The Peace Brigades International-Guatemala Project has posted on social media:
“On Friday, October 30, #PBI accompanied the Human Rights Law Firm (BDH) at the public oral hearing for the #21N case, in which Dulce María Archila and Nanci Sinto are accused of the crime of damaging cultural property.
During the hearing, the court received expert testimony from a forensic video and image analyst from the Public Prosecutor’s Office’s Special Case Investigation Unit. The analyst presented footage extracted from security cameras located on the exterior and interior of the Congress of the Republic. Photographs and videos were shown which, according to the analyst’s interpretation, allegedly identify the defendants engaging in acts involving paint and the placement of leaflets on building facades.
The defense questioned the analyst regarding the chain of custody for the evidence and the procedures used in its analysis. Furthermore, the defense pointed out contradictions between the analyst’s conclusions and the images presented and questioned whether the analysis had been conducted in accordance with the appropriate formal protocols.
The trial is scheduled to resume on Tuesday, November 17, at 10:00 a.m., at which time testimony will be presented by technical consultants proposed by the defense.”
Dulce María Archila Cáceres was a 19-year-old student at the time of the protest in November 2020. Nanci Chiriz Sinto s an Indigenous Kaqchikel Mayan human rights defender and poet.
Prensa Comunitaria has further reported:
“The oral and public trial against Nanci Paola Chiriz Sinto and Dulce María Archila Cáceres, began on September 2 in the Fifth Single-Person Criminal Sentencing Court presided over by Judge Bélgica Deras.
Both were criminalized with the crime of depredation of the heritage of cultural property, based on their participation in the demonstration of November 21, 2020 against the approval of the nation’s budget for the year 2021.
In the defense of Dulce Archila, lawyer Diana Méndez and lawyer Édgar Pérez of the Human Rights Law Firm participate. Lawyer Diana Méndez contextualizes the facts in which this criminalization process arises. She pointed out that in that year the country was experiencing a context of social conflict from the management of the Covid19 pandemic and the approval of the 2021 budget.
‘The approval of decree 33-2020 – National Budget of 2021 – generated a wide citizen rejection and different demonstrations in different parts of the country, where thousands of people participated, among those people was Dulce María Archila Cáceres,’ said the lawyer when contextualizing the facts where the complaint arises.
‘Dulce at that time was a very young woman and she still is, she began her participation in the affairs of this country that began to form her voice, her political positions, a woman linked to art who is called an artivist, because art is part of her expression with critical thinking with an interest in human rights and in the social reality of Guatemala,’ said the lawyer in her opening arguments of the trial.
On the day of the events, the National Civil Police repressed social protest during the evening of that Saturday, November 21, 2020, since the throwing of tear gas bombs, the arrest of 43 people, several spent two nights in the jails of the Court Tower; Two people lost their left eye. The former Human Rights Ombudsman, Jordán Rodas Andrade, declared at the time that the police actions violated human rights on that day.”
eP Investiga has also previously reported: “In the statement released prior to the start of the trial, the organizations that support [Indigenous activist] Sinto argue that the process is part of a broader context of criminalization against people who participate in demonstrations and express criticism of the authorities. The pronouncement indicates that the trial must be observed from guarantees such as freedom of assembly and peaceful demonstration, freedom of expression, due process and the right to defense. The organizations also place the case in the context of the difficulties faced by indigenous women to participate in the public and political life of the country. In his opinion, the process raises questions about the State’s obligations in terms of equality, non-discrimination, effective political participation and access to justice.”
Accompaniment
PBI-Guatemala has accompanied Édgar Pérez Archila since August 2010 and the Human Rights Law Firms since late 2013.
Additional reading
–Activists on trial for November 2020 protests begin (Prensa Comunitaria, September 3, 2026)
–PBI-Guatemala accompanies Human Rights Law Firm at hearing for youth activist Dulce Archila and Indigenous defender Nanci Sinto (PBI-Canada, September 8, 2026)
–PBI-Guatemala accompanies Human Rights Law Firm at hearing for 21-year-old student accused of graffiti inside Congress building (PBI-Canada, April 5, 2023).
