiting a more permanent location. (Recovering the Memory-Exhumations)

• In 1999 Rights Action helped ADIVIMA to set up a legal clinic, known as the Bufete Juridico Popular. The Bufete staff lawyers help to file requests with the district court, press charges, file complaints about intimidation, or straighten out property disputes. (The Legal Remedy)

• Carlos Chen, an ADIVIMA leader, brought his campaign for reparations to the World Bank in the spring of 2000. (The Campaign Comes to Washington)

• ADIVIMA is also engaged in: forcing a review of the Chixoy resettlement plan and securing new farm land; building an income-generating carpentry workshop; giving hundreds of popular education courses in human rights; training courses to run local enterprises and and self-help organizations; pursuing legal causes against civil defense patrolers who participated in massacres. (Profile of a Campaign)

• In August 2007, ADIVIMA launched a scholarship program for girls to attend school from families that were affected and displaced by the Rio Negro massacres. While several organizations in the area offer scholarship programs, none are specifically designed to serve children of survivors of the massacres in the Rabinal area. ADIVIMA saw this as a chance to uniquely serve their constituent population by contributing to the education and development of the next generation of leaders

• Reports
  

The ADIVIMA website contains a collection of reports, newsletters and other publications put out by the organization.

• Photographs

ADIVIMA has posted a collection of photographs on their website.

• Video/Audio

There are several multimedia links on the ADIVIMA website. (Spanish) 

• AdvocacyNet

August 27, 2007
Guatemalan Massacre Survivors Struggle to Rebury Their Dead and Pursue Justice

January 25, 2005
World Bank Asked to Intervene Following Arrest of Guatemalan Community Leader

March/April 2003
Survivor Describes the 1982 Rio Negro Massacres in Guatemala

• Blogs

In 2008, AP sends Peace Fellow Heidi McKinnon to work with ADIVIMA.  Read Heidi's blog. 

An AP Peace Fellow, Abby Weil, voluteered with ADIVIMA during the summer of 2007.  Read Abby's blog.

AP sent Charles Wright to work with ADIVIMA in 2006.  Read Charles' blog.

AP sent Paula in 2005 to work with the organization.  Read Paula's blog.

In 2004, AP sent Carmen Morcos to work with ADIVIMA.  Read Carmen's blog.

In 2000, AP staffer Peter Lippman visited survivors of the Rio Negro massacres (1982) in the central highlands of Guatemala. Following the massacres, the survivors organized an extensive community-based network (ADIVIMA). By 2000, they were lobbying the World Bank - which had financed a major dam in the affected area - to provide reparations for survivors. Peter produced a series of On the Record, and illustrated pages for the AP website detailing the issue and ADIVIMA's work.



February 8, 2006
Guatemala: Politically motivated charges get in the way of justice for massacre survivors
Amnesty International

January 28, 2005
Detienen a Carlos Chen Osorio integrante de la comisión negociadora de las comunidades afectadas por la hidroeléctrica Chixoy
PaginaDigital.com

July/September 2003
Working for Human Rights in Guatemala
Peace Magazine

August 23, 2002
Journalists and anthropologist receive death threats
International Freedom of Expression Exchange

May 10, 2002
Guatemala: Fear for safety/ intimidation
Amnesty International

January 31, 2002
Exhumarán víctimas de masacre en Rabinal
Cimac



Outreach Partners

• Rights Action
• Campaign to Reform the World Bank

For more information about networking with ADIVIMA, email them.

• Website

ADIVIMA's website has sections about their mission, organization, history, the documents they have released, and photographs and other multimedia.  It is available in both English and Spanish.

• Connectivity

Subscribe to their email listserv / newsletter.

• Legal: Jesus Tecu Osorio, a founder of ADIVIMA, had been an eye witness to the March 13, 1982 massacre, and in 1993 he accused three former leaders of the Xococ civil defense patrol of participating in the killing.  Based on evidence from the exhumation and testimony from Jesus and other witnesses, the three accused men were sentenced to death. (The Legal Remedy)

• International Agencies: The Rio Negro campaign achieved a major breakthrough in 1996, when the World Bank committed itself to ensuring that the Rio Negro community received compensation. (The Sahomax Farm)

• International Agencies: On April 18, 2000 Carlos Chen met with a group of senior officials at the World Bank. This signified that the Chixoy dam-and the related Rio Negro massacres-were back on the Bank's agenda nine years after the Bank had closed its books on the project. This was a testament to the power of advocacy. Still, the World Bank refused to express anything other than sympathy. (The World Bank Responds)

Contact:
Av. 2-06 zona 2. Rabinal
Baja Verapaz
Guatemala
Tel: (502) 7938-8230
Fax: (502) 7938-8687
Email ADIVIMA

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