Rosalina Tuyuc Velásquez is a Guatemalan human rights activist. She was elected as a Congressional deputy in 1995, elected from the national list of the New Guatemala Democratic Front, and served as Vice President of Congress during that period.
In June 1982, the Guatemalan Army kidnapped and murdered her father, Francisco Tuyuc. Three years later, on 24 May 1985, her husband suffered the same fate. In 1988, she founded the National Association of Guatemalan Widows (CONAVIGUA), which has become a leading Guatemalan human rights organization.
In 1994, Tuyuc was decorated by the French Ordre national de la Légion d’honneur for her humanitarian activities. On 6 July 2004, the former president of Guatemala, the late Óscar Berger, appointed her to chair the National Reparations Commission (Comisión Nacional de Resarcimiento). In 2011, she publicly criticized the Commission for its failure to adequately address the damage caused by the war.
The Niwano Peace Foundation of Japan awarded their 2012 Niwano Peace Prize to Tuyuc “in recognition of her extraordinary and dogged work for peace as a courageous human rights activist and leader.”
She will be participating in this years GNRC 5th Forum by taking part in a panel discussion focusing on Nurturing Spirituality and Ending Violence in Child Upbringing. She will be addressing the role of faith communities in this area.
