Rigoberta Menchu is one of the most famous human rights activists and perhaps the most famous Guatemalan woman in the world. However, during and after the Guatemalan civil war many other women became vocal advocates for indigenous human rights. Rosalina Tuyuc Velasquez is one such woman who has also been widely recognized throughout Guatemala and the world for her activism and humanitarian efforts.
Rosalina was born in San Juan Comalapa in Chimaltenango and grew up in a poor, religious family of farmers. She is of Kaqchikel Mayan heritage and has been dedicated to Mayan traditions and spirituality all her life. She can often be seen wearing the traditional Mayan dress of her culture. Interestingly, her family also practiced Christianity and she eventually became a bible school teacher and later a nurse.
Her family’s story is a familiar one in Guatemala. In 1982, her father was kidnapped and murdered by the Guatemalan Army. Only three years later her husband was also “disappeared” and later found murdered.
Since then Rosalina has dedicated her life to protecting the cultural and political rights of indigenous people and fighting for justice. After overcoming her grief, she banded together with a small group of widows that founded the National Association of Guatemalan Widows (CONAVIGUA) to promote peaceful active resistance to the violence. Since 1988, CONAVIGUA has grown from a small group of women to a powerful human rights organization with over 10,000 members dedicated to women’s equality, human rights, and justice for the victims of the war.
According to Asia News, Tuyuc has served as the vice president of the Parliamentary Commission for the indigenous communities, president of the Parliamentary Commission for Women, Children and Families, and is the co-founder of the Association of Maya Women in Guatemala Politics.
As a result of her work, she Rosalina has also served in the National Congress and was a magistrate in the first Court of Conscience of the Women of Guatemala.
In 1994, she received a French Legion of Honor Award for her humanitarian efforts and for which she was publically denounced by members of the Guatemalan military. Ten years later, the president appointed her to the National Reparations Commission. Tuyuc has never been one to fear public condemnation or speaking out. In May 2011, she publically expressed her anger with the commission for failing to adequately address the damage caused by war.
Most recently, in February, the Niwano Foundation awarded Rosalina the 29th Niwano Peace Prize for her activism. The Niwano Foundation is a Japanese Buddhist organization that promotes peace and dialogue between religions to build a more peaceful world. The Niwano Peace Prize was established to honor those who have contributed to inter-religious cooperation. Tuyuc’s human rights work, along with her Christian and indigenous beliefs, make her a most deserving winner. She is also the first indigenous person to receive the award.
According to the Peace Prize Committee Rosalina is:
“an inspiring example of how victims of discrimination, drawing on their faith, are empowered by working together to defeat human rights violations and reverse the causes that have hurt them so deeply. She works to develop constructive, peaceful ways to bring Guatemala’s long internal war to an end and to bring peace and justice to her country.”
