Burden of Peace
One woman fighting crime and corruption in a country haunted by its past
Film-screening followed by Q&A with
Sander Wirken
Film-maker and PhD researcher at Amsterdam Center for International Law
& Omar Jeronimo
Guatemalan Human Rights Defender
Monday 22nd June
6pm – 8pm
Doughty Street Chambers
53-54 Doughty Street
London
WC1N 2LS
The documentary ‘Burden of Peace’ tells the story of Claudia Paz y Paz, the first woman to lead the Public Prosecutor’s Office of Guatemala. The country that has been ravaged for years by a devastating civil war is today one of the most violent in the world. Claudia starts a frontal attack against corruption, drug gangs and impunity and does what everyone had hitherto held to be impossible: she arrests former dictator Efraín Rios Montt on charges of genocide. His conviction becomes the first conviction for genocide in a national court in world history. The documentary provides an intimate glimpse into the life of a woman who wants to change her country and is forced to make huge sacrifices.
Omar Jeronimo is the Coordinator of the Nuevo Día Chorti Indigenous Association, Guatemala. Nuevo Día works in Chiquimula department providing support and legal representation to local communities campaigning on issues related to land, environmental, and cultural rights. As a result of their work Nuevo Día members have been subject to threats, harassment, and criminalisation. Omar receives the protective accompaniment of Peace Brigades International.
Chaired by Kirsty Brimelow QC, Chair of the Bar Human Rights Committee
Refreshments will be provided
Please RSVP directly to
coordination@barhumanrights.org.uk
