Latest news with #Achi
4 days ago
Guatemala court convicts 3 ex-paramilitaries of war crimes for rape and gives them 40-year sentences
GUATEMALA CITY -- More than four decades after Guatemalan soldiers and paramilitaries raped Indigenous women during their efforts to crush an insurgency in the country's 36-year civil war, a court on Friday convicted three men of crimes against humanity in the case and sentenced them to 40 years in prison. Thirty-six women from the Maya Achi Indigenous group came forward in 2011 to seek justice for the abuses they suffered between 1981 and 1985. They came from Rabinal, a small town about 55 miles (88 kms) north of the capital. Six of them testified against the three men convicted Friday. As the all female three judge panel prepared to announce the verdict, several elderly women huddled around a young woman who translated the judges' words from Spanish to Achi. Judge María Eugenia Castellanos, president of the tribunal, said the women had been brave to come on repeated occasions to testify. 'They are crimes of solitude that stigmatize the woman. It is not easy to speak of them,' she said. Judge Marling Mayela González Arrivillaga said there was no doubt about the women's testimony. In 2022, five other paramilitaries – men from the area trained by soldiers to help root out insurgents – were convicted of raping women and sentenced to 30 years in prison. No soldiers have been tried for the acts. Guatemala's civil war pitted the army and police against leftist rebels. It ended with the signing of peace accords in 1996. Of the 36 women who originally came forward, seven have died. The youngest was 19 when she was attacked. Among the women who testified at this trial, was Pedrina Ixpatá. She is 63 now, but was 21 when she said she was assaulted. Félix Tum Ramírez, one of those convicted, had pointed her out to soldiers earlier in the day in the plaza. 'At 9 at night they came to take me (from the house) and took me to a big water tank. They pushed by head in the tank and when I was about to drown, let me out and asked me questions, but I said I didn't know anything,' Ixpatá said. Later, she was taken to a room on the local military base where she said soldiers raped her. 'I couldn't take it. My whole body hurt,' Ixtapá said. She got pregnant, aborted and wasn't able to have children. Tum Ramírez was convicted of raping two women and for signaling four women to be raped by others. The Associated Press typically does not name people who say they have been sexually assaulted unless they come forward publicly, as Ixpatá has done. One of the accused, Pedro Sánchez, told the court Friday before the ruling was handed down that he was not involved. He was convicted of raping two women. 'I am innocent of what they are accusing us, I don't know any of these women,' Sánchez testified before the verdict. Simeón Enríquez Gómez, the third paramilitary, was also convicted of raping two of the women. Anthropologist Aura Cumes, who testified as a forensic expert during the trial, said women suffered differently in the war than men did. 'Sexual violence was a planned and deliberate method,' she said. 'It was effective for the army's goals insomuch as these brutal acts on women had the effect of causing mistrust, of destroying healthy relationships between women and men, of splitting the family unit and destroying the community social fabric.' Another woman testified in closed session that she had been washing clothes in the river when paramilitaries and soldiers forced her inside and told her to strip. She was raped first by paramilitaries and then by soldiers. Through an interpreter, she explained that they took her husband that day and she never saw him again. She was four months pregnant at the time. The Guatemalan Commission for Historical Clarification established by the United Nations to investigate human rights violations during the civil war, documented 1,465 cases of rape during the conflict. In 89% of the cases, the women were Indigenous Maya, according to the report.
Yahoo
4 days ago
- General
- Yahoo
Guatemala court convicts 3 ex-paramilitaries of war crimes for rape and gives them 40-year sentences
GUATEMALA CITY (AP) — More than four decades after Guatemalan soldiers and paramilitaries raped Indigenous women during their efforts to crush an insurgency in the country's 36-year civil war, a court on Friday convicted three men of crimes against humanity in the case and sentenced them to 40 years in prison. Thirty-six women from the Maya Achi Indigenous group came forward in 2011 to seek justice for the abuses they suffered between 1981 and 1985. They came from Rabinal, a small town about 55 miles (88 kms) north of the capital. Six of them testified against the three men convicted Friday. As the all female three judge panel prepared to announce the verdict, several elderly women huddled around a young woman who translated the judges' words from Spanish to Achi. Judge María Eugenia Castellanos, president of the tribunal, said the women had been brave to come on repeated occasions to testify. 'They are crimes of solitude that stigmatize the woman. It is not easy to speak of them,' she said. Judge Marling Mayela González Arrivillaga said there was no doubt about the women's testimony. In 2022, five other paramilitaries – men from the area trained by soldiers to help root out insurgents – were convicted of raping women and sentenced to 30 years in prison. No soldiers have been tried for the acts. Guatemala's civil war pitted the army and police against leftist rebels. It ended with the signing of peace accords in 1996. Of the 36 women who originally came forward, seven have died. The youngest was 19 when she was attacked. Among the women who testified at this trial, was Pedrina Ixpatá. She is 63 now, but was 21 when she said she was assaulted. Félix Tum Ramírez, one of those convicted, had pointed her out to soldiers earlier in the day in the plaza. 'At 9 at night they came to take me (from the house) and took me to a big water tank. They pushed by head in the tank and when I was about to drown, let me out and asked me questions, but I said I didn't know anything,' Ixpatá said. Later, she was taken to a room on the local military base where she said soldiers raped her. 'I couldn't take it. My whole body hurt,' Ixtapá said. She got pregnant, aborted and wasn't able to have children. Tum Ramírez was convicted of raping two women and for signaling four women to be raped by others. The Associated Press typically does not name people who say they have been sexually assaulted unless they come forward publicly, as Ixpatá has done. One of the accused, Pedro Sánchez, told the court Friday before the ruling was handed down that he was not involved. He was convicted of raping two women. 'I am innocent of what they are accusing us, I don't know any of these women,' Sánchez testified before the verdict. Simeón Enríquez Gómez, the third paramilitary, was also convicted of raping two of the women. Anthropologist Aura Cumes, who testified as a forensic expert during the trial, said women suffered differently in the war than men did. 'Sexual violence was a planned and deliberate method,' she said. 'It was effective for the army's goals insomuch as these brutal acts on women had the effect of causing mistrust, of destroying healthy relationships between women and men, of splitting the family unit and destroying the community social fabric.' Another woman testified in closed session that she had been washing clothes in the river when paramilitaries and soldiers forced her inside and told her to strip. She was raped first by paramilitaries and then by soldiers. Through an interpreter, she explained that they took her husband that day and she never saw him again. She was four months pregnant at the time. The Guatemalan Commission for Historical Clarification established by the United Nations to investigate human rights violations during the civil war, documented 1,465 cases of rape during the conflict. In 89% of the cases, the women were Indigenous Maya, according to the report.
Straits Times
4 days ago
- Politics
- Straits Times
Guatemalan ex-paramilitaries sentenced to 40 years each in Maya Achi rape trial
Indigenous women from the Achi group participate in a Mayan blessing ceremony in front of the Supreme Court building ahead of the trial of former Guatemalan paramilitaries accused of raping 36 Achi women between 1981 and 1985, during Guatemala's decades-long civil war, in Guatemala City, Guatemala, May 30, 2025. REUTERS/Cristina Chiquin Indigenous women from the Achi group participate in a Mayan blessing ceremony in front of the Supreme Court building ahead of the trial of former Guatemalan paramilitaries accused of raping 36 Achi women between 1981 and 1985, during Guatemala's decades-long civil war, in Guatemala City, Guatemala, May 30, 2025. REUTERS/Cristina Chiquin Indigenous women from the Achi group participate in a Mayan blessing ceremony in front of the Supreme Court building ahead of the trial of former Guatemalan paramilitaries accused of raping 36 Achi women between 1981 and 1985, during Guatemala's decades-long civil war, in Guatemala City, Guatemala, May 30, 2025. REUTERS/Cristina Chiquin Indigenous women from the Achi group participate in a Mayan blessing ceremony in front of the Supreme Court building ahead of the trial of former Guatemalan paramilitaries accused of raping 36 Achi women between 1981 and 1985, during Guatemala's decades-long civil war, in Guatemala City, Guatemala, May 30, 2025. REUTERS/Cristina Chiquin Indigenous women from the Achi group participate in a Mayan blessing ceremony in front of the Supreme Court building ahead of the trial of former Guatemalan paramilitaries accused of raping 36 Achi women between 1981 and 1985, during Guatemala's decades-long civil war, in Guatemala City, Guatemala, May 30, 2025. REUTERS/Cristina Chiquin GUATEMALA CITY - A top Guatemalan court on Friday sentenced three former paramilitaries each to 40 years in prison after they were found guilty of raping six Indigenous women between 1981 and 1983, the bloodiest period of the Central American nation's civil war. The trial against the former members of the so-called Civil Self-Defense Patrol, armed groups recruited by the army, began four months ago. "The soldiers arrived late at night, threw me onto the ground and raped me," Paulina Ixpata, a Maya Achi woman, said during the trial, recounting how she was held for 25 days by the military patrol. "That's how the whole night went." This is the second trial in the so-called Maya Achi case, and follows reports of sexual violence filed between 2011 and 2015 by 36 victims against former military personnel, military commissioners and civilian self-defense patrol members. The first trial, which took place in January 2022, saw five former patrol members sentenced to 30 years in prison. They remain incarcerated. In 2016, a Guatemalan court sentenced former two military officers for holding 15 women from the Q'eqchi community, who are also of Maya origin, as sex slaves at the Sepur Zarco military base, a landmark case that marked the first convictions in Guatemala of military officers for wartime rape. Both officers were sentenced to a combined 360 years in prison, where they remain incarcerated. The court also stipulated a reparations program, whose progress remains limited despite advocacy by the 15 women who were at the trial, known as the "Grandmothers of Sepur Zarco." REUTERS Join ST's Telegram channel and get the latest breaking news delivered to you.
The Star
4 days ago
- Politics
- The Star
Guatemalan ex-paramilitaries sentenced to 40 years each in Maya Achi rape trial
Indigenous women from the Achi group participate in a Mayan blessing ceremony in front of the Supreme Court building ahead of the trial of former Guatemalan paramilitaries accused of raping 36 Achi women between 1981 and 1985, during Guatemala's decades-long civil war, in Guatemala City, Guatemala, May 30, 2025. REUTERS/Cristina Chiquin
Yahoo
15-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Africa's AI Communications Pioneer: How Celestine Achi is Reshaping PR Strategy, One Framework at a Time
LAGOS, Nigeria, May 15, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- In the fast-moving world of technology, few leaders can translate complex innovation into human-centered strategy. Mr. Celestine Achi does just that—and more. From keynote stages to classrooms, from digital platforms to policy roundtables, has become the defining voice in AI-powered communications education and advocacy across Africa. And now, on May 21, 2025, he's taking that leadership global—with the simultaneous launch of a transformational book, a gamified PR learning platform, a diagnostic model, and a proven AI implementation framework. The Ecosystem He Built At the center of this rollout is his book: AI-Powered PR: The Essential Guide for Communications Leaders to Master Artificial IntelligenceA strategic manual and desk companion, the book fuses real-world case studies, practical prompts, and tools that guide readers through AI adoption in content creation, media intelligence, stakeholder engagement, and sentiment analysis. Alongside, Achi has also developed a game: AI-Powered PR: The Interactive gamified simulator empowers users to step into the shoes of a digital-era PR lead solving complex, high-pressure AI-related scenarios. It's fun, realistic, and deeply strategic. There is also a third leg which adds to the avant-garde: The AI-PR Maturity Model™.This is an institutional roadmap that allows organizations measure their AI readiness, benchmark against industry standards, and get tailored advancement plans across six critical areas. Tying them all together is the concept:TABS-D™ — Train, Adapt, Build, Ship, Deploy. It's the methodology Achi has taught in workshops, Masterclasses and executive programs, showing how to go from zero to transformation with clarity and confidence. Turning Learning into Impact: The TABS-D FrameworkThe TABS-D Framework charts exactly how to get where you want to be. Achi's five-phase blueprint ensures no idea remains only theoretical: Train: Establish clear AI objectives and conduct foundational training—building the bedrock of AI literacy. Adapt: Assess readiness and address barriers, from data gaps to skill shortages. Build: Define practical AI solutions and develop use cases that solve real communications challenges. Ship: Rigorously test for quality, compliance, and ethical guardrails before any deployment. Deploy: Implement at scale, track impact with robust KPIs, and continuously optimize for performance TABS-D Framework.. In workshops across Africa, Achi has guided executives through hands-on exercises: from training bots to draft press releases, to building simple AI dashboards that visualize media sentiment in multiple languages. Each cycle of TABS-D deepens both capability and confidence, ensuring AI serves strategy, not the other way around. Why It Matters Achi's timing is no coincidence. With generative AI, synthetic media, and algorithmic targeting now reshaping every aspect of media, PR professionals need more than awareness—they need capability. "The future of PR won't be defined by press releases—it'll be defined by who owns the data, who understands the narrative signals, and who can automate wisely without losing trust," Achi explains. Through the AI-Powered PR platform, his certification programs, and his upcoming podcast series, Achi is on a mission to train 100,000 African communicators in AI literacy and leadership by 2030. He's not just writing books—he's building the future, future of the African youth to take over the AI global landscape and build wealth for Africa. Achi's new book is more than a publication—it is a mission-driven blueprint designed to upskill the communications industry with practical tools, AI workflows, and strategic templates grounded in African realities. Alongside the book, he is launching AI-Powered PR: The Game—a first-of-its-kind interactive video game inspired by the book's content. This immersive learning platform invites players to take on the role of a next-generation PR strategist, facing simulated challenges in crisis management, campaign design, sentiment analysis, and media engagement. "This launch isn't just about reading or playing—it's about reshaping how we train, think, and lead in the age of intelligent media", Achi explained, noting that "Africa doesn't need to catch up—we need to lead. This book and game are my contribution to building that leadership from the ground up." Achi explained. A Vision of African Leadership in AI"Africa doesn't need to catch up—we need to lead," Achi asserts. His mission is audacious: train 100,000 African communicators in AI literacy and leadership by 2030. Through books, certification programs, podcasts, and collaborative community platforms, he's already reached thousands—government press officers in West Africa, agency creatives in East Africa, and students across the continent. Tangible Impact: The National Orientation AgencyThe impact is tangible. The National Orientation Agency used Achi's TABS-D-inspired process to deploy an AI-driven citizen-engagement system, an agency-to-agency AI Collaborator, and a Visualizer dashboard that identifies emerging scenarios—empowering proactive policy responses and streamlined interagency coordinationTABS-D Framework by Cel…TABS-D Framework by Cel…. A pan-African NGO credits the AI-PR Maturity Model with helping it secure new grant funding by demonstrating clear, data-backed steps toward communications excellence. Charting the Future of PRAs AI tools proliferate, the PR field stands at a crossroads. Will leaders cling to the tactics of the past, or will they embrace the data-driven, AI-powered future that Achi so vividly outlines? By integrating the AI-PR Maturity Model™ and TABS-D™ Framework into everyday practice, communications teams can ensure they're not only reacting to change but driving it—crafting narratives that resonate, building trust through transparency, and measuring impact with unprecedented precision. In Achi's words: "The future of PR won't be defined by press releases—it will be defined by who owns the data, who understands the narrative signals, and who can automate wisely without losing trust." With his frameworks as compass and catalyst, a new generation of African communicators is ready not just to participate in the AI revolution—but to lead it. Foreword to the book is written by Dr. Ike Neliaku, FNIPR, President of the Nigerian Institute of Public Relations, whose endorsement highlights the publication's importance for the future of Public Relations. Both the book and game will be available globally from May 21, 2025 in print and digital formats on the following platforms : Official Site: Print Edition: Digital Edition: According to Achi, this dual release is targeted at communications professionals, educators, agencies, students, and forward-thinking institutions ready to embrace the AI-powered future of digital PR. Photo - View original content to download multimedia: SOURCE Cihan Media Communications Error in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data
