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- From: Andrew Lang <lang@igc.apc.org>
- Subject: VILLAGES BURNED IN IXCAN
- Message-ID: <1992Dec19.000907.9877@mont.cs.missouri.edu>
- Followup-To: alt.activism.d
- Originator: daemon@pencil.cs.missouri.edu
- Sender: news@mont.cs.missouri.edu
- Nntp-Posting-Host: pencil.cs.missouri.edu
- Organization: ?
- Date: Sat, 19 Dec 1992 00:09:07 GMT
- Approved: map@pencil.cs.missouri.edu
- Lines: 136
-
- /* Written 5:28 pm Dec 17, 1992 by nisgua@igc.apc.org in igc:carnet.alerts */
- /* ---------- "VILLAGES BURNED IN IXCAN" ---------- */
-
-
-
- NISGUA -- National Network In Solidarity with the People Of
- Guatemala
- 1314 14th St., NW
- Washington, DC 20005
- 202-483-0050
- e-mail: nisgua
-
- RAPID RESPONSE ALERT
- DECEMBER 17, 1992
- COMBAT AND DESTRUCTION OF VILLAGES IN IXCAN
- THREATENS RETURNING REFUGEES
-
- Seventy Guatemalan families were forced to flee their homes in
- Cuarto Pueblo, Los Angeles, and the village of the CPR-Ixcan,
- Ixcan, El Quiche, due to the bombing and destruction of their
- communities by the Army. The families took refuge in Mexico, in
- the area of Marques de Comillas, Chiapas, during the night of
- November 27 and the following morning. The UN High Commissioner
- on Refugees and COMAR (Mexican Commission for Refugee Assistance)
- sent representatives and humanitarian assistance to the area.
-
- The Army actions were part of a military operation that began on
- November 21 involving hundreds of soldiers. Offensive operations
- were directed at three communities, Cuarto Pueblo, Los Angeles,
- and the encampment of the CPR-Ixcan (Communities of Populations
- in Resistance). When the Army columns arrived at the village of
- Cuarto Pueblo on November 29 they found the villages empty, the
- residents having already fled. The Army then proceeded to steal
- all objects of value from the houses, slaughtered the animals,
- and then set fire to the houses -- actions that were repeated in
- the other nearby communities. The Army arrived at the village of
- Los Angeles on December 1 and burned the houses that had remained
- after Army bombardments in July and August, 1992.
-
- Among the goods destroyed by the soldiers were corn, beans, and
- numerous other agricultural products, as well as more than 100
- domestic animals (mainly chickens), tools and school and church
- supplies. In total, the Army burned down two chapels, a literacy
- school for women, an elementary school, two health clinics, a day
- care center, as well as over 90 houses.
-
- Army actions continued in the area in the following weeks. On
- December 15 two officers and four soldiers were killed in combat
- in the area of Cuarto Pueblo and Los Angeles and an unspecified
- number of others were wounded. This incident led to the
- cancellation of the planned Multi- Party Commission visit to CPR
- villages in the area the area. The Multi-Party Commission is
- urgently seeking a meeting with the Minister of Defense to
- discuss the situation in the area.
-
- The combat, the destruction of the villages and the consequent
- displacement of the population calls into question the safety of
- the zones to which refugees now living in Mexico are to return,
- located near the destroyed villages. The Army's actions
- contradict commitments made on October 8, 1992 in the accords
- regarding the return of the refugees. The agreement states that
- the return must take place under conditions of safety and dignity
- and that the government must "create and utilize all mechanisms
- necessary to ensure the protection, security, freedom from
- physical harm, and liberty of the returnees and their
- communities." Already 87 refugees who have returned from Mexico
- are in the relocation site, known as Poligono 14, building
- temporary shelters and clearing the area for settlement. They
- are accompanied by some officials from the UN High Commission on
- Refugees and some NGO's.
-
- ACTIVATE YOUR RAPID RESPONSE NETWORK TO:
-
- Denounce the attacks on the communities, call for respect for the
- humanitarian laws of war, and call for the observance of the
- accords regarding the safety of the returning refugees.
-
- SEND APPEALS TO:
-
- Ingeniero Jorge Serrano Elias
- Presidente de la Rep#blica
- Palacio Nacional
- Guatemala, Guatemala
- Telex: 305-5331 CAPRES GU
- Fax: 502 2 537472
- or 502 2 519702
- Telephone: 502 2 21212
- or 502 2 22266
-
- Gral. Jose Garcia Samayoa
- Ministro de Defensa
- Ministerio de Defensa
- Palacio Nacional
- Guatemala, Guatemala
- Telex: 305-5361 COMGUA GU
- Fax: 502 2 537472
- Telephone: 502 2 21212, ext.
- 743, 744, 745, or 747; 502 2
- 21904
-
- Lic. Ramiro de Leon Carpio
- Procurador de los Derechos Humanos
- Avenida Simeon Canas 10-61 Zona 2
- Guatemala, Guatemala
- FAX: 502 2 512026
-
- Messages can be sent via FAXNET. Call 800-831-2202 and ask for
- NISGUA message #35. Other companies also have copies of the
- message. Note: please send some of your messages to each of the
- individuals listed above.
-
- The following is the text of the prepared message:
-
- Denuncio la politica de tierra arrasada en contra de las
- comunidades del Ixcan, Cuarto Pueblo, Los Angeles, y la del
- CPR-Ixcan, como una violacion flagrante a los derechos de civiles
- por el Ejercito. Exijo que se cese estos ataques que perjudican
- la seguridad de refugiados que regresan de Mexico.
-
- Translation: I denounce the scorched earth policy used against
- the Ixcan communities, Cuarto Pueblo, Los Angeles, and that of
- the CPR- Ixcan, as a flagrant violation of the rights of
- civilians by the Army. I demand that these attacks, which place
- in jeopardy the safety of refugees that are returning from
- Mexico, cease.
-
- COPIES OF ALL MESSAGES SHOULD BE SENT AS SOLIDARITY TO:
-
- Comision Permanente de los
- Refugiados
- 108 Durango, Dept. 101
- Colonia Roma
- Mexico City, Mexico
- CONFREGUA
- 10 Calle 1-40, Zona 1
- Guatemala City, Guatemala.
-