The English translation of a Spanish-language report on an archive documenting human rights abuses in Guatemala and a new documentary film on the same subject will help raise awareness of human rights around the world.

The translation and film are the result of a collaboration between academic units at the University of Oregon and Guatemala’s Archivo Histórico de la Policía Nacional (AHPN). With funding support from the Network Startup Resource Center (NSRC), and other campus units, two UO faculty members, Carlos Aguirre and Gabriela Martínez, headed up the projects for the UO.

To mark the launch of these two resources, a symposium entitled “From Silence to Memory: Archives and Human Rights in Guatemala and Beyond” will take place at 3 p.m. today (Oct. 24) in Knight Library’s Browsing Room today.

In 2005, a massive amount of documentation belonging to the former Guatemalan National Police was discovered. The archive contained information on systematic human rights violations committed during the country’s civil war from 1960 to 1996.

Scholars and archivists will discuss the importance of archives and the work by the AHPN, and highlight the contributions of Aguirre’s book and Martínez’s documentary. A screening of “Keep Your Eyes on Guatemala” is scheduled at 6 p.m. in 221 Allen Hall.

- from a news release by the UO Office of Strategic Communications