Biography

Jorge de Paz was born in Guatemala City in 1948. He studied in a number of institutions in Guatemala City. His work in support of popular needs started in the mid 1960's when as a student he was forced to confront the repressive forces of the government on a number of occasions. In the 1970's many of his friends were brutally killed because just like him they were fighting for a better future for their country.

In 1982, under one of the many military governments in Guatemala's recent history, Jorge had to suffer in part what his friends had endured before. He was kidnapped and tortured by members of the presidential guard under the orders of the General Efrain Rios Montt, who later, under heavy pressure from international organizations such as Amnesty International, American Watch and Corps of Peace and many more, had to respect his life. After being kidnapped and tortured he was sentenced to a special type of court system called "Tribunales de fuero especial". As of today Jorge de Paz is the only person who still has a record of receiving a sentence from this special type of court.

Jorge's efforts did not stop with his kidnapping. Furthermore, inside the different jails he organized the inmates in hunger strikes to force the jail's authorities to respect the rights of the prisoners. Jorge de Paz was accepted twice as a political refugee in Mexico and recognized by ACNUR (the United Nations office for refugees) as such. The first time in 1985 when after demanding the government respect the rights of the population he was once again harassed by members of the presidential guard and he needed to move to Mexico for some time. The second time was in 1989 when after many tries to form the Guatemalan Chapter of Amnesty International, his entire family was forced to move to Mexico with him.