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After the Fire: Survivors of Hogar Seguro Virgen de la Asunción at risk

Between March 7-11, 2017, investigators from Disability Rights International (DRI) visited Guatemala. DRI visited Hogar Seguro Virgen de la Asunción (Hogar Seguro), a public institution where more than 700 children were detained. During the visit DRI interviewed the survivors of a fire that took place on March 7, 2017 and has killed more than three dozen girls (the number has been rising in recent days).
Related Press
Eric Rosenthal's Op-Ed in the Washington Post
The Economist
New York Times

Urgent - Support justice for Guatemalan girls killed in fire at safe house

Washington, DC, Guatemala City - March 9, 2017 - 31 teenage girls have perished in a so-called "safe house" outside Guatemala City, Guatemala, because they were locked in their room during a fire. The girls were protesting the sexual abuse and trafficking they were subjected to in the institution - leading to being locked in the room as punishment.

Based on DRI's reporting, UN Committee issues historic recommendation to Guatemala to abolish the institutionalization of all children

Washington, DC, Guatemala City - September 2, 2016 -  The United Nations Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD Committee) has issued its Concluding Observations to the State of Guatemala. 

DRI files international case to protect children and adults detained in Guatemala's dangerous Federico Mora institution

October 29, 2014 - Disability Rights International (DRI) filed a case today in the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights of the Organization of American States (OAS) on behalf of people with disabilities detained in Guatemala's Federico Mora psychiatric institution. 

Disability Rights International continues to pressure Guatemalan government to end human rights abuses at notorious psychiatric facility

March 15, 2013 -Disability Rights International (DRI), partnering with the Human Rights Office of the Archdiocese of Guatemala City (ODHAG), visited the Federico Mora Hospital this week where we had documented life-threatening abuses against children and adults in the facility, including sexual and physical abuse. The Archbishop of Guatemala City, Oscar Julio Vian Morales visited Federico Mora at our invitation and spoke to the Guatemalan press, signaling his support for the community integration of people with disabilities.

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