Guatemala Human Rights UPDATE#19 10/24/97 Via NY Transfer News Collective * All the News that Doesn't Fit source:ghrc@igc.org Guatemala Human Rights UPDATE #19/97 Guatemala Human Rights Commission/US October 24, 1997 DEATH THREATS MAYOR OF SAN ANTONIO, SUCHITEPEQUEZ RECEIVES DEATH THREATS 10-13-97 AROLDO GARCIA, mayor of San Antonio, Suchitepequez, denounced to the National Association of Municipalities (ANAM) that he and his family have been receiving death threats. Garcia reported receiving telephoned death threats since mid-September of this year. VICE PRESIDENT ASTURIAS DENOUNCES THREATS 10-13-97 Guatemalan Vice President Luis Flores Asturias denounced the death threats made against him and others. Acting in a supervisory position over the Central Office of Customs Administration, Flores Asturias and members of his investigative team, reportedly have been subjected to death threats for their efforts. The team~s mission is to ~clean-up~ customs in Guatemala. INVESTIGATOR, PROSECUTOR IN THE PATRULLA 603 CASE ARE THREATENED 10-10-97 According to reports, an investigator from the Office for Professional Responsibility (ORP) and the Special Prosecutor, JOSE LUIS GARCIA YELMO, both assigned to the Patrulla 603 case, have been receiving death threats. Last week, the primary witness in the case, EDGAR ESTUARDO MOTTA GONZALEZ, was murdered (see HUMAN RIGHTS VIOLATIONS, #18, 1997). The men have received telephoned intimidations and have been followed. Both have been assigned protection. LEADERS OF EL PROGRESO COOPERATIVE RECEIVE THREATS 10-13-97 Members of the El Jicaro Cooperative in El Progreso denounced receiving threats. The warnings allegedly originate from a group headed by Alberto Hernandez Reyes, in an attempt to scare the cooperative off of the El Tintero finca. Directors of the cooperative maintain that Hernandez Reyes has attempted to undermine their work and give the land to another group of campesino. EXTRAJUDICIAL EXECUTIONS INDIGENOUS ACTIVIST IS ASSASSINATED 10-21-97 On Saturday, October 11, 1997, National Coordinator of Indigenous Peoples and Campesinos (CONIC) activist ANDRES CHOY CHIYAL was assassinated in Santiago Atitlan, Solola. CONIC denounced the act as politically motivated. In May of this year, Choy Chiyal and community members protested the alleged corruption of Santiago Atitlan Mayor Manuel Sisay. Sisay then issued an arrest warrant for Choy Chiyal and others involved in the protest. On August 19, following nearly two months of continued protests, one thousand community members pressed the mayor to renew the water supply to the town. In the subsequent confrontation, the protestors set the town hall on fire. According to reports, Mayor Sisay accused the Pro-Security and Development Committee and the victim for the occurrence. Five members of the Committee were detained and imprisoned, while others have pending arrest warrants. The US based organization, The Network in Solidarity with the People of Guatemala (NISGUA), has condemned the assassination and requests that a full investigation be undertaken by the Guatemalan government. NISGUA further calls on the Guatemalan government to ensure the safety and immediate release of the detainees. HUMAN RIGHTS VIOLATIONS TWO ARE LYNCHED IN QUETZALTENANGO 10-17-97, 10-21-97 According to information provided by the National Police (PN) and the Public Ministry (MP), two students, between the ages of seventeen and eighteen, who were mistakenly thought to be alleged criminals, were lynched on October 12, 1997 by a group of several thousand people. The lynching reportedly occurred in Los Chorros, Almolonga, Quetzaltenango. The victims were under police protection when the two were abducted by community members who proceeded to burn them to death. On October 13, authorities identified the bodies as JESUS GALILEO MACARIO MAZARIEGOS and his brother MIGUEL BERUCCIO MACARIO MAZARIEGOS. NATIONAL POLICE UNION LEADER SUFFERS ATTEMPT ON HIS LIFE 10-16-97 The General Conference of Guatemalan Workers (CGTG) denounced the October 15 attempt on the life of FELIPE SIRIN, secretary general of the Union of the National Police. Reportedly, four armed assailants attacked Sirin in zone five of the capital city. The victim was beaten in the back, left leg and face. OTHER VIOLENCE MEMBER OF THE TREASURY POLICE IS MURDERED 10-13-97 JORGE ESTUARDO MONZON (twenty-two), a member of the Treasury Police, was murdered on kilometer 135 along the road from Jutiapa to the capital. The victim was traveling by bus when a group of seven armed men assaulted the bus, robbing the passengers. Estuardo Monzon was taken by the assailants, beaten and executed. SPANIARD IS MURDERED IN QUETZALTENANGO 10-17-97 CARLOS HUMBERTO LOPEZ CASTILLO, an employee of Spanish Agency for International Cooperation, was shot to death by assailants. The victim was murdered along a road to Cipresales, Quetzaltenango. STUDENT FOUND RAPED AND MURDERED 10-16-97 The remains of a young male student were found in a park in Guatemala City. The victim is thought to have been raped. According to reports, investigators suspect that a sect of satanic worshipers were responsible for the act. The San Francisco de Assissi Park, located in the outskirts of zone three, has long been a dumping ground for the bodies of sexually abused youth. SIX ARMED MEN ASSAULT BUSINESSMAN 10-16-97 Six men, armed with AK-47s, assaulted ALBERTO PONCE Y PONCE a businessman in San Andreas Rocja, Alta Verapaz. The victim was robbed of 45,000 quetzales. Local businesspeople have denounced the continued assaults conducted by heavily armed men dressed in olive green uniforms. RIGHT TO JUSTICE ARMY, URNG TO RELEASE WAR ARCHIVES 10-14-97, 10-21-97 The Guatemalan army war archives, which date back to the beginning of the internal armed conflict, are reportedly to be released to the Historical Clarification Commission (CEH) in the coming weeks. The release will fulfill a promise made to Christian Tomuschat, CEH director, by the Minister of Defense, General Hector Mario Barrios Celada. Accordingly, the war archives and special reports of the Guatemala National Revolutionary Unity (URNG) will be released to Professor Tomuschat in the coming days. SOCIAL, CULTURAL AND ECONOMIC RIGHTS JUDGE ORDERS EVICTION OF FAMILIES FROM COOPERATIVE 10-19-97 The Judge of the Court of the First Instance in Zacapa handed down orders to evict two hundred families from the Nuevo Gualan Cooperative (MOFANG). According to the President of the Administrative Council for the cooperative, Gerzon Ramirez, the eviction has no legal precedence and will only result in violence, noting that ~ the more than two hundred members of the cooperative bought their parcels of land when they constructed their homes, over twenty years ago.~ INDIGENOUS RIGHTS CENTRAL AMERICAN CONGRESS ON INDIGENOUS RIGHTS HELD 10-13-97 Delegations of Guatemalan indigenous communities participated this month in the Central American Congress on Indigenous Rights. Included among the nearly one hundred delegates attending the event, were ethnic leaders and government officials. The Congress was organized by the Central American Parliament (PARLACEN), the Human Rights Commissioner of Honduras, and the Honduran District Attorney for Ethnic Affairs. The event took place in Tegucigalpa, Honduras. WOMEN~S RIGHTS FIRST CONGRESS OF MAYAN WOMEN HELD 10-13-97 Over sixty Guatemala Mayan women attended the First Congress of Mayan Women held in the Yucatan, Mexico. During the event, thirty-three projects in artesanry, agriculture, education, the environment, and strengthening the local economy were discussed for possible financing. CHILD RIGHTS CASES OF INFANT ABUSE ARE DOCUMENTED 10-11-97 The Institutional Coordinator for the Promotion of the Rights of the Child (CIPRODENI) reported that between 1992 and 1995, there were 5,382 cases of infant abuse in Guatemala. Among those documented were 2,703 cases of physical abuse, 1,654 cases of sexual abuse, and 1,025 cases of abandonment. The statistics were gathered from hospitals and the Institute of Forensic Anthropology. CASA ALIANZA DEMANDS DETAINMENT OF SECURITY AGENTS 10-20-97 Director of Casa Alianza, Bruce Harris, denounced the participation of numerous security agents in the human rights violations of street children. Fifty National Police (PN) agents, fourteen private police, eleven mobile military police, four members of the Treasury Police, two former military commissioners, and one army officer were allegedly involved in the murder, rape, inhuman treatment, and abuse of street children in Guatemala. OTHER INFORMATION ABDUCTED CUC LEADER ESCAPES 10-12-97 Aparicio Perez Guzman, leader of the Committee for Campesino Unity (CUC), escaped from his captors on October 9. Perez Guzman was abducted on October 8, 1997 by six men identified as members of the G-2 of the military zone in Mazatenango (see HUMAN RIGHTS VIOLATIONS, # 18, 1997). The victim was reportedly threatened, drugged and brutally beaten. GROUP IS ACCOSTED WHILE MOURNING DEATH OF GAY LEADER 10-12-97 Members of a group of homosexual men and women participating in a memorial service at the Metropolitan Cathedral in Guatemala City were detained by police. The group was mourning the death of gay activist Luis Palencia or ~La Conchita,~ who was murdered on October 2 (see HUMAN RIGHTS VIOLATIONS, #18, 1997). Reportedly, just after the mass, the group of mourners walked to the site of the murder. There, homosexuals and transvestites publicly requested that police investigate the crime. Officers of the security forces then arrested several participants who were accused of being prostitutes, undocumented or inebriated. The officers allegedly secured thirteen grams of cocain from the participants. PRESIDENT ARZU AND RICARDO RAMIREZ TO RECEIVE AWARD 10-13-97 Guatemalan President Alvaro Arzu and Guatemala National Revolutionary Unity (URNG) former commander Ricardo Ramirez, a.k.a. Rolando Moran, are to receive the Prince of Asturias Prize in Spain on October 24. Presidential spokesperson Ricardo de la Torre reported that the award is similar to the Nobel Peace Prize, although the Prince of Asturias prize is geared only toward Latin America. DEMONSTRATION COMMEMORATES REVOLUTION 10-20-97 A demonstration, organized by labor unions, grassroots organizations, and human rights activists celebrated the fifty-third anniversary of the October 20, 1944 revolution in Guatemala. The Secretary General of the Labor and Popular Action Party (UASP), Edwin Ortega, reported that among the thousands of participants were women~s organizations, institutional organizations, human rights groups and other members of the Assembly of Civil Society, students, politicians and members of the Guatemala National Revolutionary Unity (URNG). The demonstration was preceded by several other events marking the occasion, including the Forum on the Privatization of Social Security. On October 19, event directors planned a homage to former President Jacobo Arbenz Guzman. QUETZALTENANGO COMMUNITY REMEMBERS REVOLUTION 10-21-97 Reportedly, three thousand campesinos, union members and former insurgents demonstrated in Quetzaltenango to commemorate the October 20, 1944 revolution in Guatemala. Indigenous congresswoman, Manuela Alvarado of the New Guatemala Democratic Front (FDNG), led the demonstration. The Worker~s Union in Quetzaltenango called on the government to fight corruption, lower unemployment and end violations of the Guatemalan Constitution and the Peace Accords. TEN NEW MILITARY POSTS OPENED IN GUATEMALA 10-16-97 Ten military posts, maintained by forty soldiers each, were opened in Guatemala. According to Minister of National Defense, Hector Mario Barrios Celada, the posts are to remain active until the time when the National Civil Police are able to assume their role in the country. Six of the ten military posts are reportedly located along the border with Belize in order to deter further destruction of the wooded lands in the area. PRESIDENTIAL HIGH COMMAND TO CONTINUE WORK UNTIL 2000 10-16-97 The Presidential High Command (EMP), the military entity devised to protect the president and his family, will continue its work until the year 2000. According to reports, President Alvaro Arzu decided to maintain the EMP until the end of his term, when at that time, his predecessor may determine its fate. The Peace Accords stipulate that the Presidential High Command be dissolved. However, since no date was ever specified in the accords, little incentive or obligation was ever created to terminate the EMP. CREATION OF SECOND ARMY IS IN THE PLANNING 10-17-97 According to General Benjamin Godoy Burbano, Commander of Military Zone 23 in Santa Elena, the Peten, the Minister of National Defense has planned for the creation of a second army to work strictly in the rainforest. The purpose of the army would be to protect the wooded areas of the Peten, and accordingly would remain subject to the orders of the Minister of Defense. Reportedly, the Committee for Campesino Unity, the Center for Human Rights Legal Action, and the Mutual Support Group for Families of the Disappeared, among other organizations, have denounced the creation of a second army. The organizations stated that army expansion would not only be costly, but would also create additional tension among the population. GUATEMALA RANKS 53RD IN ABILITY TO COMPETE GLOBALLY 10-16-97 Guatemala ranks fifty-third on the Index of Global Competitiveness. The figures were calculated and finalized by the Central American Institute for Business Administration (INCAE) and the Harvard Institute for International Development. According to the study, Central America~s performance on the whole is inadequate. The study recommends that the region take advantage of its geographical location while improving its basic infrastructure, technology base and financial stability. Similarly, the study suggested that the region could better its ranking if it were to focus more on strengthening its institutions. THIRTY-THREE BODIES UNCOVERED IN PANZOS 10-15-97 Fernando Moscoso, president of the Foundation of Forensic Anthropologists, reported that thirty-three bodies have been uncovered in the ongoing exhumations in Panzos, Alta Verapaz. The Panzos Massacre occurred on May 29, 1978. Those found guilty for the deaths were Walter Overdick Garcia, soldiers from the military base in Coban, the commander of the base, Guillermo de la Cruz, and Colonel Anibal Mendez. BOOK ON GUATEMALAN PRIESTS AND SHAMANS TO BE RELEASED 10-22-97 In November, Marsilio Publishers will release Scandals in the House of Birds: Shamans and Priests on Lake Atitlan, by Nathaniel Tarn and Martin Prechtel. Scandals in the House of Birds examines the roles of various religious sects, the Guatemalan Army and numerous organizations in the politics and life of the Tzutujil Maya village of Santiago Atitlan, Guatemala. Those interested in obtaining a copy should contact Marsilio Publishers, 853 Broadway, Suite 600, New York, New York 10003. The phone number is (212) 473-5300 and the fax number is (212) 473-7865. REMINDER Please call: President Clinton, asking him to sign an executive order requiring the declassification of all US documents pertaining to human rights violations in Guatemala. Phone # (202) 456-1111. Please call: Your senators and representatives weekly until they sign on to the Human Rights Information Act. The Senate version is S.1220 and the House of Representatives version is H.R. 2635. Please call or write: To thank your congresspersons after they have signed on to the act. IT IS VERY IMPORTANT that our representatives in Congress know we appreciate their commitment to this issue. Just as Guatemalans need to know the truth to bring to resolution a tragic period of their history, learning the full story of the US role in Guatemala can help bring closure to our own involvement in one of the saddest chapters of cold-war history. --Christian Science Monitor, July 30, 1997 *Dates written before the text indicate the dates these incidents were reported. The Guatemala Human Rights Commission/USA is a nonprofit, nonpartisan, humanitarian organization that monitors the human rights situation in Guatemala. Information in the Update that is not gathered directly is culled from various sources, including the Guatemalan Human Rights Commission (CDHG), Peace Brigades International, and the Guatemalan press, including Prensa Libre, La Hora, La Republica, Siglo Veintiuno, El Grafico, and Patrullaje Informativo. Edited by Cynthia M. Smith ISSN #1085-0864 ================================================================= NY Transfer News Collective * A Service of Blythe Systems Since 1985 - Information for the Rest of Us 339 Lafayette St., New York, NY 10012 http://www.blythe.org e-mail: nyt@blythe.org ================================================================= nytcamer-10.26.97-01:24:04-22992