Human Rights UPDATE#16 9/12/97 Guatemala Via NY Transfer News Collective * All the News that Doesn't Fit source: Guatemala Human Rights Commission/USA Guatemala Human Rights UPDATE #16/97 Guatemala Human Rights Commission/USA September 12, 1997 CASE UPDATES APPEALS FOR AMNESTY DENIED IN MYRNA MACK CASE 9-10-97 The Third Court of Appeals denied a request for amnesty in the case of the murdered anthropologist MYRNA MACK CHANG. Accused intellectual authors of the murder, former military officers Edgar Augusto Godoy, Colonel Juan Valencia Osorio and Juan Oliva Carranza, were denied their appeal for amnesty for a second time (see #12,1997). DEATH THREATS NATIONAL POLICE UNION MEMBER IS THREATENED 8-30-97 MANUEL DE JESUS CIRIN AGUILAR, Secretary General of the Union of National Police Workers, has received death threats. Reportedly, on August 27 a man called the General Conference of Guatemalan Workers (CGTG), the official headquarters for the union, and told Cirin to leave the country. PROSECUTORS, OFFICIALS IN CHIMALTENANGO ARE THREATENED 8-30-97 HECTOR EDUARDO ROBLEDO, prosecutor in Chimaltenango, alleged that four groups of kidnappers operating along the Pan-American Highway have threatened Public Ministry (MP) prosecutors and other officials working in the area. Robledo reported that the perpetrators have delivered the threats via telephone. EXTRAJUDICIAL EXECUTIONS TWO ARE LYNCHED IN CHIMALTENANGO 8-30-97 In Panabajal, San Juan Comalapa, Chimaltenango, two alleged thieves were lynched on August 28. According to reports, the two victims, accompanied by four unidentified people, had stolen a vehicle. Community members proceeded to capture the two, beat them and hanged them with barbed wire. Reportedly, when authorities arrived at the scene, the community gave them an arm they had dismembered from one of the victims. Three Torture Victims Found 9-03-97 Three male victims were discovered along a road on the El Mixqueno finca (plantation or estate) in Cocales, Suchitepequez. The bodies reportedly showed signs of torture and the coup de grace. TWO FOUND DEAD WITH COUP DE GRACE 9-01-97 Authorities in Atitlan, Solola reportedly discovered the bodies of PEDRO COC CHUINALS (twenty-five) and JUAN TZINA AJTUJAL (eighteen). The two were located along the banks of Lake Atitlan with various gunshot wounds and the coup de grace. OTHER HUMAN RIGHTS VIOLATIONS NIECE OF ROSALINA TUYUC IS VICTIM OF SEXUAL ASSAULT 9-05-97 The niece of Congresswoman Rosalina Tuyuc was raped in her home in Caserio Yaxones, Chanquijya, Solola on August 27. The assailant, an unidentified male, was reportedly seen loitering around the victim's residence for a week prior to the assault. According to reports, the accused appeared at the child's home, questioned her, confirmed her identity and proceeded to sexually violate her. The victim's father, Juan Tuyuc, has received continued death threats since his demobilization as a member of the Guatemalan National Revolutionary Unity (URNG). The victim's aunt, Rosalina Tuyuc, is the Third Vice-President of the Guatemalan Congress, and a leader of the National Coordinating Committee of Widows of Guatemala (CONAVIGUA). Tuyuc denounced the violation. TWO HUMAN RIGHTS ACTIVISTS ATTACKED 8-29-97 The Council of Ethnic Communities Ranujel Junam (CERJ) denounced an attack on two of its activists, FELIPA TOJ GOMEZ and MANUELA MACARIO MORALES. According to reports, on August 26, six armed men dressed in olive green uniforms entered the homes of the two victims in Cacabal II, Chinique de las Flores, Quiche and attempted to abduct them. The two victims escaped and fled to CERJ offices in Santa Cruz, Quiche. CERJ alleged that two of the assailants are suspected of being brothers Jose and Tomas Mejia Ajtzac, who have reportedly attempted to bottleneck the women's human rights work since this past April, accusing the activists of being members of the Guatemalan National Revolutionary Unity (URNG). INDIGENOUS ARE KILLED IN LAND EVICTION 9-05-97 The Defensoria Maya condemned use of violence and repression by Guatemalan security forces on September 3 and 4 in Sayaxche, the Peten. Reportedly, on September 3, the government authorized the violent removal of displaced families who were squatters on the Bramadero finca. During the eviction, six unarmed Mayans were killed, including four adults and two children. On September 4, a second removal took place in Selimon, El Paraiso, the Peten, when military forces and the National Police (PN) evicted the squatters and burned their homes. MIGUEL DOMINGO XOL was killed in the violence. Reportedly, on September 4 at 5:00 pm, nearly one hundred of those evicted from the Santa Amelia finca in Sayaxche, the Peten on September 3, attacked members of the National Civil Police (PNC) and the Special Police Force (FEP). During the attack, one person died. The Council of Displaced Guatemalans (CONDEG) and the National Indigenous and Campesino Coordinating Committee (CONIC) have denounced the government's role in the violence. OTHER VIOLENCE TWO POLICE OFFICERS KILLED 9-10-97 The chief of police in Tiquisate, Escuintla, another officer and the driver of their vehicle were all killed in an ambush by a group of unidentified people in Orqueta, Escuintla. TWO KILLED BY IXMULA COMMUNITY 9-11-97 According to reports, two presumed cattle rustlers were shot and killed in Ixmula, Cuilco, Huehuetenango by members of the community on August 31 of this year. The two were allegedly caught attempting to steal a cow, when they were captured and transported to a secluded area where community members tried and sentenced them to death. The victims were reportedly shot immediately thereafter. According to reports, members of the community have threatened to continue to shoot rustlers and other criminals. ECONOMIC, SOCIAL AND CULTURAL RIGHTS Evictions Authorized on Izabal Fincas 9-02-97 The office of the District Attorney in Puerto Barrios, Izabal reported that on September 1, the Court of the First Instance issued orders to evict squatters from five fincas in the region. Reportedly, the National Police (PN) are to carry out the evictions. SQUATTERS ON SAN MARCOS FINCAS ARE EVICTED 9-01-97 National Civil Police (PNC) officers and army soldiers evicted squatters on the Australia finca and the El Tablero finca in Tumbador, San Marcos on August 27. Among those detained for occupying the land were ALBERTO AGUILAR AGUILAR (forty), LEONCIO AGUILAR (twenty-five), MARIANO AGUILAR LOPEZ (twenty- two) and GUILLERMO AGUILAR (thirty-three). According to reports, nearly four hundred Special Police Force officers and more than sixty soldiers cordoned off the two fincas to prevent those who were evicted from returning. This is the sixth time that squatters on the two fincas have been evicted since the initial one in December 1995. FINCAS ARE INVADED IN COBAN 9-08-97 In Coban, Alta Verapaz, numerous fincas have been occupied by groups of squatters displaced by the internal conflict. Several court ordered evictions are pending. According to the Public Ministry, the occupation of the fincas has resulted in the estimated loss of nearly three million quetzales because of a decline in production. Among those fincas invaded include El Centavo in Manzana, and Chitzul, Salinas, Nueva Cerros, El Playon Tucuru, and Panzos in Coban, Alta Verapaz. THE NUMBER OF URBAN 'SQUATTER COMMUNITIES' IS ON THE RISE 8-31-97 Miguel Quiej, member of the National Unity of Squatter Communities of Guatemala (UNASGUA) reported that in July alone, seven new settlements were established in the region around Guatemala City. These new communities increase the total number in the area to 350, located primarily in zones six, seven, twelve and eighteen, as well as in Chinautla, Amatitlan, Mixco and Villa Canales among others. The large majority of the squatter communities lack basic infrastructure, including electricity and potable water. Despite their requests for such services, many of the communities cannot afford to pay the costs or have been turned away because they do not have titles to the property. UNION MEMBERS DEMONSTRATE AGAINST ECONOMIC POLICIES, VIOLENCE 8-28-97 Union members representing both the interests of the public and the private sector demonstrated on August 28 in protest to the government's economic policies. Protestors demanded an end to the violence that pervades the country, while accusing the Guatemalan government of implementing economic policies which benefit only a small portion of the population. INDIGENOUS RIGHTS EQUALITY COMMISSION ON EDUCATIONAL REFORM IS ESTABLISHED 9-01-97 An Equality Commission on Educational Reform, established through the Accord on the Identity and Rights of the Indigenous, was recently established. The Commission, whose purpose is to design and implement an educational reform package which responds to the cultural and ethnic diversity in Guatemala, is comprised of indigenous representatives Demetrio Coti, Obdulio Oson, Daniel Boa Sanchez Brito and Mayra Leiva. ASSASSINATED LEADER'S KILLERS ARE SENTENCED 9-08-97 The Sentencing Court of Salama, Baja Verapaz handed down a sentence of twenty years in prison for both Pedro Camaja and Mateo Calo Siprian for their roles as the intellectual authors in the assassination of Verapaces indigenous leader DIEGO ROSALES SENTE. Among those applauding the sentence were Maria Cuxil of the Mutual Support Group for Families of the Disappeared (GAM) and Carlos Chen Cuc of the National Indigenous and Campesino Coordinating Committee (CONIC). Rosales was assassinated in July 1996 in San Juan, Cubulco, Baja Verapaz. Prior to his death, Rosales spent years struggling to convince the National Electricity Institute (INDE) to grant property titles to those families uprooted by the construction of the Chixoy Dam. Rosales was also an active member of the National Advancement Party (PAN). WOMEN'S RIGHTS GUATEMALA HAS HIGHEST RATE OF ILLITERACY AMONG WOMEN 9-01-97 Nineth Morales, member of the organization Mujeres Tierra Viva reported that only one in every eight Guatemalan female children, who begin primary schooling, reach the sixth grade. In the 1997 Report on Human Development, Guatemala was cited as having a 51.7% rate of illiteracy among women, while approximately seventy-three in every one hundred indigenous women are illiterate. Reportedly, among those obstacles in the way of female literacy include the designation of family resources for education to male children and the likelihood of females becoming mothers or domestic workers. OTHER INFORMATION US HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES CONTINUES FUNDING TO ARMY SCHOOL 9-04-97 The US House of Representatives decided to continue funding the US Army School of the Americas at Fort Benning, Georgia. In a 217-210 vote, the House defeated Representative Esteban Torres' amendment that would have cut all US military training grants to Latin American soldiers attending the school. Since 1989, Maryknoll priest Fr. Roy Bourgeois has led a campaign to close the school. Opposition increased last year when the school admitted to using training manuals with references to torture, executions and other human rights violations from 1989 to 1991. Nineteen of the twenty-six soldiers linked to the 1989 murder of six Jesuit priests and two women in El Salvador were School of the Americas graduates. The US School of the Americas receives most of its funding through the defense budget. RODRIGO ASTURIAS RETURNS TO GUATEMALA 9-07-97 Rodrigo Asturias, a.k.a. Gaspar Ilom, former guerrilla commander and leader of the dismantled Revolutionary Organization of the People in Arms (ORPA), officially returned to Guatemala on September 6 amidst excitement and speculation. Asturias, ending his exile in Mexico, returned to Guatemala by plane in the accompaniment of his lawyer Marco Vinicio Castaneda. According to Asturias, he has returned to collaborate in the formation of the Guatemalan National Revolutionary Unity (URNG) as a political party. The URNG welcomed the return. Meanwhile, various political factions are calling for the former commander's detainment. According to Guatemalan Republican Front (FRG) leader, Byron Barrientos, Asturias "should be detained by security forces and placed in the hands of the courts in order to shed light on any possible links between the former guerrilla and the kidnaping of Olga de Novella." Attorney General AciscloValladares Molina reported that Asturias was in no danger of being detained and tried, as the Law on National Reconciliation pardoned all grievous crimes which occurred during the armed conflict. INTERNATIONAL COMMUNITY CRITICIZES SLOW PACE OF LEGAL REFORM 9-11-97 The second meeting of the Consultation Group for Guatemala took place in Antigua Guatemala, Sacatepequez. In the name of the international community, delegates from the United States and the United Nations Development Program requested an explanation from the Guatemalan government for its inability to promptly administer justice and legal reform in the country. In response, Raquel Zelaya indicated that the Commission for the Strengthening of the Administration of Justice, in collaboration with the Attorney General, the National Civil Police, the Supreme Court, and other organizations, is presently analyzing proposals for constitutional reform and the administration of justice. Judge Esther Lemus added that a program which will modernize the Judicial Branch is to be fully implemented between now and the year 2002. 2,321 GUATEMALANS DEPORTED IN NINE MONTHS 8-29-97 The Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS) reported that during the nine month period between October 1996 and July 1997, there was a record number of deportations of illegal immigrants. 75,743 people from Mexico, Honduras, El Salvador, the Dominican Republic, Colombia and Jamaica, among others, were deported. Of the total, 2,321 Guatemalans were deported. BODY EXHUMED IN CHIMALTENANGO 9-01-97 The remains of MANUEL YAC DE LEON were exhumed by anthropologists and forensic specialists working in the garden of the San Andreas Sajcabaja, Chimaltenango convent. According to Juana Ventura, in 1982 her husband was taken from their home in Pachalum by men dressed in olive green uniforms. FORMER MILITARY SOLDIERS GO ON A HUNGER STRIKE 9-04-97 Members of the Association of Disabled Ex-Soldiers and Specialists of the Guatemalan Army (ADEGUA) protested the lack opportunities, legal or otherwise, available to soldiers disabled during the armed conflict. After failed attempts to speak with legislators, the group declared a hunger strike in front of the National Palace. The protestors have asked Congress to pass a law that would provide higher and more immediate, rather than retroactive, pensions for the disabled veterans. According to Walter Robles, the lawyer representing the protestors, the group includes sixty former military soldiers. THIRD WAVE OF REFUGEES RETURN TO GUATEMALA 9-01-97 A third wave of Guatemalan refugees who have lived in Chiapas, Mexico returned on August 31. According to the United Nations High Commission on Refugees (ACNUR), the Guatemalan refugees have lived in Mexico for fifteen years because of the internal armed conflict. The group reportedly returned to San Mateo Ixtatan, Huehuetenango. *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 Survey from the Guatemala Human Rights Commission/USA 1. How long have you been receiving the Update?_____________________________________ 2. What is your occupation?_______________________________________________________ 3. On a scale of 1 to 10, how do you rate the Update in its usefulness?(1 is low, 10 is high)_________ 4. 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