Centro de Análisis Forense y Ciencias Aplicadas (CAFCA)

The association Center for Forensic Analysis and Applied Sciences (CAFCA), is a non-profit, non-governmental organization. Their contributions are directed to forensic anthropological research, community social work and legal advice on fair and integral reparation processes.

The first contributions of the association were directed to exhume human remains buried in clandestine cemeteries as a result of the serious violations of human rights committed during the Internal Armed Conflict; To date, 267 forensic anthropological investigations have been carried out and nearly a thousand remains of victims have been recovered. This action determined a necessary complement to widows, orphans and affected communities by providing community social support and legal advice to achieve the right to reparation.

The involvement of social and community work from the exhumations, gave the pattern to create a methodology that starts from collecting all possible information on serious human rights violations occurred, at community and personal level, with a recount of the caused damages, to conduct reparation claims before the Guatemalan authorities. This information is expressed in grievance briefs, having been prepared and presented 70; In the absence of a response from national authorities, the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights has been called upon, claiming lack of attention to comprehensive compensation, which is an unprecedented case for that regional justice body.

These acquired experiences allowed CAFCA to position itself on issues related to the Justice Sector and higher education institutions, among others. Thus, in 2010, the Supreme Court of Justice granted a Special Investigation Procedure in cases of forced disappearance, a process that was completed and systematized in 2012, afterwards that experience is shared with other instances, in training processes on search missing persons.

We aspire to be a democratic , participatory society , committed to our historical memory in a State that respects Human Rights.