Guatemala Strategic Action
HUMAN RIGHTS LEADER ASSASSINATED
The Social Justice Committee received the following information from a number of organizations in Guatemala. Our thanks to the Guatemalan Human Rights Commission in the USA for the English translation.
Alvaro Juárez, 64 years old, was assassinated on the night of July 8. According to the Unity of Protection for Human Rights Defenders, he was eating dinner with his wife at his house in San Benito Petén when heavily armed men arrived at the door. His wife went back into the kitchen. Then she heard shots. When she returned to the room where her husband had been, she found him dead.
Mr. Juárez played a leadership role in the Alliance for Life and Peace (Alianza por la Vida y la Paz www.vidaypaz.org) and was also a member of the Association of the Displaced of the Petén. He was working on issues of development related to health, education, land, housing, and humanitarian assistance. He also worked against impunity in the Petén and often denounced injustice, corruption, and abuses of authority committed by the National Civil Police.
The Association of Displaced of the Petén, a member of the Alliance for Life and Peace, is a network of organizations campaigning against the Central American Free Trade Agreement (CAFTA) and against the construction of hydroelectric dams in the Petén.
The motive for the killing is unknown, but Guatemalan human rights analysts note with concern that his murder coincides with the intimidation of two other human rights defenders who have been active in the struggle against the Central America Free Trade Agreement (CAFTA) recently signed by the US and Central American countries. Those two human rights defenders have received written death threats. The characteristic that unites these three cases is that the attacks are being directed against leaders who have been important in the movement but have not been public.
An attempt had previously been made on Mr. Juarez' life, also while he was in his home. He had reported the attempt to the authorities, but it was never investigated, and it was not reported to other organizations within civil society. Several days before his murder, according to reports, he had received threats and had reported them to the Public Prosecutor's Office and to the Human Rights Procurator's Office in Guatemala City.
The Association of the Displaced of the Petén has purposely not done any media work related to the murder, in order to avoid pressure on the survivors. Please respond to the action below, while respecting their wishes not to publicize the case with the media.
REQUESTED ACTIONS
1. Please contact the Guatemalan ambassador to Canada,
* expressing serious concern about the murder of Alvaro Juárez,
* urging the authorities to investigate his murder thoroughly and prosecute those responsible.
* expressing serious concern for the safety of Alvaro Juárez' family members and all members of the Association of the Displaced of the Petén and the Alliance for Life and Peace. Demand that the Guatemalan government take whatever protective measures they request.
* reminding him that, according to the Peace Accords, the Guatemalan government has the specific responsibility to protect human rights workers. In signing the Peace Accords the government agreed to the following: "The Government of the Republic of Guatemala shall take special measures to protect those persons or entities working in the field of human rights. Furthermore it shall investigate, in a timely and exhaustive manner, any complaint it may receive relating to acts or threats that may be directed at them."
2. Please send a copy of your letter to the Canadian government along with a message:
* requesting that Canada clearly express its desire that human rights be respected in Guatemala and that the Guatemalan government fulfill its responsibilities under the Peace Accords.
PLEASE SEND APPEALS IMMEDIATELY TO:
His Excellency Carlos Humberto Jiménez
Guatemalan Ambassador to Canada
Embassy of Guatemala
130 Albert Street, Suite 1010, Ottawa, Ontario K1P 5G4
Fax 1 (613) 233 0135
E-mail embassy1@embaguate-canada.com
Honourable Pierre Pettigrew
Minister of Foreign Affairs
125 Sussex Drive
Ottawa ON K1A 0G2
Fax 1 (613) 996 3443
E-mail Pettigrew.P@parl.gc.ca