THE memorial, who we are

CONAVIGUA

National Coordinator of Widows of Guatemala

CONAVIGUA CAME UP IN THE MIDDLE OF PAIN AND SURVIVAL, AFTER THE FORCED DISAPPEARANCE AND DEATH OF HUSBANDS AND RELATIVES DURING THE INTERNAL ARMED CONFLICT.

In 1985, in three departments of Guatemala: Quiché, Totonicapán and Chimaltenango, widowed women who had lost their husbands, sons and daughters during the internal armed conflict began to coordinate. Their main objective was to strengthen the capacity and mobilization of women, mainly peasants and indigenous women, to defend life and demand the appearance of their loved ones alive. On September 12, 1988, after three days of meetings, the National Coordinator of Widows of Guatemala -CONAVIGUA- was created.

Since 2004, CONAVIGUA has promoted the creation of this Memorial in the former Military Detachment of Comalapa.

A group of ten women from CONAVIGUA from Comalapa, as part of their struggle to find their missing relatives during the bloodiest years of the Internal Armed Conflict, demanded that the State of Guatemala, through a complaint to the Public Prosecutor's Office, investigate the whereabouts of the people who could be buried clandestinely in the territory that, according to the testimony of hundreds of people from the town, had been occupied by the Military Detachment of Comalapa.

FAFG

GUATEMALA FORENSIC ANTHROPOLOGY FOUNDATION

Since 1997, THE FAFG ASSISTS families in the search and identification of their missing loved ones.

Between 2003 and 2005, the FAFG carried out exhumations on land in Palabor and Tazbalaj, a place that - according to the testimonies of CONAVIGUA and other people from the town - was occupied by the Comalapa Military Detachment, approximately between 1980 and 1996.

There, 53 graves with clandestine burials were found, most of them collective, containing 220 bones and other bone parts. The victims were buried there as a result of violent actions that included gags, strangulation, forceful blows, bullet holes, the use of barbed wire and other elements typical of the application of torture.

Until June By 2024, the Foundation had identified 86 of the 220 victims, handing them over to their loved ones, who were able to bury them with dignity and begin to close a long mourning.

As part of the work of caring for families and victims of the Internal Armed Conflict, the FAFG has contributed to the preservation of historical memory, documenting testimonies and life stories. Likewise, it supports and accompanies the CONAVIGUA initiative for the creation and development of the Memorial of the Victims of Forced Disappearance, Landscapes of Memory, in Comalapa.