PBI-Guatemala denounces the murder of Q’eqchi’ spiritual guide Domingo Choc
The image says: We demand justice. Domingo Choc: wise, teacher and guide, source of knowledge and wisdom.
On June 8, the Peace Brigades International-Guatemala Project posted: “We join in the rejections of the murder of Domingo Choc, Mayan spiritual guide Q’eqchi’, and the demands for justice for Domingo Choc! #RacismKills”
PBI-Guatemala shared a post by Colectivo Madreselva that says: “We repudiate the murder of Domingo Choc, Q’eqchi’ leader and spiritual guide. What happened is one more example of racism that annihilates the contributions of the ancestors, which ends the lives of those in this country who are the source of knowledge for Buen Vivir [Good Living].”
PBI-Guatemala also shared a post by Mónica Berger, head of the Anthropology Unit of the Universidad del Valle de Guatemala, who said: “We were working on an inventory of medicinal species in order to document and protect Q’eqchi’ medicinal knowledge so that there is evidence that all this is Indigenous knowledge.”
Domingo was killed on June 6.
On June 8, Prensa Libre reported: “Domingo Choc Che, a member of the Association of Mayan Spiritual Guides, was the victim of a mob that accused him of practicing acts of witchcraft and lynched him in the Chimay village, San Luis, Petén, a fact that was documented in videos circulated by the social networks and that caused outrage.”
The British newspaper The Independent adds: “The [Guatemalan] government said it would launch an investigation after the incident sparked outrage and demands for justice for Mr. Domingo as well as the Mayan community as a whole.”
That article adds: “According to local newspaper La Hora, the Human Rights Ombudsman (PDH) in Guatemala has opened an investigation. Local journalist Jody Garcia reported the Public Ministry in Chimay announced that the Municipal Prosecutor’s Office will also launch an investigation into the incident, in coordination with the Peten District Prosecutor.”
UPDATE On June 10, The Guardian reported: “Police in Guatemala have arrested four men on suspicion of murder after a respected indigenous Maya spiritual guide was tortured, doused in gasoline and burned to death after being accused of witchcraft.”
#ExigimosJusticia #JusticiaDomingChoc #RacismoMata
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