NetNews Usenet Archive 1992 #18/NN_1992_18.iso/spool/misc/activism/progress/5968

Text File | 1992-08-21 | 20.6 KB | 388 lines

Newsgroups: misc.activism.progressive
Path: sparky!uunet!gatech!ukma!mont!pencil.cs.missouri.edu!rich
From: [e-mail] (Rich Winkel)
Subject: Guatemala HUMAN RIGHTS UPDATE August 10, 1992
Message-ID: <[e-mail]>
Followup-To: alt.activism.d
Originator: [e-mail]
Sender: [e-mail]
Nntp-Posting-Host: pencil.cs.missouri.edu
Organization: PACH
Date: Fri, 21 Aug 1992 22:55:39 GMT
Approved: [e-mail]
Lines: 373

/** reg.guatemala: 83.0 **/
** Topic: HUMAN RIGHTS UPDATE #32-33 **
** Written  5:54 pm  Aug 20, 1992 by ghrc in cdp:reg.guatemala **
                 GHRC/USA Human Rights Update*
                     PEACENET Version #32
                        August 10, 1992

CASE UPDATES

MARITZA URRUTIA RELEASED  In Guatemala City on July 30 Maritza
Urrutia (33) was released. Urrutia had been abducted, presumably by the
security forces, one week earlier on July 23. (See Peacenet Update #30)
During the time Urrutia was held in detention, she was allowed to make three
telephone calls to her family, the last of which she told her mother she was
leaving "on a long trip."  On July 29 several unidentified men delivered a
videotape of Urrutia to a Guatemalan television station.  The video showed
Urrutia drugged and traumatized, confessing to be a member of the armed
opposition, the Guatemalan National Revolutionary Unity (URNG).  In the
video, Urrutia went on to accuse her brother and several others of working with
the URNG.  Urrutia was released the day after the video was aired, and took
refuge at the Guatemalan Archdiocese while applying for a visa to the United
States.  Urrutia arrived in the U.S. on August 8.

UNIVERSITY PROFESSORS AND STUDENTS DENOUNCE REPRESSION
The union of University Professors of the University of San Carlos (USAC)
condemned security force repression and called for a halt to government
corruption.  Otto Vasquez Peralta, General Secretary of the University Students'
Association (AEU), also reported that unknown persons were once again
harassing members of university community.  USAC Rector Alfonso Fuentes
Soria, reported that he has been receiving intimidating letters.  Fuentes Soria
said that the threats would not stop the University from denouncing abuses.
(See Peacenet Update #25)

FORENSICS TEAM UNCOVERS REMAINS OF VICTIMS OF 1982
MASSACRE   On August 3 a group of forensic specialists led by U.S. citizen
Dr. Clyde Snow uncovered the remains of 12 campesinos (farmers or peasants)
who had been buried in a clandestine cemetery in La Quebrada, San Jose
Pacho de Lemoa, Santa Cruz del Quiche, El Quiche.  The victims were
identified by their relatives as: DIEGO LOPEZ GONZALEZ (35),
SEBASTIAN CHICH LOARCA (33), JUAN CHICH LOPEZ (17), TOMAS
OSORIO (32), SANTOS HERNANDEZ (53), JUAN VELASQUEZ (28),
DOMINGO VELASQUEZ (28), JUAN TORRES LOPEZ (30), CLETO
MARROQUIN (30), SANTOS DE LEON GONZALEZ (30), TOMAS
HERNANDEZ LOPEZ (25) and SEBASTIAN CHICH (35).  The campesinos
were apparently found face-down and with their hands tied behind their backs.
They had been shot several times in the head, their lower jaws crushed and
their heads had been completely severed.  Martin Lopez Chich, son of Diego
Lopez, reported that he was one of the survivors of that massacre which
occured on February 14, 1982 under the General Efrain Rios Montt de-facto
presidency. Local residents reported that the Army executed the villagers as
part of the military's scorched earth campaign.  Scorched earth resulted in the
killing of approximately twenty thousand people and the destruction of 440
villages during the 17 months of the Rios Montt presidency. (See Peacenet
Update #31)

DISAPPEARANCES

ALFREDO VIVAS (23) was abducted by several unidentified men on August 4
at his home at "A" 22-23 29th Street in Zone 5 of Guatemala City.  Witness,
Sergio Palencia, who lives at the same location, reported the crime.

EXTRAJUDICIAL EXECUTIONS

Unidentified men driving by in a vehicle shot and killed PABLO ANTONIO
FLORES MORALES (26) on July 30.  The incident occurred at 3rd Street and
2nd Avenue in Zone 1 of Barberena, Santa Rosa.

JOSE LUIS REYNOSA GUZMAN (23) and CARLOS ALBERTO
MALDONADO NORIEGA (20) were machine gunned to death in a drive-by
shooting on August 2.  The incident occurred at 10-33 7th Street in Zone 11 of
Guatemala City.

The bodies of EDGAR ARMANDO CABRERA and FRANCISCO MORALES
were found on August 4 in La Joya del Palo, Zacapa.  The victims had been
shot several times.

Mexican citizen MARIO CASTILLO (25) was stabbed to death on August 4 in
El Triunfo, Tecun Uman, San Marcos.

JOAQUIN ORTIZ was stabbed to death by unidentified men armed with
machetes on August 4 in Suchitan, El Progreso, Jutiapa.

UNIDENTIFIED BODIES

The body of an UNIDENTIFIED MALE was found floating in the Aguacapa
river in Barberena, Santa Rosa on July 30.  The victim was naked and had
been shot several times.

The body of an UNIDENTIFIED MALE was found on the San Isidro finca
(ranch or plantation) in Zone 16 of Guatemala City on July 31.  The victim,
who had been tortured, was naked and his body was found in an advanced state
of decomposition.  The victim appeared to be in his mid-forties.

An UNIDENTIFIED MALE was found on July 31 under the La Asuncion
Bridge in Zone 5 of Guatemala City.  The victim's body had several burns
marks.

OTHER HUMAN RIGHTS VIOLATIONS

FACTORY WORKERS REPORT SLAVE CONDITIONS   Workers at the
"Impex Cosmo, S.A." factory, located at 3-06 20th Street in Zone 12 of the
"La Reformita" neighborhood in Guatemala City, reported that they were being
forced to work under virtual slave conditions. The workers had lodged seven
complaints with the Public Affairs Ministry, but said that representatives from
the Ministry had initially done little more than meet with factory managers.
However, on August 2, the Public Affairs Ministry finally documented the
following conditions at the factory:
DThe time clock is moved forward in the morning (before the workers punch
in) and moved backward in the evenings, before they leave, cheating the
workers of at least 30 minutes pay each day;
DOnce the workers enter the plant, chains and locks are put on the doors and
no one is allowed to leave until the 8 hour workday is completed;
DWorkers are prohibited from going to the bathroom;
DWorking conditions are subhuman;
DThere are unexplained reductions in pay, and;
Dworkers are monitored, often by armed men.

ABDUCTED MAN RELEASED  CARLOS ARIEL HERNANDEZ RAMIREZ
(26) was abducted on July 27 in Estanzuela, Zacapa by several masked, armed
men, while in the company of his wife Aura Lorena Giron Cabrera.  Hernandez
Ramirez was released four days later in Quirigua, Los Amates, Izabal.

STUDENTS DENOUNCE HUMAN RIGHTS VIOLATIONS  Hundreds of
students from the National Co-Ed Institute of Basic Commercial Studies in
Coatepeque, Quetzaltenango, as well as parents and members of the faculty,
presented a denunciation to the Human Rights Procurator's Office complaining
of the government's failure to  complete construction on the institute, which
began construction in 1988.  Work on the building was suspended for a time,
and was resumed in December 1991, but remains unfinished.  The protesters
threatened to file a court case because they believe the delay is due to
corruption.

OTHER INFORMATION

JUDGE IN CHARGE OF HUMAN RIGHTS CASES TRANSFERRED  Judge
Secaira Pinto, who sat on the First Penal Court and was involved in several
high profile human rights cases, has been abruptly transferred to Guastatoya, El
Progreso.  Judge Secaira Pinto recently drafted Maritza Urrutia's request for
amnesty, and she was presiding over the investigation into the death of Spanish
priest Moises Cisneros and the kidnapping, torture and rape of U.S. Ursuline
Sister Dianna Ortiz.  Leaders of the Union of Judiciary Employees (STOJ) and
the Judges' Association have protested Secaira Pinto's transfer to Judicial
authorities. (See above and Peacenet Updates #28, #30)

JUSTICE AND PEACE COMMITTEE DENOUNCES INCREASE IN
REPRESSION   The Guatemalan Justice and Peace Committee denounced
increasing repression by President Serrano Elias's government.  The
humanitarian organization, based in Mexico City, said that "despite the re-
opening of peace negotiations with the Guatemalan National Revolutionary
Unity (URNG), and the government's repeated statements of good will, [the
government] is incapable of bringing to a halt the powers of inequity which
sow death on a daily basis."

CONGRESSMAN DENOUNCES IMPORT OF RADIOACTIVE WASTE
Head of the Guatemalan Congress' Environmental Commission, Congressman
Arturo Amiel Escobar of the Union of National Center (UCN) party,
denounced the presence of a large shipment containing 1,000 tons of
radioactive wastes from industrialized countries.  The shipment is currently
being stored at the Las Escobas port in Izabal.  Amiel Escobar said that despite
the government's stated interest in preserving the environment, the process of
legalizing the imported toxic waste products has been moving forward rapidly.
He also reported that armed men were guarding the shipments.  Amiel Escobar
called on President Serrano to investigate the authorization to import these
dangerous materials.

ONE HUNDRED REPATRIATED GUATEMALANS RETURN TO MEXICO
The legal advisor for Guatemalan refugees in Chiapas, Dr. Alfonso Bauer Pais,
reported that approximately 100 Guatemalans, who had returned to Guatemala
from Mexico, have taken exile again in Mexico.  Commenting on the
government's attempts to entice refugees back into Guatemala, Bauer Pais
reported that representatives from the National Commission on Aid to
Refugees, Repatriates, and Displaced Persons (CEAR) have come into the
refugee camps and promised the refugees metal sheets to construct houses in
Guatemala, without offering land on which to build the houses.  For reasons of
improving their international image, the Guatemalan government has made the
return of the refugees a high priority.  In accordance with that policy,
representatives of the government have also offered small amounts of money to
refugees as an incentive to return to Guatemala, a tactic which has proven
ineffective.

NEW ROUND OF NEGOTIATIONS ON HUMAN RIGHTS  From August 3-
7 another round of peace talks between the URNG and the government and
Army was held in Mexico City.  At this meeting both sides sought to move
beyond the first General Agenda point on the subject of human rights, but were
unsuccessful.  A partial agreement was reached on the topic of the civil patrols,
which included a government pledge not to "promote or give weapons to new
voluntary civil defense committees as long as nothing happens to motivate such
actions."  No agreement was reached on the other two human rights issues
which were scheduled to be discussed including, civilian participation in the
negotiations and deciding how to proceed with negotiations.  Mediator Bishop
Rodolfo Quezada Toruno announced that negotiators will meet again at the end
of August.


                 GHRC/USA Human Rights Update*
                     PEACENET Version #33
                        August 17, 1992

CASE UPDATES

SIX SOLDIERS GUILTY OF MASSACRE ACQUITTED  Sighting a "lack of
proof," the War Crimes Review Board acquitted six members of the military
who are accused of killing eleven people near Escuintla, in Santa Rosa, on
August 9, 1991. (See Peacenet Updates #31, 1991 and #31, 1992).  A few days
prior to the recent decision, the Ministry of Public Affairs demanded that the
War Crimes Review Board impose the maximum sentence of 30 years in
prison for the six military men.
     When the military men were initially taken into custody, Luis Enrique
Mendoza, Defense Minister at that time, had publicly declared that the six
accused were indeed responsible for the massacre.

SOLDIER ACCUSED OF INVOLVEMENT IN MASSACRE TO BE
EXECUTED  Corporal NICOLAS GUTIERREZ CRUZ and soldier ELISEO
SUCHITE (whereabouts unknown) are accused of having killed four
campesinos in Ciudad Peronia in Guatemala City in January of this year.  An
appeal for a stay of execution was denied to Gutierrez Cruz, and he was to be
executed on August 18.  However, his defending counsel presented a new
appeal and the execution did not take place as scheduled on August 19.  The
execution is now suspended until the competent court will make a
pronouncement.   The decision to execute a corporal, of indigenous
background, is in direct contrast to the pardon given the six members of the
military, of higher rank, who are accused in the massacre of 11 people near
Escuintla in August 1991. (See Peacenet Update #4 and above)

TOWN MEETING HELD AT SAN JORGE LA LAGUNA  Approximately
7,000 residents of San Jorge La Laguna on Lake Atitlan, including  municipal
officials of Solola, held a meeting to discuss the plight of local campesinos
(farmers or peasants) who are seeking the return of their land.   On April 4 of
this year, an anti-riot squad violently evicted the San Jorge campesinos from
the Jaibal finca which they claim to hold title to. (See Peacenet Updates #14,
15).

DELAY IN FINDING A SOLUTION FOR THE CAJOLA CAMPESINOS
Little has been done to aide the campesinos of Cajola, Quezaltenango since the
National Police anti-riot squad violently evicted them from the Plaza Mayor on
July 21.  Many of the villagers remain at the Paraninfo University campus
where they originally sought refuge after the eviction.  The campesinos are
seeking the return of the Pampas del Horizonte finca (ranch or plantation)
which they claim was illegally seized by the owner of the neighboring
Coatunco finca.  (See Peacenet Update #31)
     The Cajola campesinos have complained that the government has done
little to remedy the current problems, including that the commission formed to
remeasure Coatunco (giving some land to the campesinos) has not been sent,
and that the Arevalo family, who own Coatunco, refuse to allow the
commission to remeasure the property.

DEATH THREATS

RESIDENTS OF ALTA VERAPAZ THREATENED  Dr. Olga Choc Joloma,
second judge at the municipal court in Coban, Alta Verapaz has continued to
receive death threats. (See Peacenet Update #31) JOSE RANFERI, director of
prisons and JULIO AMILCAR NUILA, editor of the "Correo del Norte" news
service, have also been receiving threats.  All three are asking authorities to
investigate and bring those responsible to justice.

EXTRAJUDICIAL EXECUTIONS

EDGAR ANTONIO TENAS SOLIS (33) was shot to death on August 8 by
several unidentified men who raided his home on 1st Avenue and 13th Street
in Zone 3 of San Miguel, Escuintla.

MARIO ARNOLDO LOPEZ (30) was forced into a vehicle and shot to death
by unknown men on August 8.  Lopez was abducted a few moments after
leaving his home on 23rd Street and 2nd Avenue in Zone 3 of Guatemala City.


ISMAR TOBAR (22) was shot to death on August 8 by an unidentified man
who stopped him as he was walking along the railroad tracks at 10th Street and
7th Avenue in Izabal.

OTHER HUMAN RIGHTS VIOLATIONS

STREET CHILDREN BEATEN AND THREATENED  Street children,
BYRON GEOVANNI CASTILLO (14) and JOSE CHICAJUA (15) were
beaten and threatened on August 4 by uniformed members of the Hunapu Unit
(joint force of the National Police, Treasury Guard and the Mobile Military
Police).
     At approximately 11 pm, Castillo and Chicajua, who were reportedly
reading a paper and sitting on a stoop with two other unidentified street
children, were approached by a member of the National Police and a member
of the Treasury Guard.  The unidentified children, who had been sniffing shoe
glue, ran away and the officers began to harass Castillo and Chicajua, saying,
"You are waiting here to see what you can steal!"  Castillo and Chicajua told
the officers that they were doing nothing, and the officers reportedly responded
by taking the jars of glue, grabbing the two boys by the hair, and dragging
them through the empty stalls of a market, kicking and punching them in the
arms, legs and chest.  The officers reportedly poured the glue onto the
children's heads and threatened to kill them if they saw them again.
     Approximately one hour after the incident, Castillo and Chicajua
identified the two members of the security forces as part of the Hunapu Unit.


ARMY BOMBS COMMUNITIES OF POPULATION IN RESISTANCE IN
EL QUICHE  The Communities of Population in Resistance (CPR) reported
that on July 18 an Amajchel Army patrol unit took over the community of
Santa Clara, robbing and harassing the inhabitants, and occupying the office of
the area committee.  The CPR's also reported that between July 22 and 25, the
Army launched 17 bombs on the populated areas of Los Angeles and Cuarto
Pueblo.  In addition, on July 24, 27 and 30 three Air Force planes and a
helicopter reportedly machine-gunned those same communities on four
occasions, and dropped a total of 15 bombs, one of which destroyed four
houses and killed domestic animals.
     Also, on August 5, two Air Force planes dropped six bombs on Cuarto
Pueblo and Los Angeles, and army troops in Pueblo Nuevo reportedly launched
ten additional bombs.

OTHER INFORMATION

CHILD ABDUCTED IN ESCUINTLA  Eight-year-old JUAN MATILDE
IXCACO FLORES was abducted on August 8 by several unidentified men
traveling in a red vehicle.  The incident occurred while the child, accompanied
by his mother Matilde Ixcaco Miranda, was on his way to school in El Cojon,
Santa Lucia Cotzumagualpa, Escuintla. [Ed. note: This case is not listed as a
"disappearance" because it is unknown whether the child was abducted for
political reasons or as a result of a family dispute.]

QUEZALTENANGO CAMPESINOS DEMONSTRATE  Workers at the Maria
de Lourdes finca, in Genova, Quezaltenango, demonstrated in front of the
Human Rights Plaza, near the Supreme Court in Guatemala City, calling on the
Government Ministry to intervene in reinstating 81 farmworkers.  The
campesinos were reportedly fired because they had organized a trade union to
defend their rights and secure benefits for employees.

REFUGEE REPRESENTATIVE DOES NOT ADVISE RETURN  Antonio
Lux, representative of Guatemalan refugees in Mexico, travelled to Totonicapan
on an observer mission and concluded that the more than 500 families from
Totonicapan (now refugees in Quintana Roo, Mexico) should not return to their
place of origin because the conditions for their safe return are not present.
During his travels through the department, he reportedly verified that there are
still human rights violations and cases of repression against certain sectors in
Totonicapan.

INTERNATIONAL MEETING HELD ON GUATEMALAN POLITICAL
SITUATION  On the first day of the Eighth Seminar on the Role of Political
Parties, organized by the Association for Investigative and Social Studies
(ASIES), participants reached the conclusion that "Guatemala is ungovernable."
Speeches were made by Waldo Ansaldi, Director of the Sociology department
at the University of Buenos Aires and Josef Thesing, Director of the German
based Konrad Adenauer Foundation's International Institute for Solidarity.  Also
speaking at the event was Dr. Rene de Leon Schlotter, ex-candidate for the
Guatemalan Presidency, who said that 90% of the Guatemalan population does
not actively participate in politics.  He also said that, "those in power have not
permitted organization... When the society has sought to organize itself, its
social and political leadersDwho were in search of greater participation or
more decision-making capacityD were persecuted."  The result, he said, is that
Guatemala is now ungovernable.

ELDERLY WOMAN CRUCIFIED   On August 8, the elderly AUDELIA
TORIBIO MEJIA ALVARADO (79) was strangled, and later bound with nylon
and hung from a cross on the door of her home in the center of Olintepeque,
Quezaltenango.

CHOLERA CASES QUADRUPLED IN 1992  Otto Zeizing, head of the
Epidemiology section of the Public Health Department, reported that a total of
247 persons died and another 15,880 were infected with cholera since the
epidemic appeared in Guatemala.  He also reported that in 1992, the number of
cholera cases quadrupled.


The Guatemala Human Rights Commission/USA monitors the human rights
situation in Guatemala and provides information to various constituencies in the
United States and to a limited extent abroad.  Information in the Guatemala
Human Rights Update is compiled from a variety of international sources
including: the Comisi"n de Derechos Humanos de Guatemala/Mexico
(Guatemalan Human Rights Commission/Mexico), Americas Watch, and
Amnesty International. Information is also gathered from reports and alerts
from groups in Guatemala including: the Archbishop's Human Rights Office,
the Council of Ethnic Communities Runujel Junam (CERJ), labor unions, the
University Students Association (AEU), the Conference of Religious of
Guatemala (CONFREGUA) and the Mutual Support Group of Relatives of the
Disappeared (GAM).
** End of text from cdp:reg.guatemala **