MR. BENJAMÍN MANUEL JERÓNIMO FROM GUATEMALA RECEIVES THE EDELSTAM PRIZE FOR HIS PURSUIT OF JUSTICE IN GUATEMALA

The Edelstam Prize 2014 is awarded to Mr Benjamín Manuel Jerónimo for outstanding contributions and exceptional courage in standing up for one’s beliefs in the Defence of Human Rights, and the prize will be awarded during a ceremony at the House of Nobility in Stockholm, Sweden, on November 11^th 2014.

Mr Benjamín Manuel Jerónimo has tirelessly worked for collecting testimonies from the victims of massacre in Plan de Sanchez where 256 persons from the Achí community were brutally murdered, being himself a survivor of the massacre, in which most of his family perished. Afterwards, he has worked pursuing justice for this massacre and other cases of egregious abuses of human rights during the long-term armed conflict in Guatemala between 1960 and 1996. He was filing the claim on behalf of the victims of the Ixil community as a representative of the organization “Association of Justice and Reconciliation” (AJR) that defends all the Mayan more than twenty different communities, in his capacity of complementary prosecutor in the genocide-case against former General and Dictator, Efraín Rios Montt.

“We should not contemplate passively the denial of justice for victims in Guatemala or elsewhere. On the contrary, many conventions establish specific obligations to provide support for these individual efforts. As matter of a fact, there ought to be international criminal courts established to enforce the law in cases of this nature. We cannot leave alone these courageous individuals facing enormous risks. We have legal obligations to the victims, but most importantly, acting is our moral duty. Impunity is not an option,” says Caroline Edelstam, Chair of the Edelstam Prize Jury and co-founder of the Edelstam Foundation.

Motivation

The Edelstam Prize Jury’s motivation to give Mr Benjamin Manuel Jerónimo the Edelstam Prize is:  “Benjamín Manuel Jerónimo is a Mayan from Guatemala. Mayan communities, in spite of being the majority of the population, have been exploited, discriminated, and victimized in their own homeland for centuries. The worst period came between 1960 and 1996: egregious abuses of human rights were perpetrated in Guatemala during the internal armed conflict. According to the CEH (UN backed Truth Commission) 200,000 civilians were murdered and 50,000 forcefully disappeared. Most of them, 83%, were defenceless indigenous Mayans, being 93% of the abuses caused by the State. After the signature of the Peace Agreements, nobody was made accountable for these heinous crimes.

Benjamín considered that those responsible for the crimes should be brought to justice. It was not an easy task, since the discrimination, threats, retaliations and violence persist in Guatemala, and the rates of violent deaths double today those of the war. Benjamín represents the voice of the victims; courageous and tirelessly has worked for decades, in defence of human rights, truth and justice for the indigenous communities in his country, despite repeated threats against his life. His endeavour and commitment are an example and remember every day to the international community than most of the perpetrators in Guatemala remain unpunished.

Through for working the Association for Justice and Reconciliation (AJR), Benjamín has managed, overcoming the fear and breaking the silence, to organize the victims and collect their testimonies, playing an essential role in making finally possible the trial against the dictator Efraín Rios Montt, first time in history a former head of state has been made accountable in his own country for the crime of genocide.”

“Justice is essential for us, because we are all equal, have the same rights, we are all human beings and we deserve our right to life and welfare to be granted. For this we have given our efforts and leading this initiative, we were almost forced to abandon our families. We are only pursuing justice to ensure that these crimes will never happen again. We believe our loved ones who were massacred are not yet resting but we have to do something for them as they express to us in our dreams. To expose what they suffered and claim for justice, and maybe they would then feel a little bit more happy,” says Benjamín Manuel Jerónimo, the Edelstam Prize Laureate 2014.

With this Prize, the Edelstam Foundation would like to call the attention of the media and the public opinion about the fact that we need the extraordinary courage of individuals like Benjamín, or other victims, activists, lawyers and a few judges and prosecutors, who risking their own lives are making possible that perpetrators of terrible abuses face trial and be made accountable before Courts of Justice. In countries like Guatemala, in which the institutions of the security and justice system are extremely weak if not hostile to this effort, it is not surprising that the historic conviction of General Ríos Montt on counts of genocide was declared void one week later. When the domestic authorities themselves are unable or unwilling to provide justice for victims, there is a responsibility for the international community. The last chance for Guatemalan authorities will come in January 2015, when the trial is scheduled to recommence.

The Edelstam Prize

The Edelstam Prize is a Sweden-based international monetary award, administrated by the Harald Edelstam Foundation. The Edelstam Prize is awarded for outstanding contributions and exceptional courage in standing up for one’s beliefs in the Defence of Human Rights.

The Edelstam Prize is named after, and awarded in the memory of, the Swedish diplomat and Ambassador, Harald Edelstam (1913-1989). Harald Edelstam distinguished himself as diplomat by his professional competence, his bravery and his civic courage in the fight for Human Rights. He was an early proponent and symbol of what is today known as the ”Responsibility to Protect” and his memorable acts contributed to save more than a thousand lives.

The winner of the Edelstam Prize can be a private person or a person who serves in Government, international or national organisations. The winner shall be an individual who has acted in Ambassador Harald Edelstam’s spirit in a country/countries where Human Rights, according to international law, have been violated. The laureate must have shown outstanding capabilities in analysing and handling complex situations and in finding ways, even unconventional and creative ones, to defend Human Rights. The candidate has, presumably in a complex situation, been able to take a decisive role in helping threatened people or directly saving human lives. Civic courage is a central parameter in the selection of the successful candidate.

The Jury

The international jury is chaired by Caroline Edelstam, Harald Edelstam’s granddaughter and co-founder of the Edelstam Foundation. Other members of the Jury are Justice Louise Arbour, former UN High Commissioner of Human Rights, Judge Shirin Ebadi, Nobel Peace Prize Winner in 2003, Dr. Pascoal Mocumbi, former Prime Minister of Mozambique (1994-2004), Professor Philip Alston, UN’s Special Rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions, and former Judge Baltasar Garzón, who served on Spain’s Criminal Chamber of the National Court of Spain who is consistently fighting for Human Rights. Baltasar Garzón is most famous for inditing the Chilean dictator, General Augusto Pinochet for the deaths and torture of thousands of victims from Chile and other countries.

For further information, please contact:

Caroline Edelstam, co-founder and president of the Harald Edelstam Foundation, Tel: +46 (0)706 98 72 23, e-mail: caroline.edelstam@edelstamprize.org, Web page: www.edelstamprize.org / www.edelstam.org