Upcoming Events and Volunteer Opportunity with GHRC

It’s Spring in DC, and here at GHRC we are looking forward to a busy calender of events. This week we will be presenting at George Washington University, sending out our quarterly appeal and participating on a panel at the SOA Watch Days of Action.

Volunteer with GHRC! We will be sending out our Spring Appeal and we need your help. We will be putting together the mailing this Friday, April 13th from 10am to 3pm and could use some extra hands. Come for as much or as little time as you can. Coffee and snacks will be provided. Our office is located at 3321 12th St., NE, Washington, DC. We are only a few blocks from the Brookland/CUA metro station on the Red line. Please let us know if you can make it.

Upcoming Events 

 

GHRC Participating in the School of the Americas Watch Days of Action to Close the SOA

This April 14-17, SOA Watch will gather in Washington, DC for the Days of Action. Human rights activists from across the Americas continue to push for the closing of the School of the Americas (SOA/ renamed the Western Hemisphere Institute for Security Cooperation, WHINSEC) and for an end to U.S. militarization.

On Saturday, April 14, GHRC will be presenting on a panel on the War on Immigrants as part of a conference on ”International (In)Security.” 9am-5pm. Metropolitan Community Church, 474 Ridge St, NW, Washington, DC.

For more information and a full schedule of events, visit http://SOAW.org

GHRC to Brief Congress: Invite your Representative

Contact your Representative and ask to them to attend GHRC’s Congressional Briefing: Threats to Justice and a Return to Military Rule in Guatemala

 As Guatemala’s President, a general linked to genocide, comes to the end of his first month in office, the U.S. Congress is opening the door to lift the decades-old ban on U.S. funding to the Guatemalan army. President Pérez Molina has already sent the military to patrol Guatemala’s streets, and has appointed numerous military officials to top cabinet posts and key ministries.

Now is not the time to consider increased support and funding for the Guatemalan military!

To this end, GHRC is organizing a Congressional Briefing on Threats to Justice and the Return to Military Rule in Guatemala. Human Rights Lawyer, Jennifer Harbury will speak to members of Congress about threats to justice and updates in the case of her husband, Everardo Bámaca, who was captured, tortured and presumably executed by the Guatemalan military. She will be joined by Annie Bird co-Director of Rights Action and GHRC Director Kelsey Alford-Jones.

We need your help to tell members of Congress how important it is that they attend. Please contact your Representative today and ask them to attend Tuesday’s briefing!

GHRC Launches Fall Speaker’s Tour with Maria Choc

GHRC is proud to present our Fall 2011 Speaker’s Tour with Maria Cuc Choc, a Mayan activist and community leader from Guatemala. Maria and Kelsey Alford-Jones, director of GHRC, will be doing a series of exciting and informative events together in Washington, DC, Chicago, Iowa and the Twin Cities.  We will kick off the tour tomorrow night at American University before heading to the mid-west. This is an incredible opportunity to meet an inspiring member of Guatemala’s indigenous community and spread awareness about the current human rights situation in Guatemala.

Photo by: Rob Mercatante

We are bringing Q’eqchi Mayan community leader Maria Choc to the U.S. from Guatemala. Maria has been struggling for indigenous rights, land rights and women’s rights in her community – and regionally – for many years and will be speaking about these struggles in the current context of increasing violence and a new administration taking office. Maria comes from a family of community organizers and activists, and it has been their struggle and sacrifice which has served to strengthen her solidarity with communities. Her brother, Ramiro Choc, is one of Guatemala’s most high profile political prisoners. Director Kelsey Alford-Jones will be accompanying her to translate, give historical context, and talk about what we can do here in the US to educate ourselves and support human rights in Guatemala.

Check out a full schedule of events on our website.