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DRI Litigation Docket 2023 (Public)

DRI conducts litigation at the national and international level to enforce and expand the right of children and adults to live in the community with choices equal to others. Our cases seek immediate protections from neglect, denial of basic care, violence and trafficking and systemic changes in law and policies to address the root causes of segregation and abuse. See DRI's global docket of cases here.
Still At Risk

Still at Risk - Death and Disappearance of Survivors of the fire at Hogar Seguro Virgen de la Asunción

On March 7, 2017, a group of girls, boys and teenagers protested the physical and sexual abuse, rape and trafficking that they were subjected to at the institution Hogar Seguro Virgen de la Asuncion (Virgen de la Asuncion), in Guatemala City, Guatemala. Virgen de la Asuncion was a public institution where up to 800 children were detained prior to these protests. The authorities of Virgen de la Asuncion called on the National Police to repress the protests. As a punishment, the girls who had protested were beaten and locked up in a tiny auditorium with a capacity for 26 people standing, without a bathroom and access to water, where they were left to spend the night.

New report: Still at Risk - Death and Disappearance of Survivors of the fire at Hogar Seguro Virgen de la Asunción

Guatemala City, October 13, 2021 - Disability Rights International (DRI) published a report detailing how survivors of the fire and children who were detained at Hogar Seguro Virgen de la Asuncion in Guatemala are still at risk. On March 7, 2017, boys and girls protested the physical and sexual abuse, rape and trafficking they suffered at the institution Virgen de la Asunción. As a punishment, the girls who had protested were locked in a tiny auditorium overnight. In the early hours of March 8, a fire broke out and forty-one girls died.

Todavia en Riesgo

Todavía en riesgo - Muerte y desaparición de sobrevivientes del incendio del Hogar Seguro Virgen de la Asunción

El 7 de marzo de 2017, un grupo de niñas, niños y adolescentes iniciaron una protesta por el abuso físico y sexual, violación y trata a los que eran sometidos en la institución Hogar Seguro Virgen de la Asunción (Virgen de la Asunción), en la Ciudad de Guatemala, Guatemala. Virgen de la Asunción era una institución pública donde hasta 800 niños se encontraban detenidos antes de estas protestas. Las autoridades de Virgen de la Asunción llamaron a la Policía Nacional Civil (PNC) para reprimir las protestas. Como castigo por haber protestado, un grupo de 56 niñas fue encerrado en un pequeño cuarto con capacidad para 26 personas de pie, sin baño y sin acceso a agua, donde las dejaron pasar la noche.

October 9 - DRI holds hearing at Inter-American Commission on Human Rights

Disability Rights International, the Rapporteur of the UN Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities and disability and human rights organizations from Argentina, Guatemala and Peru will hold a public hearing before the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights on the urgent need to guarantee the right to community integration for persons with disabilities in the continent, in the context of the pandemic.

Urgent appeal to the United Nations: Immediate protections for people exposed to COVID-19 inside Guatemala disability institution

Hundreds of people at the Federico Mora disability institution, exposed to staff infected with COVID-19, are locked into the facility, which has been sealed from outside access. Disability Rights International (DRI) calls for immediate government intervention to test detainees, provide care to those exposed, and immediately remove anyone who has not yet contracted the virus.

Protecting Psychiatric Patients in Guatemala from COVID-19

Disability Rights International y el Colectivo Vida Independiente de Guatemala (en adelante “las peticionarias” o DRI o el Colectivo, respectivamente) presentan la siguiente solicitud a la Honorable Comisión Interamericana de Derechos Humanos (en adelante “la Comisión”, “la Comisión Interamericana” o “CIDH”), para solicitar la extensión de las medidas cautelares MC-370-12, de conformidad con el artículo 25 del Reglamento de la CIDH y el artículo 1.1 de la Convención Americana sobre Derechos Humanos (en adelante “la Convención” o “CADH”).
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Urgent Appeal to UN Special Rapporteur on Disability

Disability Rights International and the Colectivo Vida Independiente de Guatemala appeal to request immediate life-saving protections for people detained at the National Mental Health facility “Federico Mora” (Federico Mora) in Guatemala City, Guatemala. People with disabilities detained at the “Federico Mora” face an imminent risk of sickness and death as a result of the authorities’ reckless exposure of detainees to the spread of the virus COVID-19, the failure to provide medical care, and their continued unlawful and unnecessary detention in the facility.
picture taken through metal bars of a child hunched over with his hands on his knees leaned against a colorful mural

Still in Harms Way

This report documents the human rights violations, exploitation, and trafficking of children with and without disabilities in Guatemala. Guatemala has failed to create the protections and support needed to help children live with a family – especially children with disabilities. DRI is also concerned that private charities and international donors are supporting orphanages and perpetuating discrimination. International support – including “voluntourism” – leaves children open to segregation, abuse, and further exploitation by traffickers.
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