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From: Max Gimbel <mgimbel@ghrc-usa.org> Subject: GHRC UPDATE Vol 15 No 12 Date: 23 Jun 2003 21:12:54 -0400 Guatemala Human Rights Commission - USA UPDATE Vol 15 No 12 June 15, 2003 INSIDE... XAMAN CASE GOES TO TRIAL GAM SUFFERS INTIMIDATION Q15 MILLION FOR COFFEE CRISIS TSE REJECTS MONTT'S CANDIDACY MORE SPECIAL EDITION: GENOCIDE CASE CAMPAIGN CASE UPDATES XAMAN CASE GOES TO TRIAL 6/6/03 - En San Pedro Carchá on June 3, the third trial began against 14 of the 25 military personnel, implicated in the Xamán massacre which took the lives of eleven civilians from Aurora 8 de Octubre, Xamán, Chisec on October 5, 1995. In the first two trials the soldiers were acquitted. The first trial was initiated by Rigoberta Menchú, who acted as co-plaintiff. The second trial began in 1999 and ended eight months later with a sentence of absolution for 15 of the 25 accused, the rest were sentenced to 10 to 12 years in prison, convicted of homicide and grave injury. This verdict was later annulled. DEATH THREATS JOURNALISTS RECEIVE DEATH THREATS 6/12/03 - Journalists PABLO RAX CHUB and Ricardo Castro have recently been subjected to a series of death threats. Concerns for their safety have been heightened following the death of Rax Chub's eighteen-year-old cousin, RAUL RAX COC on June 6. Ricardo Castro, who is a member of the Institute of Social Security for Journalists (IPSP), has reportedly received numerous telephone and written death threats over the last few weeks. In one letter he was given details of his death, where he would be buried and told that no one would regret his death. On 30 May, he received a call in which he was told he would never return home. The threats reportedly started more than one and a half years ago when Ricardo Castro challenged the membership of the ex-head and current spokesperson of the Antigua Policia Nacional Civil (PNC) in the IPSP. Pablo Rax Chub directs the news show La Noticia which is transmitted on Radio Cobán. His program has denounced the misuse of municipal funds by ruling party government officials and the discovery of ten secret runways, allegedly used for the illegal transport of drugs. He has recently carried out investigations into the proliferation of drug trafficking in Alta Verapaz department as well as evidence of corruption by government officials. This has resulted in numerous anonymous telephone calls from unidentified individuals, who have told him to stop carrying out his investigations. On May 30, he was warned that he should be careful as he was being watched and that he should neither write about nor say anything that was none of his business. On June 6, Rax Chub's 18-year-old cousin, Raul Rax Coc, was knifed and later died in hospital. Whie the incident may have been an unfortunate common crime, the possibility that it may be linked to Pablo Rax Chub's investigative work cannot ruled out. RADIO DIRECTOR RECEIVES DEATH THREATS 6/12/03 - Alberto Sandoval, director of Radio Tamazulapa broadcasting out of Jutiapa, has been receiving death threats by phone warning him not to criticize mayoral candidate, Basilio Cordero. According to Sergio Reyes, member of the Association of Guatemalan Journalists, the intimidations are being committed by Cordero sympathizers in response to Sandoval's commentary about the differences between two political parties. FUNDAMENTAL HUMAN RIGHTS VIOLATIONS ATTEMPT AGAINST PRIEST UNINVESTIGATED 6/4/03 - The Bishops Conference of Guatemala (CEG) expressed its concern of the lack of progress in the investigation of crimes against priest EDGAR ESTUARDO DEL CID. On May 16, Del Cid, the parish priest of Guanagazapa, Escuintla was kidnapped, robbed of the parish vehicle and threatened with death, while he was accompanying some local youths. In spite of CEG reports to the local and national police and to the Public Prosecutor's Office, no information has been found to advance the case. ANN DENOUNCES AGGRESSION 6/6/03 - The New National Alliance (ANN) party reported that a member of the Guatemalan Republican Front (FRG) killed one of their campaigners on June 4 in San Juan Ermita, Chiquimula. The total number of deaths of ANN members in the region has now risen to three and six others have been wounded by firearms. According to Jorge Soto, ANN Secretary General, members of the FRG party attacked and killed ISIDERIO QUIZAR LÓPEZ with a machete. FORTY-FOUR KIDNAPPED 6/6/03 - One of the policemen fighting against organized crime, Rosario Acevedo Peñate, indicated that forty-four kidnappings were reported to the Public Prosecutor's Office this year, however, many more have gone unreported. Forty percent of the reported kidnappings took place in Guatemala City, and 35 were extortions, in which the kidnappers demanded money in exchange for the return of the victims. Peñate said that citizen safety has decreased, that the National Civil Police (PNC) has no support, and that citizens have lost faith in prosecuting bodies, which is the reason that people do not report the acts. Peñate also indicated that working conditions in the public prosecutor's office are difficult due to insufficient personnel. GAM SUFFERS INTIMIDATION 6/11/03 - On the occasion of its 19th anniversary, the Guatemalan human rights organization Mutual Support Group (GAM) suffered new acts of intimidation, proving that those who have resorted to acts of terror remain dedicated to intimdating anyone who opposes their interests. On June 4, 2003, at 4 pm, while GAM was commemorating 19 years of working with the families of the disappeared, a group of armed men repeatedly fired guns into the air in front of a GAM office, located in Zone 12 of Guatemala City. Authorities denounced the act, but sent no security officials to begin an investigation. No investigation nor any sign of investigation has since occurred. On June 10, 2003, a GAM vehicle was stolen from the same installation that had witnessed violence the week before. The vehicle was used in various programs that serve the families of disappeared persons. PDH OFFICIAL MURDERED, OTHERS THREATENED 6/13/03 - JOSUÉ ISRAEL LÓPEZ, a local official in the Human Rights Ombudsman's Office (PDH) in Chimaltenango, Guatemala, was murdered in a drive-by shooting on June 11 in Guatemala City. He had received an unexplained phone call hours earlier, apparently telling him to meet someone in Guatemala City's Zone 6, where his body was found with four bullet holes. The UN Verification Mission in Guatemalan (MINUGUA) said López's killing "is part of a wave of violence and lack of public safety that the country is suffering." Prior to his death, Israel López had worked as a judge in various regions of Guatemala, specializing in cases concerning drug trafficking and the environment. He took over the post at the PDH in Chimaltenango in April 2003, after the previous Auxiliary (representative) left due to a series of death threats. These were reportedly prompted by investigations the Auxiliary was carrying out into human rights violations linked to the military and continuing attacks against human rights defenders and victims of the armed conflict. López had been continuing this work. A few hours after the murder of Israel López, an Auxiliary from the PDH office in the Izabal department Waldemar Barrera Trinidad, and LUIS RAMOS from the PDH office in el Petén received death threats. With the support of human rights organizations, the PDH has in recent months played a key role in negotiating a proposal to the Guatemalan government to establish an international commission to investigate the human rights abuses and corruption allegedly carried out by illegal armed groups and clandestine security apparatus (CICIACS). WOMEN'S RIGHTS SEXUAL HARRASMENT AND GENOCIDE OVERLOOKED 6/11/03 - Representatives from the FRG party decided that some the reforms to the Penal Code do not conform to the classification of an offense, such as sexual harassment and genocide. According to the Representative Otto Cabrero, of the Guatemalan Republican Front (FRG), the classification of sexual harassment as an offense could cause problems. "Guatemalans often tend to use sexual gestures to flatter women; this could provoke a misunderstanding," he argued. The offense of sexual assault was included among forty-two proposed reforms to the Code, but of those forty-two, only thirty were instituted. The project, which already received a favorable report, includes classifications against domestic violence and psychological patrimony, sexual liberty and sexual exploitation. Giovanna Lemus from the Network Against Violence to Women, declared that with the exclusion of sexual harassment as an offense the State contravenes international agreements. She added that harassment does not have anything to do with being flattering, but rather insults the dignity and rights of the woman. Effectively, sexual harassment has not been classified as a crime, but genocide was in 1974. The members of the commission dismissed a reform to increase the punishment from 30 to 50 years in prison, when genocidal practices are committed against women. VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN IN MAY 6/11/03 - In the month of May alone, sixty-three women were victims of violence and accidents. Five were raped and two were stabbed to death. Firearms were responsible for the death of eleven women and injured four more. Eight women died in accidents and twenty women were injured. Four women suffered from attempt of lynching, and one woman committed suicide. Three have disappeared and three other women were kidnapped. RIGHTS OF THE CHILD MURDER OF YOUNG PEOPLE ON THE RISE 6/3/03 - According to Arturo Echeverría, head of Casa Alianza, a non- governmental organization affiliated with the New York City-based Covenant House, that advocates for abandoned children and youth, said on June 1, a total of 240 young people under 22 years of age have been murdered in Guatemala in just the past five months. "Among the victims are 23 street children," said Echeverría. In addition, some of the murder victims have been former gang members who were participating in rehabilitation programs. According to Casa Alianza figures, in 2001, 350 children and young people were killed, while in 2002, more than 400 were murdered. "The levels of violence against minors have passed the limits of tolerance," said Sergio Morales, Guatemalan Human Rights Procurator. Even worse, he said, is that the authorities who should be protecting the public "do nothing to punish those responsible" for the murders of the young people. (La Nación from ACAN-EFE) CONGRESS APPROVES CHILD PROTECTION LAW 6/5/03 - On June 4, Congress unanimously passed the Comprehensive Law of Childhood and Adolescence after more than ten years of debate. In 1999, the Legislative Branch had approved the Code of Childhood and Youth, which was never enforced. Nidia Aguilar del Cid, of the Human Right's Ombudsman's office of Childhood Defense, expressed that it is long awaited good news. "The conditions of life of children and adolescents are going to improve considerably," said Aguilar. In 1999, Guatemala ratified the Convention on Rights of the Child, and since then a framework was necessary for proper implementation. Alejandra Vásquez, executive secretary of the social movement for the rights of youth and childhood, said that they fought for thirteen years to approve the law. "Although the law does not guarantee comprehensive development, it establishes the legal framework in which to implement this objective as public policy," noted Vásquez. The new law consists of 265 articles, with the principal aim of achieving sustainable development of Guatemalan children and adolescences, within a democratic framework and unrestricted respect for human rights, establishing the rights of an adequate standard of living for girls, boys and teenagers. In addition, it establishes the national commission of childhood and adolescence, which will formulate pro-child public policy. TEACHERS AND PARENTS OPPOSE PRIVATIZATION 6/10/03 - Hundreds of Guatemalan parents and students protested on June 9 to show their opposition to the Guatemalan government's plan to set up local school boards to administer the public schools, a move they see as the privatization of the school system, as well as to protest government accord 247-2002 that would regulate the functions of public health facilities. Protesters in front of the presidential offices in Guatemala City shouted, "No to the privatization of education... we do not want school boards." One protester, José González, observed that the State has the obligation to provide free education, and to set up boards to place the students' parents in the position of running the schools is simply a way for the government to avoid its responsibility. Moisés Fuentes, a leader of the Nation Teachers' Assembly (ANM), also criticized the Education Ministry for not having hired teachers to fill some 5,000 vacancies, for not paying nearly two thousand teachers who have been working on temporary contracts, for not providing government subsidized meals and for government pressure on parents to join the ruling political party or face having their children lose scholarship funds. Guatemalan president Alfonso Portillo legalized the local school boards earlier this year as a way to put pressure on teachers who had been on strike for nearly two months. Some government authorities said recently that the measure would not be put into effect. (In part from La Nación from AP, Costa Rica) INDIGENOUS RIGHTS GUATEMALA RECOGNIZES MAYAN TONGUE 6/4/03 - Congress on May 4 voted to officially recognize Chalchiteco, a Mayan language spoken by 24 communities deep in Guatemala's northern highlands, as the country's 22nd second language. Official recognition obligates the National Academy of Mayan Languages to preserve, study and encourage the dissemination of Chalchiteco to other parts of the country, said Ramon Vicente, a Mayan activist who was a chief supporter of officially recognizing the language. Chalchiteco, which means "tiger's children" is a language spoken almost exclusively by Chalchiteco Mayans, a small group of subsistence farmers who occupy an isolated corner of the Cuchumatanes mountains in Huehuetenango province, 75 miles northwest of the capital, Guatemala City. (In part from AP) GROUPS PUSH FOR GREATER REPRESENTATION 6/10/03 - On June 7, representatives from 32 indigenous rights organizations and delegates from 14 political parties met in a national forum to discuss the importance of political participation by indigenous communities. In a similar proposal, organizations from Project Utzil, made an official call to political parties to include concrete actions to eradicate racism in their platforms. LABOR RIGHTS LABOR CODE REFORMS CRITICIZED 6/7/03 - Civil society organizations criticized reforms to the Labor Code, as political makeup to help expedite negotiations of the Central American Free Trade Agreement (CAFTA). According to a communiqué of the Coordinating Office of Maquilas (ICM), the reforms represent an act of arrogance and exclusion, as they seek neither dialogue nor consensus from the effected sectors or labor experts. Regardless, they have promoted changes to this legal norm. The ICM affirmed that the offers presented by the civil society organizations became fragmented and distorted in the hands of the Labor Ministry, like the initiatives of sexual harassment, domestic housework, and infants. For instance, recommendations related to domestic work to include standards of work hour minimums, labor benefits and fixed salary went largely ignored. "The offers of reforms that the President has presented do not incorporate the interests and needs of the women's movement, unions, rural workers, children and adolescent laborers, and persons with disabilities," said an ICM official. LAND RIGHTS CAMPESINOS REFUSE TO ABANDON FARM 6/2/03 - Representatives for the campesino association, El Esfuerzo, of the municipality of Colomba, Quetzaltenango proclaim that they will not leave the farm La Florida, even amidst pressure by the Bank El Café (BANCAFE). José Antonio Cayax, the president of the association, declared that the government, through the Land Fund, should resolve the situation for the farm workers, who are in need of land to cultivate. La Florida, which has been seized by BANCAFE since September 2001, owes several debts to the owner of the property. According to those interviewed, the 173 families who occupied the farm on May 17, 2003, have decided to remain on the property, claiming as justification that they were born, raised and worked on the farm SOCIAL, CULTURAL, ECONOMIC RIGHTS Q15 MILLION FOR COFFEE CRISIS 5/31/03 - According to the Agrarian Platform's bulletin, after a number of negotiations, driven by campesino associations, the government began the process of allocating funds for execution of the Plan for Social Emergencies for the Coffee Crisis. The organization indicated that on May 30 the government distributed the first Q15 million of the Q210 million included in the plan. The money will be used for the leasing of lands for growing corn and beans, and allocation of the monies will favor unemployed families from Quetzaltenango, San Marcos, Quiché and Sololá. According to Agrarian Platform, the Plan for Social Emergencies provides the disbursement of food relief for 40,000 families. However, to date, the government has only given support for 4,180 families, even though the Plan, currently in its sixth month, was ratified by the State in December 2002. The Agrarian Platform, a group of civil society organizations, stressed that the government expenditure was produced after hundreds of farmers threatened to occupy the central headquarters of Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock, and Nutrition (MAGA) and other such events related to labor and agriculture. Finally, because of the little headway made to date, there is a demand that the Plan be extended for six more months. CA LEADERS DISCUSS CAFTA DIFFERENCES 6/12/03 - President Ricardo Maduro said on June 12 he hopes to heal a split among Central American nations over free trade negotiations with the United States. "Guatemala wants to open to the North American market more rapidly than the rest of the region," Maduro said in an interview with the Associated Press. "The other four countries of Central America plan to do it gradually, in 20 years, not before, because of the economic limitations they face." Guatemala has proposed a five-year period for cutting tariffs. Maduro said the plans to meet on June 13 with Guatemalan President Alfonso Portillo to try to overcome the differences that threaten to cause yet another difficulty for the Central American common market region, which has repeatedly been divided by local political and economic squabbles. "If Guatemala achieves its plan, then it will not be possible to make a reality of the historic dream of having a Central America which is economically and socially integrated because each nation will have different duties," Maduro said. The next round of negotiations between the United States and Central America are scheduled for June 16-20 in Tegucigalpa, the Honduran capital. The pact is meant to be a steppingstone toward a hemispheric free-trade area. (From AP) HEALTH RIGHTS HEALTH WORKERS ON STRIKE 6/10/03 - After the Ministry of Labor ignored the deadline posed by the National Health Workers' Union to repeal Government Accord 247-2002, union members went on strike. A union representative stated that the accord essentially privatizes the health system, which would pass administrative responsibilities and determination for cost of services to board members and health associations. Millions of Guatemalans, especially in rural areas, rely on the now-jeopardized subsidized care from public health centers. RIGHT TO JUSTICE EXHUMATIONS BRING JUSTICE 6/7/03 - None of the 40,000 missing Guatemalans tracked by the human rights organization the Mutual Support Group (GAM) are living, director Mario Polanco said on June 3, on the 19-year anniversary of the group's founding. "We have no hope of finding alive any of the disappeared," announced Polanco at a press conference. According to Polanco's figures, Guatemalans account for half of the disappeared in all of Latin America, and 40 percent internationally. He emphasized, however, that since the signing of the peace accords in 1996 the disappearances have stopped. In early June, six bodies have been recovered from a clandestine gravesites in Chisec, Alta Verapaz and Zacualpa, Quiché. On June 6, the remains of 68 massacre victims were buried in a ceremony in Xiquín Sinahí, San Juan Comalapa, Chimaltenango. And in Rabinal, Baja Verapaz, the bodies of 67 victims have recently been given a proper burial. All of the victims were massacred during the "scorched earth" policy of the early 80s. RIGHT TO A CLEAN AND HEALTHY ENVIRONMENT ENVIRONMENTALISTS CRITICIZE OIL EXPLORATION 6/2/03 - Environmental groups in Guatemala have expressed concern that the Guatemalan government has conceded two areas, including one of 180,000 acres closeto the Maya Biosphere for oil exploration. "It is true that the government has chosen two areas for international public bidding, but we have the approval of the National Environmental Commission, the National Commission for Protected Areas (CONAP) and the Environmental Ministry," said Ministry of Energy and Mines spokesman Juan Carlos Ruiz on June 1. However, according to a report by the CONAP secretary, and cited by the Guatemalan local daily newspaper Prensa Libre, the Ministry of Energy and Mines must "amend the paperwork" and take into consideration an environmental impact study. A number of environmental protection groups have voiced their opposition to the oil exploration, saying it would damage the Biosphere and would not be of any benefit to local residents. Ruiz, for his part, said oil-related activities generated some $50 million in State income during 2002. "It is the fourth source of traditional income after coffee, sugar and bananas," he said. (La Nación from AP, Costa Rica) EARTH DAY PROTESTS 6/6/03 - On International Earth Day, a group of environmental activists infiltrated the Guatemalan National Palace to criticize the lack of government policy to protect natural resources. Demands included the deauthorization of oil companies to explore the Sarstún River, to protect the Punta de Manabique, the Yaxha National Monument, to investigate the four thousand Caoba trees that were illegally harvested in the Petén, and to strengthen the Prosecutor of Crimes Against the Environment. Protests manifested in Quetzaltenango, Guatemala's second largest city, where activists, students and labor groups marched to demand stronger environmental laws, according to Oswaldo Saquich, Secretary General of the Workers' Union of Quetzaltenango (UTQ). PEACE ACCORDS AI TARGETS EMP 6/13/03 - Amnesty International (AI) released the first Internet "flash" movie addressing a Guatemalan military outfit that operates as a squad of spies and assassins and has a long history of human rights abuses. While Guatemalan President Alfonso Portillo has promised to dismantle the EMP (Estado Mayor Presidencial), his Presidential General Staff, he not only continues to fund the unit, but has consistently increased its budget by millions of dollars annually since he was elected to office. AI is utilizing the two and a half-minute internet flash animation piece as part of a wider action to put pressure on the Portillo administration to eliminate the EMP by the end of October 2003, the most recent date proposed by Portillo. The dismantling of the EMP was a central recommendation of the Peace Accords signed in 1996 and has been a key concern of Guatemala's human rights movement and of the international community since then. Guatemala's donor countries and institutions, known collectively as the Consultative Group, during their recent meeting on May 13-14 in Guatemala City, also recommended its abolition. The organization also is calling on the president to work for passage of specific legislation that would subject all military intelligence structures to oversight and ensure their accountability. The EMP has committed countless heinous human rights violations since it was formed in the early 1980s. Among human rights crimes suspected to be linked to the EMP are the 1990 murder of internationally known social scientist Myrna Mack, the 1994 murder of Constitutional Court President Eduardo Epaminondas González Dubón, and the 1998 murder of Catholic Bishop Juan José Gerardi. EMP "members" have also manipulated evidence, threatened and even killed witnesses in ongoing judicial proceedings for these and other human rights cases. The flash film can be viewed at http://www.amnestyusa.org/countries/guatemala/actions/peace_accords/emp.html NOTEWORTHY GUATEMALANS BEGIN NEW MONTH WITH PROTESTS 6/3/03 - Guatemalans opened the month of June by carrying out a number of protests in Guatemala City on June 2, to protest the housing shortage, corruption in the government's social security programs and problems in the education system, including a lack of meals for the students, and delayed wages for the teachers. Some 5,000 squatters who are demanding that the government resolve the housing shortage blocked the two main highways that lead from the Atlantic and Pacific Coasts to Guatemala City. Roly Escobar, one of the protesters, said the National Housing Bank, a government institution that is in the process of being shut down, still has thousands of files on families that need housing and who have not been helped. Escobar said the protesters were opposed to the closing of the Housing Bank. Some 300 retired people who depend on benefits from the Social Security Institute blocked the center of Guatemala City. The Institute has been the subject of a recent corruption scandal involving high-level officials of the administration of the current government, run by the rightist Guatemalan Republican Front (FRG). The demonstrators were demanding the punishment of those who are charged with embezzling some $50 million from the Institute. (La Nación from AP, Costa Rica) EU AND OAS BEGIN ELECTORAL INVESTIGATION 6/3/03 - According to Julio Solórzano, Electoral Director of the Supreme Electoral Tribunal (TSE), international observers have arrived in Guatemala to verify the electoral process for the upcoming general election at the end of this year. The European Union (EU) and the Organization of American States (OAS) assigned these observers to Guatemala. As national observers, Guatemalans have the right to participate in the process if they so choose in organized groups of fifty or more citizens, or if granted support from nongovernmental institutions at least 15 days before the date of the general elections. NORWAY DONATION TO CLEAR EXPLOSIVES 6/6/03 - The government of Norway has donated more than $670,000 to efforts to remove unexploded ordnance left behind from Guatemala's civil war, the Organization of American States (OAS) said on June 6. The OAS said the donation reaffirms Norway's commitment to the Convention on the Prohibition of the Use, Stockpiling, Production and Transfer of Anti-Personnel Mines and their Destruction, also known as the Ottawa Convention. The OAS' initiative in Guatemala, known as the Comprehensive Action Against Antipersonnel Landmines program, is backed financially by 16 countries, including Canada, Denmark, France, Spain, Sweden, and the US. Since 1998, the participating countries have donated more than $ 24.5 million to remove explosives such as hand grenades, mortars and bombs that were buried during the Central American country's civil war. (EFE) REFORMS TO WITNESS PROTECTION LAW 6/6/03 - On June 5, the representatives of the Guatemalan Republican Party (FRG) and the Grand National Alliance (GANA) approved reforms to Decree 70-96, the Witness Protection Law; the reforms excludes benefits from government employees suspected of crimes. The objective of the reforms is to protect functionaries and employees of the judicial system from the civil security force and the Public Prosecutor's Office who give information in order to resolve cases. Reforms protect witnesses, experts, consultants, plaintiffs, and others who may be vulnerable to danger for their intervention in the judicial process when accused of being the perpetrator of a crime. The reforms also cover journalists at risk because of their informative function. TSE REJECTS MONTT'S CANDIDACY 6/14/03 - Oscar Bolaños, president of Guatemala's Supreme Electoral Tribunal (TSE), announced on June 12 that the petition of former Guatemalan military dictator Efraín Ríos Montt to be the presidential candidate for the country's ruling rightist Guatemalan Republican Front (FRG) has been rejected. The Guatemalan constitution states that no one who has been involved in a military coup can be a presidential candidate and an addition article states that the prohibition cannot be amended. Ríos Montt led the coup that brought him to power on March 23, 1982, after overthrowing Gen. Romeo Lucas García. He stayed in power until August 8, 1983, a period known as one of the cruelest of the country's 36-year-long internal armed conflict. The vote by the TSE to reject the petition was not unanimous. Two of the magistrates, Roberto Valenzuela and Zoila Villela, voted against the resolution rejecting Ríos Montt's petition. Ríos Montt's attempt to be the FRG presidential candidate had been previously rejected on June 6 by Miguel Enrique Solís, director of the Register of Citizens. Nonetheless, Ríos Montt, who is currently the president of the Guatemalan congress, said on June 12 that he still plans to be the FRG presidential candidate. He said he would appeal the TSE's decision, and if necessary, would take the case to the Supreme Court or ultimately to the Constitutional Court, Guatemala's highest court regarding Constitutional matters. Some analysts feel Rios Montt is not actually planning to run but wants to promote another candidate close to him, such as former governance minister Juan José Rodil Peralta. Current president Alfonso Portillo ran as a stand-in for Ríos Montt in 1999. Despite Ríos Montt's persistence, his still faces enormous problems. The latest polls show Rios Montt getting just under 16% of the vote, compared with 42% for the leading candidate, Oscar Berger, a former Guatemala City mayor. And on June 14, Montt was slightly hurt when relatives of victims of Guatemala's civil war pelted him with sticks and stones at a campaign rally. The incident occurred in Rabinal, 112 miles northeast of Guatemala City, when the Guatemalan Republican Front (FRG) candidate appeared at a rally to garner support for the November election. Ríos Montt suffered an injury to his forehead when he was hit by a heavy object thrown by the protesters, local radio stations reported, adding that the angry crowd numbered 400, most of them Achí indigenous Mayans. The candidate's arrival coincided with the mass burial of 67 people massacred by the army during the 1980s, when Ríos Montt ruled Guatemala as a dictator. "What happened today is moral revenge for us, the victims of the war"' Jesus Tecú, a protester, told Associated Press. Tecú said both his parents were killed in Rabinal in the early 1980s by civilian patrols allied with the army. Neither Ríos Montt nor his advisors could be reached for comment. (In part from AP) ACTION AGAINST GENOCIDE IN GUATEMALA This summer the GHRC is taking decisive action to support the 22 courageous Mayan communities' prosecuting former dictators Lucas García and Ríos Montt for crimes of genocide and we are asking for your participation. Via a postcard campaign and speaking tour, and in coordination with Center for Human Rights Legal Action (CALDH), we aim to send a message to the Attorney General of Guatemala, to conduct transparent and expeditious legal action. Along with the GHRC, numerous other Guatemala solidarity groups around the Washington DC area are participating in this massive, international campaign to help end Lucas García's and Ríos Montt's impunity. By scheduling LECTURES and through POSTCARD DISTRIBUTION, the GHRC hopes to not only help increase grassroot support, but to also increase solidarity with these courageous Mayan communities and their allies. Please support the GHRC's commitment to this issue by signing and returning the letter below or by DOWNLOADING and DISTRIBUTING POSTCARDS to friends, relatives, colleagues and community members. Consider sending a contribution that will help us to continue this important work. A donation of $50 will cover the cost of a lecture in the DC metropolitan area. And a donation of $20 will cover the cost of printing 400 postcards. If you are a member of a community with an interest in social justice, please contact Nicole Gamble at GHRC to receive bulk quantities of postcards for distribution in your church, school or affinity group. Background Information On the morning of July 14th 1982, the State Armed Forces arrived in Petanac, San Mateo Ixtatán, Huehuetenango, assaulted the men and tied their hands behind their backs. They forced them to one of the villagers' houses where they were shot and burnt to death. The women were forced into another house where they, along with the children, were also shot and burnt. After the massacre, the Army plundered the village, burnt the houses and stole the victims' money and animals. 86 people were massacred on that day, including 37 children (www.justiceforgenocide.com <http://www.justiceforgenocide.com>). Atrocities, like the massacre of Petanac, peaked during Guatemala's 36-year civil war under the dictatorships of Fernando Romeo Lucas García (1978-1982) and Efraín Ríos Montt (1982-1983). During these years, security forces killed 132,000 Guatemalan civilians and razed approximately 600 Mayan villages. Approximately 83.3% of the victims were indigenous Mayans and roughly 93% of the massacres were committed by the Guatemalan Army. Under the "scorched earth" campaign begun under Lucas García and continued under Ríos Montt, the indigenous Mayans were not only subjected to torture, rape, and execution, but were also forced to flee their homelands into the highlands with insufficient means for survival. Many of the fortunate enough to survive the massacres, died later from starvation, hypothermia, disease, or bombardment by army helicopters. Born from the traditional marginalization and distrust of the poor, indigenous communities by the state, the "scorched earth" campaign purposefully meant to leave few, if any, Mayan survivors. As a result, children were abducted and forced into slavery. Over 300,000 were orphaned. Pregnant women had their unborn babies removed from their wombs without anesthesia in hopes of "destroying the seed". Mayans of all ages were massacred. Homes and crops were destroyed. At the same time, one million Guatemalans were internally displaced while still many others were forced into exile. Lucas García and Ríos Montt were rewarded with impunity for these atrocities. However, in 1999 a UN sponsored Truth Commission declared that both dictators created and followed a state policy of genocide and because of these findings, 22 Mayan communities have united in condemning the actions of the state under the two dictators. Together, the 22 Mayan communities have filed 2 unprecedented complaints against Lucas Garcia (May 2000), Ríos Montt (June 2001), and their respective military high commands charging them with violations against Guatemalan and International laws regarding genocide, crimes against humanity, and war crimes. Despite death threats, harassment, and murder attempts, courageous survivors and eyewitnesses continue to press for the indictment of the two former dictators. We need your help now more than ever to show the Mayan community that the international community supports their actions! The last three years have sparked a renewed international interest in the situation in Guatemala. And with the presidential elections approaching quickly, the time for action has never been more perfect. Support the Mayan communities by signing postcards denouncing the actions of Lucas García and Ríos Montt or by helping GHRC organize a talk in your area. With your support, we can unite in solidarity with the Mayan communities and help bring Lucas García and Ríos Montt to justice! For more information on how you can help check out our website at www.ghrc-usa.org <http://www.ghrc-usa.org> or contact Nicole Gamble or Max Gimbel at (202) 529-6599. Nicole Gamble, a senior Anthropology major at Boston University, is currently coordinating the GHRC Genocide Case Campaign. WRITE-IN ACTION Please sign, detach and return to: Guatemala Human Rights Commission/USA 3321 12th St. NE Washington D.C. 20017 Dear Attorney General De León Argueta: I am writing to voice my strong support for the pending cases against Fernando Romeo Lucas García and Efraín Ríos Montt, which charge these two former dictators with genocide, crimes against humanity, and war crimes. These cases offer an unsurpassed opportunity to end impunity and strengthen democracy in Guatemala. In recognition that Guatemala is a State Party to the 1948 UN Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide, I ask that you fulfill your country's international obligations by doing everything in your power to see that those accused are brought to justice in an expeditious and transparent manner. I support the actions you have taken thus far and urge you to provide security for those witnesses, attorneys, and judges involved in the proceedings, so that the trials can proceed in the most efficient and just manner possible. Sincerely, Name:___________________ Country:__________________ The Guatemala Human Rights Commission/USA, based in Washington D.C., has been on the forefront of the struggle for peace and human rights in Guatemala since it was founded in 1982. GHRC/USA is a nonprofit, nonpartisan, humanitarian organization committed to monitoring, documenting and reporting on the human rights situation in Guatemala while advocating for victims of human rights violations.. Information in the Update that is not gathered directly is culled from various sources including ; the Guatemalan Human Rights Commission , Casa Alianza, Amnesty International, Associated Press, Reuters and the Guatemalan Press, including Cerigua, La Cuerda, Incidencia Democratica, Prensa Libre, La Hora, Guatemala Hoy, Siglo Veintiuno, and Patrullaje Informativo. *Dates written before the text indicate when the incidents were reported. Editor: Max Gimbel (mgimbel@ghrc-usa.org) Translation: Alison Vargo and Anne Farina Assistant Editor Emeritus: Helen Winder ISSN #1085-0864 * For UPDATE subscriptions, contact GHRC/USA at 202-529-6599, ghrc-usa@ghrc-usa.org or go to our website, www.ghrc-usa.org. Receive a hard copy subscription of 24 issues per year for $35 or an electronic version for $20. 100% of proceeds support the efforts of GHRC/USA* 3321 12th Street NE Washington DC 20017 Tel - 202-529-6599 Fax - 202-526-4611 www.ghrc-usa.org ghrc-usa@ghrc-usa.org Max Gimbel Info-Doc Program Coordinator Update Editor 3321 12th St. NE Washington D.C. 20017 202.529.6599 fax 202.526-4611 mgimbel@ghrc-usa.org
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