Guatemala Urgent Action
May 28, 2002Member of Rigoberta Menchú Foundation murdered.
A staff member of the Rigoberta Menchú Foundation was murdered on April 29, at a diner in Guatemala City. Guillermo Ovalle was having lunch when three gunmen stormed into the restaurant and began robbing customers and then shot him at least 25 times (according to the Amnesty International report).
The Director of the Foundation, Gustavo Meoño, has stated that Ovalle had been followed in the past, and unknown individuals in a car with polarized windows had been stalking the offices of the Foundation that day. He also pointed out that the number of armed men to rob a small business, and the violent targeting of just one specific customer, make the common crime explanation very unlikely. In addition to that, at about the same time of the shooting, the Foundation received phone calls where only funeral music was played.
Meoño also highlighted the timing of the attack. It was the day before the start of a civil suit against members of the military for the 1995 massacre of the Xaman community. Lawyers from the Rigoberta Menchú Foundation are representing those suing the militaries.
The assassination also happened three days after the Spanish Supreme court announced that it would hear an appeal in a suit filed by the Rigoberta Menchú Foundation against former Guatemalan officials for genocide and other crimes against humanity. Since filing that suit in December 1999, Foundation members have been subject to harassment including death threats.
Numerous human rights organizations see this crime as a politically motivated one. MINUGUA, the United Nations Mission in Guatemala, agrees with that assessment.
In the early 1960s, the extremely difficult socio–economic situation of great part of the population brought the country to an internal armed conflict that lasted more than 30 years. The Commission for Historical Clarification (Comisión de Esclarecimiento Histórico – CEH), the official "Truth Commission", determined that more than 90% of the human rights violations that occurred during the conflict, were committed by State forces and para–military forces (supported by the State). The CEH concluded that, during their counter–insurgence activities of the years 1981 to 1983, "agents of the State of Guatemala executed acts of genocide against groups of the Maya people". The present President of the Guatemalan Congress, Retired General Efrain Rios Montt, was Head of State from 1982 to 1983.
The signing of the Accord for a Long Lasting Peace, in 1996, did not stop the harassment to human rights defenders. Many death threats have been actually carried out.
MINUGUA (United Nations Mission in Guatemala) is very concerned with the present climate of insecurity among the human rights community, and blames the impunity that those responsible for the crimes are enjoying. The UN Mission has urged the State of Guatemala to show concrete results in the investigations of the cases of harassment that human rights defenders have suffered.
Rigoberta Menchú, the internationally well–known human rights activist, considers necessary to have Guatemala on the U.N. Commission on Human Rights' agenda once again. The position of Independent Expert on Human Rights in Guatemala had been discontinued following the signing of Guatemala's 1996 peace accord. Menchú's proposal has garnered support from the Grupo de Apoyo Mutuo, the Archbishop's Human Rights Office and 102 organizations affiliated with the National Movement for Human Rights.
The UN Special Rapporteur for Human Rights Defenders, Hina Hilani, will arrive in Guatemala on May 25 and will stay for 5 days. She will meet with leaders of the human rights community and with Government representatives. According to the Guatemalan Vice–President, the Secretary for Strategic Analysis has information on clandestine groups who could be responsible for the attacks to human rights defenders, and the Government has not been able to control them (a report will be presented on May 28). The government of Guatemala has reiterated that the assassination of Guillermo Ovalle is a case of common crime, and the government is expected to assure the Rapporteur that it is not the result of State policy. The prosecutor, Maritza Juarez, has two suspects in jail and she believes it is common crime, although she has committed herself to investigate other leads.
The Director of the Rigoberta Menchú Foundation, Gustavo Meoño, denounced (on May 8) death threats against people who could give some information about the assassination of Guillermo Ovalle. He added that all the information they have points towards a crime of a political nature.
The Director of the National Coordinating Office on Human Rights (Coordinadora Nacional de Derechos Humanos – CONADEHGUA) has stated that, in view of the increase in death threats against human rights defenders, they will ask the Inter–American Commission on Human Rights (Comisión Interamericana de Derechos Humanos – CIDH) for precautionary measures to protect defenders.
David Hererra, journalist, had been abducted by gunmen on April 10, but managed to escape. The abduction appears to have been linked to his work helping foreign journalists coming to the country to investigate human rights abuses. On May 13, he was reported as being safely in exile abroad.
Domingo Yaxon Guarcax was forced into a car by four men, on May 3. He works for the Young Mayan Movement (Movimiento de Jóvenes Mayas – MOJOMAYAS), affiliated to the National Coordination of Guatemalan Widows (Coordinadora Nacional de Viudas de Guatemala – CONAVIGUA). They apparently stripped him naked, blindfolded him, questioned him about his work, beat him, and cut him with a pocketknife. They told him that they would kill him if he continued with his work for CONAVIGUA
A leader of the Campesino Unity Committee (Comité de Unidad Campesina – CUC), Arturo Caniz, has been harassed from February 19 to May 11. He has been followed; he has received phone calls with funerals music or insults, and has received notes telling him that his life is in danger. He is in charge of a literacy program where he also raises awareness of the atrocities committed by the armed forces during the civil war. He also produces posters and pamphlets with information on the massacres and names of the disappeared during the war.
Staff at regional offices of the Human Rights Ombudsman (in the departments of Zacapa and Baja Verapaz) denounced break–ins on May 5 and May 6; nothing was stolen despite the intruders having the opportunity to do so. They also have received threatening phone calls, with sounds of gunshots and a message of "do not get involved in what is none of your business."
The Forensic Anthropology Foundation of Guatemala (Fundación de Antropología Forense de Guatemala – FAFG), and organizations who receive their technical support, have un–earthed the skeletons of thousands of victims of the 36–year–old in Guatemala civil war. Threats against FAFG have increased in the recent months. Freddy Peccerelli, FAFG's president, decided to leave Guatemala after three armed men threatened his brother.
One of the NGOs supported by FAFG is the Development Association for Victims of Violence in Maya Achi Verapaz (Asociación para el Desarrollo Integral de Víctimas de la Violencia Maya Achi – ADIVIMA). They have found the remains of 706 people and they have received death threats since their foundation in 1994. They are planning exhumations in Rabinal where witness testimony indicates up to 800 massacre victims are buried. The threats have intensified since February this year including death threats to four workers: Carlos Chen Osorio, Jesús Tecu Osorio, Pedrina Burrero López, and Juan de Dios García Xajil. Carlos Chen Osorio and Jesús Tecu Osorio are also survivors of the Chixoy massacres (*) and key witnesses in a suit for genocide against officials of the administrations of General Romeo Lucas García and General Efraín Rios Montt, the latter now a retired general and President of the Guatemalan Congress. Clyde Snow, a forensic expert that helped start the Guatemalan team has said that those former military officers "are probably more afraid of the dead than they are of the living. The dead, those skeletons, they don’t forget, their testimony is silent but it is also very eloquent."
The CEH Report stated that the exhumations of victims of the internal armed conflict are acts of justice and reparation and they are an important step in the road to reconciliation. The CEH recommended that the Guatemalan government promote and support the work of non–government organizations specialized in the work of forensic anthropology, involved in these exhumations.
Miguel Angel Albizures, the Director of the Guatemalan human rights NGO "Alianza Contra la Impunidad" (Alliance Against Impunity) says that the threats have increased at a time when the suits against genocides are re–opening in national and international tribunals, and when the exhumations are being done in the areas worst hit by the civil war.
(*) Please see separate Urgent Action on the 20th anniversary of the Chixoy massacrs and its connection to the World Bank.
United Nations adopted, on December 9, 1998, the Declaration on Human Rights Defenders, which maintains that: "In the exercise of human rights and freedoms, including the promotion and protection of human rights, everyone has the right to be protected in the event of violations of these rights".
The Organization of American States (OAS) adopted, on June 5, 2000, the resolution "Human Rights Defenders in the Americas: Support for the Individuals, Groups, and Organizations of Civil Society Working to Promote and Protect Human Rights in the Americas". In it, the OAS resolves to "urge member states to intensify their efforts to adopt the necessary measures, in keeping with their national laws, to guarantee the life, personal well–being, and freedom of expression of human rights defenders."
As well, the Government of Guatemala has the responsibility to protect human rights defenders, according to the Global Accord on Human Rights (signed on March 29, 1994): "The government of the Republic of Guatemala will take special protective measures in favour of persons and entities that work in the field of human rights".
Please write to the Guatemalan government expressing your deep concern for the lack of protection received by human rights workers and the impunity that their attackers are enjoying. Please ask the Guatemalan government to comply with its national and international obligations to guarantee the safety of human rights workers. You could also remind government authorities of the Guatemala Historical Clarification Commission's recommendations that the government should support the work of nongovernmental forensic scientists involved in exhumations. Please send copies to the Canadian Minister of Foreign Affairs, to the Canadian Ambassador in Guatemala and the Guatemalan Ambassador in Canada.
Please ask the Canadian government that the Canadian Embassy in Guatemala monitors all cases of attacks to human rights defenders and exercise diplomatic pressure on the Guatemalan government to seriously investigate the cases and punish those found guilty according to law.
If possible, please send copies of your messages to the human rights organizations under attack. If you encounter problems contacting them, you could ask the Canadian Embassy to help you deliver your messages.
If possible, please send your messages while the UN Special Rapporteur for Human Rights Defenders, Hina Hilani, is visiting Guatemala and send her a copy of your messages, care of MINUGUA, the United Nations Mission in Guatemala.
Please share your concerns with other Canadians via letters to the Editor, or simply sharing this alert with members of your community.
Copies of the letters sent by the Social Justice Committee are reproduced after the list of addresses; feel free to change them as you see fit. If possible, please send us copies of your messages.
Canadian Government Addresses:
Hon. Bill Graham, Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Trade
Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade
125 Sussex Drive, Ottawa, Ontario, K1A 0G2
fax 1 613 996 9607
e–mail Graham.B@PARL.GC.CA
Ambassador Allan Culham
Canadian Embassy in Guatemala
13 Calle 8–44, Zona 10, Edyma Plaza, 8 Nivel, Ciudad de Guatemala, Guatemala
fax: 011 502 333 6161
e–mail: GTMLA@DFAIT-MAECI.GC.CA
We strongly suggest that you send a copy of your letter to your Member of Parliament
Guatemalan authorities:
President Alfonso Portillo
Palacio Nacional, Ciudad de Guatemala, Guatemala
fax: 011 502 239 0090 or 011 502 238 3579 or 011 502 239 0076
e–mail: MENSAJES@PRESIDENTEPORTILLO.GOB.GT or COPREDEH@GUATE.NET
Ambassador Carlos Humberto Jimenez,
Guatemalan Embassy in Canada
130 Albert Street, Suite 1010, Ottawa, Ontario K1P 5G4
fax: 1 613 233 0135
e–mail: EMBGUATE@WEBRULER.COM
United Nations:
Hina Hilani, UN Special Rapporteur on Human Rights Defenders
MINUGUA (UN Mission in Guatemala)
Boulevard Los Proceres 18–67, Zona 10, Guatemala City, Guatemala
Fax: 011 502 279 3214 or 011 502 279 3460
e–mail: GFERNANDEZ@UN.GUATE.NET (in the "Subject" line please write: "para Sra. Hina Hilani, Relatora Especial sobre Defensores de los Derechos Humanos"). It is the e–mail address for Guillermo Fernandez, the head of the Human Rights Area of MINUGUA . He will accompany Ms Hilani while she is in Guatemala.
Solidarity copies to:
Fundación Rigoberta Menchú
!a Avenida 9–18, Zona 1, Ciudad de Guatemala, Guatemala
fax: 011 502 230 3048
e–mail: RMT@INFOVIA.COM.GT
CONAVIGUA
8a. Avenida 2–29 Zona 1, Ciudad de Guatemala, Guatemala
fax: 011 502 253 7914
e–mail: CONAVIGUA@INTELNET.NET.GT
Comité de Unidad Campesina (CUC)
31 Avenida A 14–46 Zona 7, Ciudad de Plata II, Ciudad de Guatemala, Guatemala
fax: 011 502 434 9754
e–mail: CUC@GUATE.NET
Fundacion de Antropología Forense de Guatemala (FAFG)
Avenida Simeón Cañas 10–64, Zona 2, Ciudad de Guatemala, Guatemala
Fax: 011 502 254 0882/288 7297/ 288 7302
e–mail: FAFG@FAFG.ORG
ADIVIMA
7a Avenida, 2–06, Zona 2, Rabinal, Baja Verapaz, Guatemala
PHONE (they do not have fax number): 011 502 711 0365
e–mail: ADIVIMA@YAHOO.COM
Mr. Alfonso Portillo, President of the Republic of Guatemala
Palacio Nacional, Guatemala City, Guatemala
Mr. President,
Once more, we are deploring the assassination of another human rights defender. This time is Guillermo Ovalle, a member of the Rigoberta Menchú Foundation.
The characteristics of the crime follow the same pattern that has been used since the fratricidal war, a blood bath that the authorities from your government have not been able to stop.
The authorities in charge of internal security of the country have not paid attention to denunciations made by human rights activists since the beginning of your government. Dozens of activists have fallen victims of fatal attacks. In addition, many human rights organizations have been illegally raided, with looting and destruction of their property. The clear objective has been to intimidate and to steal evidences against agents of the State accused of grave violations of human rights of Guatemalans.
The assassination of Guillermo Ovalle de Leon has been perpetrated precisely when the Rigoberta Menchú Foundation was getting ready to act in cases of very serious violations of human rights of Guatemalans, cases where the people held directly responsible are members of the Guatemalan Army. Such are the Xaman massacre case which is being re-opened after a lengthy legal battle, and, in Spain, the even more infamous case on genocide during the civil war in Guatemala, where the most prominent figure is the President of the Congress and leader of the party in government, General Efrain Rios Montt.
We must point out that this assassination happened in the context of an alarmingly increasing number of death threats to human rights defenders, who are entitled to protection from the government according to national and international commitments of the State of Guatemala (in the Peace Accords, as a UN member and as a OAS member). We are referring to the harassment suffered by members of the National Coordination of Guatemalan Widows (CONAVIGUA), the Campesino Unity Committee (CUC), the Forensic Anthropology Foundation of Guatemala (FAFG), and the Development Association for Victims of Violence in Maya Achi Verapaz (ADIVIMA), among many other ones. In addition to that, organizations doing exhumations of victims of the civil war are entitled to support in their work, according to recommendations from the Historical Clarification Commission.
For all the above reasons, we are respectfully but firmly asking you, Mr. Alfonso Portillo, President of Guatemala:
We are certain that the struggle of the Guatemalan people for justice and respect for their basic rights will achieve success. We would like to highlight, Mr. President, that this could be an historic moment, if you take this significant opportunity to enable Guatemalans to enjoy all their rights.
We are looking forward to your pertinent and immediate actions on this regard.
Sincerely,
Sr. Alfonso Portillo, Presidente de la República de Guatemala
Palacio Nacional, Ciudad de Guatemala, Guatemala
Sr. Presidente:
Una vez más lamentamos el asesinato de un defensor de derechos humanos, esta vez se trata de Guillermo Ovalle, miembro de la Fundación Rigoberta Menchú.
Las características del crimen evidencian el mismo patrón de operación que ha sido utilizado desde los tiempos de la guerra fratricida que bañó de sangre al pueblo de Guatemala y este baño continúa sin que las autoridades del gobierno que usted dirige hayan sido capaces de detenerlo.
Las autoridades encargadas de la seguridad interna del país, han hecho caso omiso de las reiteradas denuncias de amenazas que los activistas de derechos humanos vienen haciendo desde que su gobierno se instaló en el poder. Decenas de ellos han caído víctimas de agresiones mortales. Igualmente son muchas ya las organizaciones de derechos humanos que han sido allanadas ilegalmente, sufriendo el saqueo y destrucción de su patrimonio. El claro objetivo es intimidarles y sustraer las evidencias que señalan a agentes del Estado como responsables de violaciones gravísimas a los derechos humanos de los guatemaltecos.
El asesinato del señor Guillermo Ovalle de León se perpetró en el preciso momento en que la Fundación Rigoberta Menchu se prepara para impulsar acciones dentro de varios casos de violaciones gravísimas a los derechos humanos de los guatemaltecos y donde aparecen como responsables directos, miembros del Ejército de Guatemala. Nos referimos a la reapertura del caso Xaman después de toda una batalla legal, y el caso del genocidio cometido en Guatemala durante la guerra, que se lleva a cabo en la Audiencia Nacional de España, donde aparece como principal implicado el general Efraín Rios Montt, actual presidente del Congreso de la República.
Deseamos señalar que este asesinato ocurre en el contexto de un preocupante aumento del número de amenazas de muerte a defensores de derechos humanos, quienes tienen derecho a ser protegidos por el gobierno, de acuerdo a compromisos nacionales e internacionales contraídos por el Estado de Guatemala (como parte de los Acuerdos de Paz, como miembro de la NU y como miembro de la OEA).
Estamos haciendo alusión al hostigamiento que han sufrido miembros de la Coordinadora Nacional de Viudas de Guatemala (CONAVIGUA) , el Comité de Unidad Campesina (CUC), la Fundación de Antropología Forense de Guatemala (FAFG), y la Asociación para el Desarrollo Integral de Víctimas de la Violencia Maya Achi (ADIVIMA), entre otros. Además, las organizaciones que hace exhumaciones de víctimas de la guerra civil tienen derecho a ser apoyados en su trabajo, de acuerdo a recomendaciones de la Comisión de Esclarecimiento Histórico.
Por todo lo anteriormente señalado, a usted, señor Alfonso Portillo Cabrera, Presidente de Guatemala, de manera respetuosa pero enérgica, le pedimos:
Estamos cierto que los esfuerzos y la lucha que libera el pueblo de Guatemala por alcanzar la justicia y el respeto a sus elementales derechos obtendrá su objetivo. Deseamos subrayar, Sr. Presidente, que este podría ser un momento histórico si usted aprovecha esta oportunidad para crear un ambiente de respeto a todos los derechos humanos para todos los guatemaltecos.
En espera de sus acciones pertinentes e inmediatas, lo saluda atentamente
Hon. Bill Graham, Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Trade
Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade
125 Sussex Drive, Ottawa, Ontario, K1A 0G2
fax 1 613 996 9607
e–mail Graham.B@PARL.GC.CA
Dear Minister Graham,
The human rights situation in Guatemala has deteriorated at an alarming rate and human rights defenders are justifiable feeling very insecure. The Social Justice Committee has denounced this situation in the past and we are now adding our voice to MINUGUA, the United Nations Verification Mission in Guatemala, and the international community in the recent meeting of the Consultative Group for Guatemala, denouncing the systematic harassment of human rights defenders.
The series of threats and attacks to human rights defenders have culminated in the assassination of a member of the Rigoberta Menchú Foundation, Guillermo Ovalle, on April 29, 2002 (please see enclosed letter to President Alfonso Portillo).
We believe that the Government of Guatemala needs to be reminded that, as MINUGUA pointed out, "one of the characteristics of the internal armed conflict was the selective violence against human rights defenders. For that reason, in the Global Accord on Human Rights, the Government committed itself to give them special protection and to investigate, in a timely and comprehensive fashion, complaints presented about acts or threats against them."
In our letter to President Portillo, we have reminded him of the national and international obligations of the State of Guatemala regarding protection of human rights defenders. We were referring (in addition to the Peace Accords) to the UN Declaration on Human Rights Defenders (adopted on December 9, 1998) and the OAS resolution "Human Rights Defenders in The Americas" (adopted on June 5, 2000).
We are asking the Canadian government, as a member of the Consultative Group, and as member of the international community well known for its commitment to the respect of human rights, to put diplomatic pressure on the Guatemalan government to honour its national and international commitments with respect to human rights defenders.
We also believe that attention must be paid to the systematic fashion of these attacks to human rights defenders. Given the fact that the latest attacks have happened when important cases of genocide are being investigated and exhumations of victims of the massacres are in the process, it is important to consider a political motivation for these attacks. As you know, the Historical Clarification Commission (CEH) concluded that, during their counter-insurgence activities of the years 1981 to 1983, "agents of the State of Guatemala executed acts of genocide against groups of the Maya people", and the present President of the Guatemalan Congress, Retired General Efrain Rios Montt, was Head of State from 1982 to 1983.
The Head of MINUGUA has highlighted the importance of the inclusion of political motivation during the investigation of the killing of Guillermo Ovalle. We are asking the Canadian government to monitor the investigation of this case, paying special attention to this hypothesis, given not only the present context but also the precedent set by the investigation of the assassination of Msgr. Juan Gerardi.
We thank you for your attention to this letter.
Sincerely,
May 28, 2002
Member of Rigoberta Menchú Foundation murdered.
Forensic anthropologists receive death threats. Other human rights defenders also threatened.
Visit of UN Special Rapporteur on Human Rights Defenders.
A staff member of the Rigoberta Menchú Foundation was murdered on April 29, at a diner in Guatemala City. Guillermo Ovalle was having lunch when three gunmen stormed into the restaurant and began robbing customers and then shot him at least 25 times (according to the Amnesty International report).
The Director of the Foundation, Gustavo Meoño, has stated that Ovalle had been followed in the past, and unknown individuals in a car with polarized windows had been stalking the offices of the Foundation that day. He also pointed out that the number of armed men to rob a small business, and the violent targeting of just one specific customer, make the common crime explanation very unlikely. In addition to that, at about the same time of the shooting, the Foundation received phone calls where only funeral music was played.
Meoño also highlighted the timing of the attack. It was the day before the start of a civil suit against members of the military for the 1995 massacre of the Xaman community. Lawyers from the Rigoberta Menchú Foundation are representing those suing the militaries.
The assassination also happened three days after the Spanish Supreme court announced that it would hear an appeal in a suit filed by the Rigoberta Menchú Foundation against former Guatemalan officials for genocide and other crimes against humanity. Since filing that suit in December 1999, Foundation members have been subject to harassment including death threats.
Numerous human rights organizations see this crime as a politically motivated one. MINUGUA, the United Nations Mission in Guatemala, agrees with that assessment.
Context
In the early 1960s, the extremely difficult socio–economic situation of great part of the population brought the country to an internal armed conflict that lasted more than 30 years. The Commission for Historical Clarification (Comisión de Esclarecimiento Histórico – CEH), the official "Truth Commission", determined that more than 90% of the human rights violations that occurred during the conflict, were committed by State forces and para–military forces (supported by the State). The CEH concluded that, during their counter–insurgence activities of the years 1981 to 1983, "agents of the State of Guatemala executed acts of genocide against groups of the Maya people". The present President of the Guatemalan Congress, Retired General Efrain Rios Montt, was Head of State from 1982 to 1983.
The signing of the Accord for a Long Lasting Peace, in 1996, did not stop the harassment to human rights defenders. Many death threats have been actually carried out.
MINUGUA (United Nations Mission in Guatemala) is very concerned with the present climate of insecurity among the human rights community, and blames the impunity that those responsible for the crimes are enjoying. The UN Mission has urged the State of Guatemala to show concrete results in the investigations of the cases of harassment that human rights defenders have suffered.
Rigoberta Menchú, the internationally well–known human rights activist, considers necessary to have Guatemala on the U.N. Commission on Human Rights' agenda once again. The position of Independent Expert on Human Rights in Guatemala had been discontinued following the signing of Guatemala's 1996 peace accord. Menchú's proposal has garnered support from the Grupo de Apoyo Mutuo, the Archbishop's Human Rights Office and 102 organizations affiliated with the National Movement for Human Rights.
The UN Special Rapporteur for Human Rights Defenders, Hina Hilani, will arrive in Guatemala on May 25 and will stay for 5 days. She will meet with leaders of the human rights community and with Government representatives. According to the Guatemalan Vice–President, the Secretary for Strategic Analysis has information on clandestine groups who could be responsible for the attacks to human rights defenders, and the Government has not been able to control them (a report will be presented on May 28). The government of Guatemala has reiterated that the assassination of Guillermo Ovalle is a case of common crime, and the government is expected to assure the Rapporteur that it is not the result of State policy. The prosecutor, Maritza Juarez, has two suspects in jail and she believes it is common crime, although she has committed herself to investigate other leads.
The Director of the Rigoberta Menchú Foundation, Gustavo Meoño, denounced (on May 8) death threats against people who could give some information about the assassination of Guillermo Ovalle. He added that all the information they have points towards a crime of a political nature.
The Director of the National Coordinating Office on Human Rights (Coordinadora Nacional de Derechos Humanos – CONADEHGUA) has stated that, in view of the increase in death threats against human rights defenders, they will ask the Inter–American Commission on Human Rights (Comisión Interamericana de Derechos Humanos – CIDH) for precautionary measures to protect defenders.
Cases of harassment against human rights workers, that occurred in recent weeks:
David Hererra, journalist, had been abducted by gunmen on April 10, but managed to escape. The abduction appears to have been linked to his work helping foreign journalists coming to the country to investigate human rights abuses. On May 13, he was reported as being safely in exile abroad.
Domingo Yaxon Guarcax was forced into a car by four men, on May 3. He works for the Young Mayan Movement (Movimiento de Jóvenes Mayas – MOJOMAYAS), affiliated to the National Coordination of Guatemalan Widows (Coordinadora Nacional de Viudas de Guatemala – CONAVIGUA). They apparently stripped him naked, blindfolded him, questioned him about his work, beat him, and cut him with a pocketknife. They told him that they would kill him if he continued with his work for CONAVIGUA
A leader of the Campesino Unity Committee (Comité de Unidad Campesina – CUC), Arturo Caniz, has been harassed from February 19 to May 11. He has been followed; he has received phone calls with funerals music or insults, and has received notes telling him that his life is in danger. He is in charge of a literacy program where he also raises awareness of the atrocities committed by the armed forces during the civil war. He also produces posters and pamphlets with information on the massacres and names of the disappeared during the war.
Staff at regional offices of the Human Rights Ombudsman (in the departments of Zacapa and Baja Verapaz) denounced break–ins on May 5 and May 6; nothing was stolen despite the intruders having the opportunity to do so. They also have received threatening phone calls, with sounds of gunshots and a message of "do not get involved in what is none of your business."
The Forensic Anthropology Foundation of Guatemala (Fundación de Antropología Forense de Guatemala – FAFG), and organizations who receive their technical support, have un–earthed the skeletons of thousands of victims of the 36–year–old in Guatemala civil war. Threats against FAFG have increased in the recent months. Freddy Peccerelli, FAFG's president, decided to leave Guatemala after three armed men threatened his brother.
One of the NGOs supported by FAFG is the Development Association for Victims of Violence in Maya Achi Verapaz (Asociación para el Desarrollo Integral de Víctimas de la Violencia Maya Achi – ADIVIMA). They have found the remains of 706 people and they have received death threats since their foundation in 1994. They are planning exhumations in Rabinal where witness testimony indicates up to 800 massacre victims are buried. The threats have intensified since February this year including death threats to four workers: Carlos Chen Osorio, Jesús Tecu Osorio, Pedrina Burrero López, and Juan de Dios García Xajil. Carlos Chen Osorio and Jesús Tecu Osorio are also survivors of the Chixoy massacres (*) and key witnesses in a suit for genocide against officials of the administrations of General Romeo Lucas García and General Efraín Rios Montt, the latter now a retired general and President of the Guatemalan Congress. Clyde Snow, a forensic expert that helped start the Guatemalan team has said that those former military officers "are probably more afraid of the dead than they are of the living. The dead, those skeletons, they don’t forget, their testimony is silent but it is also very eloquent."
The CEH Report stated that the exhumations of victims of the internal armed conflict are acts of justice and reparation and they are an important step in the road to reconciliation. The CEH recommended that the Guatemalan government promote and support the work of non–government organizations specialized in the work of forensic anthropology, involved in these exhumations.
Miguel Angel Albizures, the Director of the Guatemalan human rights NGO "Alianza Contra la Impunidad" (Alliance Against Impunity) says that the threats have increased at a time when the suits against genocides are re–opening in national and international tribunals, and when the exhumations are being done in the areas worst hit by the civil war.
(*) Please see separate Urgent Action on the 20th anniversary of the Chixoy massacrs and its connection to the World Bank.
Background Information on Human Rights Defenders
United Nations adopted, on December 9, 1998, the Declaration on Human Rights Defenders, which maintains that: "In the exercise of human rights and freedoms, including the promotion and protection of human rights, everyone has the right to be protected in the event of violations of these rights".
The Organization of American States (OAS) adopted, on June 5, 2000, the resolution "Human Rights Defenders in the Americas: Support for the Individuals, Groups, and Organizations of Civil Society Working to Promote and Protect Human Rights in the Americas". In it, the OAS resolves to "urge member states to intensify their efforts to adopt the necessary measures, in keeping with their national laws, to guarantee the life, personal well–being, and freedom of expression of human rights defenders."
As well, the Government of Guatemala has the responsibility to protect human rights defenders, according to the Global Accord on Human Rights (signed on March 29, 1994): "The government of the Republic of Guatemala will take special protective measures in favour of persons and entities that work in the field of human rights".
Suggested action
Please write to the Guatemalan government expressing your deep concern for the lack of protection received by human rights workers and the impunity that their attackers are enjoying. Please ask the Guatemalan government to comply with its national and international obligations to guarantee the safety of human rights workers. You could also remind government authorities of the Guatemala Historical Clarification Commission's recommendations that the government should support the work of nongovernmental forensic scientists involved in exhumations. Please send copies to the Canadian Minister of Foreign Affairs, to the Canadian Ambassador in Guatemala and the Guatemalan Ambassador in Canada.
Please ask the Canadian government that the Canadian Embassy in Guatemala monitors all cases of attacks to human rights defenders and exercise diplomatic pressure on the Guatemalan government to seriously investigate the cases and punish those found guilty according to law.
If possible, please send copies of your messages to the human rights organizations under attack. If you encounter problems contacting them, you could ask the Canadian Embassy to help you deliver your messages.
If possible, please send your messages while the UN Special Rapporteur for Human Rights Defenders, Hina Hilani, is visiting Guatemala and send her a copy of your messages, care of MINUGUA, the United Nations Mission in Guatemala.
Please share your concerns with other Canadians via letters to the Editor, or simply sharing this alert with members of your community.
Copies of the letters sent by the Social Justice Committee are reproduced after the list of addresses; feel free to change them as you see fit. If possible, please send us copies of your messages.
Canadian Government Addresses:
Hon. Bill Graham, Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Trade
Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade
125 Sussex Drive, Ottawa, Ontario, K1A 0G2
fax 1 613 996 9607
e–mail Graham.B@PARL.GC.CA
Ambassador Allan Culham
Canadian Embassy in Guatemala
13 Calle 8–44, Zona 10, Edyma Plaza, 8 Nivel, Ciudad de Guatemala, Guatemala
fax: 011 502 333 6161
e–mail: GTMLA@DFAIT-MAECI.GC.CA
We strongly suggest that you send a copy of your letter to your Member of Parliament
Guatemalan authorities:
President Alfonso Portillo
Palacio Nacional, Ciudad de Guatemala, Guatemala
fax: 011 502 239 0090 or 011 502 238 3579 or 011 502 239 0076
e–mail: MENSAJES@PRESIDENTEPORTILLO.GOB.GT or COPREDEH@GUATE.NET
Ambassador Carlos Humberto Jimenez,
Guatemalan Embassy in Canada
130 Albert Street, Suite 1010, Ottawa, Ontario K1P 5G4
fax: 1 613 233 0135
e–mail: EMBGUATE@WEBRULER.COM
United Nations:
Hina Hilani, UN Special Rapporteur on Human Rights Defenders
MINUGUA (UN Mission in Guatemala)
Boulevard Los Proceres 18–67, Zona 10, Guatemala City, Guatemala
Fax: 011 502 279 3214 or 011 502 279 3460
e–mail: GFERNANDEZ@UN.GUATE.NET (in the "Subject" line please write: "para Sra. Hina Hilani, Relatora Especial sobre Defensores de los Derechos Humanos"). It is the e–mail address for Guillermo Fernandez, the head of the Human Rights Area of MINUGUA . He will accompany Ms Hilani while she is in Guatemala.
Solidarity copies to:
Fundación Rigoberta Menchú
!a Avenida 9–18, Zona 1, Ciudad de Guatemala, Guatemala
fax: 011 502 230 3048
e–mail: RMT@INFOVIA.COM.GT
CONAVIGUA
8a. Avenida 2–29 Zona 1, Ciudad de Guatemala, Guatemala
fax: 011 502 253 7914
e–mail: CONAVIGUA@INTELNET.NET.GT
Comité de Unidad Campesina (CUC)
31 Avenida A 14–46 Zona 7, Ciudad de Plata II, Ciudad de Guatemala, Guatemala
fax: 011 502 434 9754
e–mail: CUC@GUATE.NET
Fundacion de Antropología Forense de Guatemala (FAFG)
Avenida Simeón Cañas 10–64, Zona 2, Ciudad de Guatemala, Guatemala
Fax: 011 502 254 0882/288 7297/ 288 7302
e–mail: FAFG@FAFG.ORG
ADIVIMA
7a Avenida, 2–06, Zona 2, Rabinal, Baja Verapaz, Guatemala
PHONE (they do not have fax number): 011 502 711 0365
e–mail: ADIVIMA@YAHOO.COM
Mr. Alfonso Portillo, President of the Republic of Guatemala
Palacio Nacional, Guatemala City, Guatemala
Mr. President,
Once more, we are deploring the assassination of another human rights defender. This time is Guillermo Ovalle, a member of the Rigoberta Menchú Foundation.
The characteristics of the crime follow the same pattern that has been used since the fratricidal war, a blood bath that the authorities from your government have not been able to stop.
The authorities in charge of internal security of the country have not paid attention to denunciations made by human rights activists since the beginning of your government. Dozens of activists have fallen victims of fatal attacks. In addition, many human rights organizations have been illegally raided, with looting and destruction of their property. The clear objective has been to intimidate and to steal evidences against agents of the State accused of grave violations of human rights of Guatemalans.
The assassination of Guillermo Ovalle de Leon has been perpetrated precisely when the Rigoberta Menchú Foundation was getting ready to act in cases of very serious violations of human rights of Guatemalans, cases where the people held directly responsible are members of the Guatemalan Army. Such are the Xaman massacre case which is being re-opened after a lengthy legal battle, and, in Spain, the even more infamous case on genocide during the civil war in Guatemala, where the most prominent figure is the President of the Congress and leader of the party in government, General Efrain Rios Montt.
We must point out that this assassination happened in the context of an alarmingly increasing number of death threats to human rights defenders, who are entitled to protection from the government according to national and international commitments of the State of Guatemala (in the Peace Accords, as a UN member and as a OAS member). We are referring to the harassment suffered by members of the National Coordination of Guatemalan Widows (CONAVIGUA), the Campesino Unity Committee (CUC), the Forensic Anthropology Foundation of Guatemala (FAFG), and the Development Association for Victims of Violence in Maya Achi Verapaz (ADIVIMA), among many other ones. In addition to that, organizations doing exhumations of victims of the civil war are entitled to support in their work, according to recommendations from the Historical Clarification Commission.
For all the above reasons, we are respectfully but firmly asking you, Mr. Alfonso Portillo, President of Guatemala:
- To order an immediate investigation to clarify the case of the assassination of Guillermo Ovalle.
- That the investigation be objective and the results be publicized
- That the investigations be comprehensive, reaching not only those who perpetrated the crime but also those who planned it.
- To direct the Ministry of the Interior, as well as other agencies involved in internal security, to do an
equally comprehensive investigation of:
- illegal raiding of human rights organizations
- death threats and harassment, like the ones suffered by dozens of human rights activists
- impunity in thousands of cases, where justice has not given an answer to victims and/or families.
- To comply with the recommendations of the CEH: to support exhumations work and to establish a government program of exhumations.
We are certain that the struggle of the Guatemalan people for justice and respect for their basic rights will achieve success. We would like to highlight, Mr. President, that this could be an historic moment, if you take this significant opportunity to enable Guatemalans to enjoy all their rights.
We are looking forward to your pertinent and immediate actions on this regard.
Sincerely,
Sr. Alfonso Portillo, Presidente de la República de Guatemala
Palacio Nacional, Ciudad de Guatemala, Guatemala
Sr. Presidente:
Una vez más lamentamos el asesinato de un defensor de derechos humanos, esta vez se trata de Guillermo Ovalle, miembro de la Fundación Rigoberta Menchú.
Las características del crimen evidencian el mismo patrón de operación que ha sido utilizado desde los tiempos de la guerra fratricida que bañó de sangre al pueblo de Guatemala y este baño continúa sin que las autoridades del gobierno que usted dirige hayan sido capaces de detenerlo.
Las autoridades encargadas de la seguridad interna del país, han hecho caso omiso de las reiteradas denuncias de amenazas que los activistas de derechos humanos vienen haciendo desde que su gobierno se instaló en el poder. Decenas de ellos han caído víctimas de agresiones mortales. Igualmente son muchas ya las organizaciones de derechos humanos que han sido allanadas ilegalmente, sufriendo el saqueo y destrucción de su patrimonio. El claro objetivo es intimidarles y sustraer las evidencias que señalan a agentes del Estado como responsables de violaciones gravísimas a los derechos humanos de los guatemaltecos.
El asesinato del señor Guillermo Ovalle de León se perpetró en el preciso momento en que la Fundación Rigoberta Menchu se prepara para impulsar acciones dentro de varios casos de violaciones gravísimas a los derechos humanos de los guatemaltecos y donde aparecen como responsables directos, miembros del Ejército de Guatemala. Nos referimos a la reapertura del caso Xaman después de toda una batalla legal, y el caso del genocidio cometido en Guatemala durante la guerra, que se lleva a cabo en la Audiencia Nacional de España, donde aparece como principal implicado el general Efraín Rios Montt, actual presidente del Congreso de la República.
Deseamos señalar que este asesinato ocurre en el contexto de un preocupante aumento del número de amenazas de muerte a defensores de derechos humanos, quienes tienen derecho a ser protegidos por el gobierno, de acuerdo a compromisos nacionales e internacionales contraídos por el Estado de Guatemala (como parte de los Acuerdos de Paz, como miembro de la NU y como miembro de la OEA).
Estamos haciendo alusión al hostigamiento que han sufrido miembros de la Coordinadora Nacional de Viudas de Guatemala (CONAVIGUA) , el Comité de Unidad Campesina (CUC), la Fundación de Antropología Forense de Guatemala (FAFG), y la Asociación para el Desarrollo Integral de Víctimas de la Violencia Maya Achi (ADIVIMA), entre otros. Además, las organizaciones que hace exhumaciones de víctimas de la guerra civil tienen derecho a ser apoyados en su trabajo, de acuerdo a recomendaciones de la Comisión de Esclarecimiento Histórico.
Por todo lo anteriormente señalado, a usted, señor Alfonso Portillo Cabrera, Presidente de Guatemala, de manera respetuosa pero enérgica, le pedimos:
- Ordenar la inmediata investigación del asesinato del señor Guillermo Ovalle de León, para su pronto esclarecimiento.
- Que la investigación sea objetiva y que se den conocer los resultados de misma de forma pública.
- Que todas las investigaciones sean completas y alcancen, no solo a los autores materiales sino también a los autores intelectuales de los crímenes y amenazas de muerte.
- Que gire sus instrucciones al Ministerio del Interior y demás dependencias del Estado que están
implicadas en la seguridad interna de los guatemaltecos para que hagan una minuciosa y completa
investigación de las denuncias de:
- Allanamientos ilegales a organizaciones de derechos humanos,
- Amenazas de muerte y persecución de que son víctimas decenas de activistas de derechos humanos, y;
- La impunidad en la que se encuentran miles de casos sin que el sistema de justicia dé una respuesta a las víctimas y/o familiares.
- De poner en práctica las recomendaciones de la Comisión de Esclarecimiento Histórico (CEH), que definió el trabajo de exhumaciones como una etapa importante para la justicia y la reconciliación nacional y que recomendó fuertemente un programa gubernamental de exhumaciones
Estamos cierto que los esfuerzos y la lucha que libera el pueblo de Guatemala por alcanzar la justicia y el respeto a sus elementales derechos obtendrá su objetivo. Deseamos subrayar, Sr. Presidente, que este podría ser un momento histórico si usted aprovecha esta oportunidad para crear un ambiente de respeto a todos los derechos humanos para todos los guatemaltecos.
En espera de sus acciones pertinentes e inmediatas, lo saluda atentamente
Hon. Bill Graham, Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Trade
Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade
125 Sussex Drive, Ottawa, Ontario, K1A 0G2
fax 1 613 996 9607
e–mail Graham.B@PARL.GC.CA
Dear Minister Graham,
The human rights situation in Guatemala has deteriorated at an alarming rate and human rights defenders are justifiable feeling very insecure. The Social Justice Committee has denounced this situation in the past and we are now adding our voice to MINUGUA, the United Nations Verification Mission in Guatemala, and the international community in the recent meeting of the Consultative Group for Guatemala, denouncing the systematic harassment of human rights defenders.
The series of threats and attacks to human rights defenders have culminated in the assassination of a member of the Rigoberta Menchú Foundation, Guillermo Ovalle, on April 29, 2002 (please see enclosed letter to President Alfonso Portillo).
We believe that the Government of Guatemala needs to be reminded that, as MINUGUA pointed out, "one of the characteristics of the internal armed conflict was the selective violence against human rights defenders. For that reason, in the Global Accord on Human Rights, the Government committed itself to give them special protection and to investigate, in a timely and comprehensive fashion, complaints presented about acts or threats against them."
In our letter to President Portillo, we have reminded him of the national and international obligations of the State of Guatemala regarding protection of human rights defenders. We were referring (in addition to the Peace Accords) to the UN Declaration on Human Rights Defenders (adopted on December 9, 1998) and the OAS resolution "Human Rights Defenders in The Americas" (adopted on June 5, 2000).
We are asking the Canadian government, as a member of the Consultative Group, and as member of the international community well known for its commitment to the respect of human rights, to put diplomatic pressure on the Guatemalan government to honour its national and international commitments with respect to human rights defenders.
We also believe that attention must be paid to the systematic fashion of these attacks to human rights defenders. Given the fact that the latest attacks have happened when important cases of genocide are being investigated and exhumations of victims of the massacres are in the process, it is important to consider a political motivation for these attacks. As you know, the Historical Clarification Commission (CEH) concluded that, during their counter-insurgence activities of the years 1981 to 1983, "agents of the State of Guatemala executed acts of genocide against groups of the Maya people", and the present President of the Guatemalan Congress, Retired General Efrain Rios Montt, was Head of State from 1982 to 1983.
The Head of MINUGUA has highlighted the importance of the inclusion of political motivation during the investigation of the killing of Guillermo Ovalle. We are asking the Canadian government to monitor the investigation of this case, paying special attention to this hypothesis, given not only the present context but also the precedent set by the investigation of the assassination of Msgr. Juan Gerardi.
We thank you for your attention to this letter.
Sincerely,