Presentation: Human Rights Litigation in Guatemala

In April and May 2017, Paulina Hernandez ‘09 and Alicia LeDuc ‘09 interviewed plaintiffs, attorneys, and members of the Alliance to Break the Silence and Impunity involved in litigating the precedent-setting 2016 Sepur Zarco case in Guatemala, in support of research for a forthcoming law review article about the case. The case marked the first time a national court prosecuted sexual slavery as a crime against humanity, and was the first instance of Guatemalan courts prosecuting sexual violence relating to the country’s Internal Armed Conflict period.  During the 1980s, members of the Guatemalan military “disappeared” a group of men and forced their surviving widows into domestic and sexual slavery at the Sepur Zarco military base.

This presentation by Paulina Hernandez provides an overview of the case history, details on the Alliance members and their comprehensive impact litigation strategy, a discussion of evidentiary and procedural aspects of the case, and a short comparison of the U.S. and Guatemalan court systems. Overall, the program evaluates the Sepur Zarco case as a potential model for small or low-capacity entities to create strategic alliances in order to successfully prosecute human rights cases to effect policy change.