More death threats in Guatemala Via NY Transfer News * All the News That Doesn't Fit source - "Alice Zachmann" Amnesty International URGENT ACTION APPEAL 11 June 2002 UA 173/02 Threats/Fear for Safety GUATEMALA Clara Arenas (f) ] Miguel Angel Albizurez ] Miguel Angel Sandoval ] Nery Rodenas ] human rights defenders Frank La Rue ] Mario Polanco ] Helen Mack (f) ] Abner Guoz ] Marielos Monzon ] journalists Ronaldo Robles ] Rosa Maria Bolanos (f) ] A clandestine organisation with apparent links to the army high command faxed a death threat to several of Guatemala's most prominent human rights organisations on 7 June, describing the human rights activists and journalists named above as enemigos a la patria (enemies of the state), and saying they would soon be killed. Those named are among the most prominent human rights activists in Guatemala. They and their organizations have played a critical role in efforts to prosecute former military leaders for human rights abuses, including 'disappearances' and massacres of Guatemala's indigenous people, during the civil conflict which began in the 1960s and was not formally ended until 1996. Guatemalan human rights activists have been experiencing a heightened wave of abuses during the last two years. The human rights organisations represented by those named above recently united to form the Movimiento Nacional de Derechos Humanos (National Human Rights Movement), which met with the Vice President to demand that the government investigate and dismantle the illegal and clandestine bodies believed to be responsible for the threats and intimidation. The government undertook to produce a report on the matter, which it presented while the UN Special Representative on Human Rights Defenders, Ms. Hina Jilani, was visiting the country. The report acknowledged that the police, but not the army, were involved in the clandestine bodies. Ms. Jilani interviewed government officials and human rights organisations, and concluded that the illegal and clandestine organisations responsible for the threats and intimidation were linked to the Guatemalan army and national police. The 7 June fax was signed 'Guatemaltecos de Verdad' (True Guatemalans). It accused those named, and the organizations they work for, of damaging Guatemala's image abroad through their work. It said that local human rights groups 'estan lidereadas por personajes cuyas ambiciones personales son antepuestas por encima de los intereses de la Patria...Esto quedo en evidencia con la visita al pais de Hina Jilani, a quiene la besaron los pies y se pusieron de alfombra...' (are led by people who put their own ambitions before the interests of the country... This was clear with the visit to Guatemala of Hina Jilani, whose feet they kissed and whom they let walk all over them...) 'La lista de los enemigos de la patria es grande y si las mentiras que contaron a la vieja jilani tienen un efecto en el pais los pajaros deberan pagarlo con su sangre...' (The list of the country's enemies is long and if the lies they told to that old lady Jilani have an effect on the country, the wankers will pay for it with their blood.' It said that those named above would be 'los primeros en sentir el sabor del acero de nuestras balas' (the first to experience the taste of the steel of our bullets). The message said that until now it had been possible to restrain someone within the Military Chiefs of Staff, referred to as 'Captain Nova', from acting against them, but 'estos malditos no aprenden ahora el y su equipo de cuaces tendra que echar punta' (these bastards have not learnt their lesson and so he (Captain Nova) and his men should take action). Also named on the list was Helen Mack, whose sister, anthropologist Myrna Mack, was stabbed to death in 1990. Helen Mack has battled ever since to bring the army officials who ordered her sister's death to justice. Myrna had been studying the plight of Mayan war refugees for the Guatemalan social science research institute AVANSCO. Journalists Rosa Maria Bolanos and Abner Guoz work for the daily newspapers siglo Veintiuno and El Periodico respectively. Both newspapers have been prominent critics of the government of President Portillo. Marielos Monzon and Ronaldo Robles host a morning radio show that often focuses on human rights issues. RECOMMENDED ACTION: Please send appeals to arrive as quickly as possible: - expressing concern for those named above, who were threatened with death in a fax sent on 7 June by someone apparently connected to the army Chiefs of Staff, and asking the authorities to take action to guarantee their safety; - calling on the authorities to publicly condemn this death threat, and to order an immediate investigation, making the results public and bringing those responsible to justice; - pressing the authorities to put maximum efforts into investigating and dismantling the illegal clandestine organisations believed to be behind such threats. APPEALS TO: Vice-president of the Republic of Guatemala: Lic. Juan Francisco Reyes Lopez 6a Avenida 'A' 4-18 Zona 1 Ciudad de Guatemala GUATEMALA Telegrams: Vicepresidente de la Republica, Ciudad de Guatemala, Guatemala Fax: 011 502 239 0090 (please keep trying) Salutation: Dear Vice-president/Senor Vicepresidente Secretary of Strategic Affairs: Lic. Edgar A. Gutierrez Secretario de Asuntos Estrategicos Secretaria de Asuntos Estrategicos 6a Avenida 'A' 3-53, Zona 1 Ciudad de Guatemala GUATEMALA Fax: 011 502 2322886 Salutation: Senor Secretario/Dear Secretary Attorney General: Lic. Carlos David de Leon Argueta Fiscal General de la Republica Fiscalia General del Ministerio Publico 8a. Avenida 10-57 Tercer nivel Zona 1 Ciudad de Guatemala GUATEMALA Fax: 011 502 221 2718 Salutation: Senor Fiscal/Dear Sir Chief of Staff of the Armed Forces: General de Brigada Robin Malconi Moran Munoz Jefe del Estado Mayor de Defensa Nacional Ministerio de Defensa Nacional 2 Avenida 4-63, Zona 10 Ciudad de Guatemala GUATEMALA Fax: 011 502 339 2478 Salutation: Senor General de Brigada/Dear General COPIES TO: Human Rights Organisation: Alianza Contra la Impunidad (ACI) 1a Calle 0-11 Colonia El Sauce Zona 2 Ciudad de Guatemala GUATEMALA Phone/fax: 011 502 251 3023/ 232 2651 Newspaper: Diario Prensa Libre 13 Calle 9-31, Zona l Ciudad de Guatemala GUATEMALA Fax: 011 502 251 8768 Ambassador Ariel Rivera Irias Embassy of Guatemala 2220 R St. NW Washington DC 20008 Fax: 1 202 745 1908 PLEASE SEND APPEALS IMMEDIATELY. Amnesty International is a worldwide grassroots movement that promotes and defends human rights. Urgent Action Network Amnesty International USA PO Box 1270 Nederland CO 80466-1270 Email: uan@aiusa.org http://www.amnestyusa.org/urgent/ Phone: 303 258 1170 Fax: 303 258 7881 ================================================================= 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 ================================================================= nytcov-06.11.02-19:15:54-24779