VZCZCXYZ0007
RR RUEHWEB

DE RUEHGT #0134 0390046
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 080046Z FEB 08
FM AMEMBASSY GUATEMALA
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 4730
INFO RUEHZA/WHA CENTRAL AMERICAN COLLECTIVE

UNCLAS GUATEMALA 000134 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
DEPT PASS TO USAID FOR LAC/CAM KSIENKIEWICZ 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: KCRM PHUM KJUS KDEM GT
SUBJECT: SURVIVORS FOUNDATION COMBATS VIOLENCE AGAINST 
WOMEN IN GUATEMALA 
 
Sensitive but unclassified.  Please protect accordingly. 
 
¶1. (U) Summary:  The Survivors Foundation, a local 
GOG-supported NGO that provides free legal assistance and 
psychological support to female victims of violence and 
abuse, attended to more than 6,000 victims and their family 
members in 2007.  The foundation drove investigations that 
led to the prosecution and conviction of 30 individuals 
charged with murder of women.  End Summary. 
 
¶2. (U) On January 28, Human Rights Officer met with Norma 
Cruz, Director of Fundacion Sobrevivientes (Survivors 
Foundation), to discuss violence against women and the work 
of her organization in combating impunity.  According to 
Cruz, 2,909 women were killed over the past seven years in 
Guatemala, including 525 women in 2007, half of them in 
Guatemala City.  She estimated that 80 percent of the murders 
were connected to organized crime, narcotrafficking, and gang 
activity, while 20 percent were related to domestic disputes. 
 
 
¶3. (SBU) Cruz asserted that organized crime cases were the 
most difficult to clarify due to the involvement of 
clandestine networks.  She noted that narcotraffickers 
typically kill out of revenge, to mark their territory, or to 
settle outstanding debts.  She observed that in contrast to 
other countries where gangs protect women, in Guatemala women 
are viewed as trophies:  raping and killing a woman is 
sometimes part of the initiation for prospective gang 
members.  The crueler the violence, the greater the respect 
accorded the gang member. 
 
¶4. (U) In 2001, Cruz created the Survivors Foundation to 
provide support to victims of violence and to families of 
abused and murdered women, and to break the cycle of 
impunity.  The organization attends to hundreds of women who 
seek justice and protection.  The victims are referred by 
hospitals, the Attorney General's Office, and the National 
Civil Police (PNC).  With an annual budget of Q2 million (USD 
263,158) from the Guatemalan Congress and a staff of 35, 
including seven lawyers and five psychologists, the 
organization provides legal assistance, psychological 
attention, and accompaniment in legal proceedings. 
 
¶5. (U) The foundation, which Cruz described as a microcosmic 
Attorney General's Office, tends to an average of 45 cases 
per day, seven days a week.  The cases fall into three 
categories of violence:  intrafamilial, sexual, and murder. 
In 2007, the organization attended to more than 6,000 victims 
and their family members, all of whom filed legal actions. 
It also helped convict and sentence 30 individuals charged 
with murder of women.  It has attended to 15 underage 
trafficking victims, and is currently working on ten cases of 
trafficking in persons (three cases involving adolescents 14 
to 21 years of age, and seven cases involving victims less 
than 14 years of age).  It has coordinated closely with the 
PNC and the Attorney General's Office, as well as with the 
Embassies of Nicaragua, Honduras, and El Salvador. 
 
¶6. (U) The Survivors Foundation has a maximum-security 
shelter, with armed security guards and surveillance cameras, 
in an undisclosed location to protect those who seek refuge. 
The shelter has space for 25 women, and allows a maximum stay 
of three months.  In January, the shelter assisted 20 victims 
of violence and abuse. 
 
¶7. (SBU) Cruz attributed the climate of impunity to a 
combination of the low priority the society and rule of law 
institutions place on resolving crimes against women, and the 
lack of resources in GOG institutions.  She asserted that the 
PNC has weak operational capacity due to lack of training, 
QPNC has weak operational capacity due to lack of training, 
and that the witness protection program is not comprehensive. 
 The foundation is working with the GOG to seek ways to 
strengthen institutional capacity to end impunity. 
Derham