Photos From Guatemala

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Murder in Guatemala

A lawyer's assistant is slain while working at the front desk in a law office in Zone 9 in Guatemala City. More than 5,600 people were murdered in 2008 in Guatemala. The number was up 8.5 percent from the 2007. Guatemala is one of the most violent countries in the world with a murder rate of 43 murders per 100,000 inhabitants.

Photograph by Jon Lowenstein.

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Buried Truths

In 2005, authorities from a Guatemalan human rights office were searching a munitions depot when they discovered all the files of the National Police, the agency that for the 36-year Civil War carried out state-sponsored kidnapping, torture, and killing of 250,000 people. The 80 million documents in this archive are the last hope of getting the genocide on the historic record and bringing those responsible to justice. Many of the archivists have received death threats, and the building has been the target of at least one bombing attempt. Photograph by Jon Lowenstein.