Guatemala Human Rights UPDATE#34 Aug 24
Rich Winkel
** Topic: Human Rights UPDATE#34 Aug 24 **
** Written 5:08 pm Aug 26, 1992 by ghrc in cdp:reg.guatemala **
GHRC/USA Human Rights Update*
PEACENET Version #34
August 24, 1992
CASE UPDATES
FENASTAG Denounces Government's Violation of Accords On August
17 labor leader Armando Sanchez, Secretary General of the
National Federation of State Workers of Guatemala (FENASTEG)
denounced the government's failure to implement agreements signed
on July 21, 1992. Member organizations of FENASTAG will initiate
protest measures if the government does not abide by the accords
which were put into affect after the recent public sector strike.
The government has reportedly not paid wages to contract workers
and workers in partially privatized industries. The government
has also refused to publicize the agreement on seniority benefits
and to officialize salary increases of between 18% and 22%
established for public workers.
Court Condemns Actions of the National Police The Fourth Chamber
of the Court of Appeals ordered the Director of the National
Police to guarantee the rights of the campesinos (farmers or
peasants) of Cajola who were violently evicted from the Plaza
Mayor on July 24 by an antiriot squad. (See Peacenet Update #30.)
The judges declared that the Cajola villager's rights of free
assembly, movement, and demonstration must be respected.
EXTRAJUDICAL EXECUTIONS
ANABEL HERNANDEZ (24) was shot to death on August 19 by an
unidentified man who stopped him two meters away from his home at
27-02 25 Street in Zone 5 of Guatemala city.
The body of EDGAR ARIAS BARRIOS was found on August 14 on the
outskirts of Santo Domingo Suchitepequez, near the Sis river, in
Suchitepequez. The victim's body was badly bruised.
The body of JULIAN HERNANDEZ ROMERO was found on August 14 near
kilometer 171.5 of the road to the Pacific, in Suchitepequez.
Hernandez Romero had been badly beaten.
Farmer MARCO ANTONIO SANTOS HERRERA (37) was shot to death by
several unidentified men who violently took him from his home at
section A, Lot 61, in San Jose, San Jose Pinula. Santos Herrera
had been having a party at his home.
The body of ALDELFO ESCOBAR DAVILA (33) was found on August 18 in
a garbage dump in El Tumbador, San Marcos. Escobar Davila had
been attacked with a blunt instrument and beaten on various parts
of his body.
UNIDENTIFIED BODIES
The bodies of TWO UNIDENTIFIED MALES were found, with signs of
the coup de grace (final shot to the head), on August 13 in
Morales, Izabal.
OTHER HUMAN RIGHTS VIOLATIONS
Continued Harassment of Street Children Children involved with
the programs of Casa Alianza (Covenant House), a Guatemalan
charitable organization that works with street children,
reportedly have suffered harassment. On August 16 DAVID LARA and
OLINDA ORELLANA, both 19, were leaving the Casa Alianza home for
older youths, where they reside, when three men in plain clothes
approached and said they were policemen but did not show any
identification. They reportedly handcuffed the youngsters, forced
them into a car, and beat them. The youths were later released.
In another incident, on August 15 Casa Alianza worker EVELYN
MARISOL DEL CID LIMA was walking in Zone 13 with her father,
FRANCISCO HUGO DEL CID JACOBO, and her brother, HUGO DEL CID
LIMA, when a car with polarized windows drove by at high speed.
The occupants of the car fired in the direction of the three
family members, but no one was injured.
On August 14 Casa Alianza resident JAIME SALVADOR CRISPIN
URIAS (23) was approached in Zone 7 by an unidentified armed man
who forced him into a car with polarized windows. Urias
reportedly was beaten with a pistol on his face and head by the
man and an accomplice and freed three hours later in Zone 1.
Street youth JOSE ALFREDO CORNEJO ("CABELLON") and Casa
Alianza counsellor MARCO TULIO SILVESTRE were stopped in the
street by two men in plain clothes who said they were policemen
but did not show any identification. The men accused Cornejo of
being a thief, questioned both the counsellor and youth and
threatened to take them to the National Police headquarters. The
two were finally allowed to go, but Cornejo has been followed and
is under constant surveillance. He was a member of the "18
street gang," five members of which have been extrajudicially
executed in the past two years. (See Peacenet Update #33.)
Mayor's Office Occupied by Civil Patrol The mayor's office in
Santa Catarina Ixtahuacan, in Solola, was occupied by 45 civil
patrol (PAC) members from the neighboring town of Guineales on
August 10. The patrols were carrying rifles and other weapons
supplied to them by the Army in Solola and Mazatenango,
Suchitepequez. The patrols threatened the municipal authorities
and fired into the air to frighten the population.
In response to the incident, the municipal authorities of
Santa Catarina Ixtahuacan sent a petition to the Ministry of
Defense, requesting the immediate disarmament of the civil
patrols of Guineales; the arrest and trial of the military
commissioner of the town, Pascual Panquim Guarachaj, and the
chief of the patrols, Roberto Velasquez Tzaquitzal; and the
immediate removal of these men from their positions. The
municipal authorities concluded by saying they would hold the
PACs and the Ministry of Defense responsible for any future
actions against the people of Santa Catarina Ixtahuacan.
Massacre Attempt Leaves Four Wounded MARIA GONZALEZ (35), ELSA
ETELVINA VELASQUEZ (12), JOSUE NEHEMIAS VELASQUEZ (7), and CARLOS
ENRIQUE PEREZ (2) were wounded on August 14 when unidentified men
threw a grenade at the family's house in Chacalte, Cuyotenango,
Suchitepequez. The victims were taken to San Juan de Dios
hospital.
Kidnapping Attempt Leaves Two Youths Injured SONIA LETICIA LEIVA
(22) and WILLIAN ENCARNACION ALVAREZ CRUZ (21) were shot on
August 17 when armed men came to their home and attempted to
abduct them. The youths resisted, and one of the men fired at
them. Both the youths were taken to San Juan de Dios hospital.
Director of Quezaltenango School Disappeared Teacher FABIAN
BETHANCOURT, Director of the Marimba School of Quetzaltenango,
has been missing since August 15, when he left his house in Zone
1 of Quezaltenango.
Disappearance in San Marcos JORGE ROLANDO POJOY VASQUEZ (41) has
been missing since he left his home on August 18 to go to the
Granada finca (ranch or plantation) in El Tumbador, San Marcos.
Rolando Pojoy's wife, Rosa Angelica Barrios, informed the press
of his disappearance.
OTHER INFORMATION
Archbishop Condemns Army Control of National Police The
Archbishop's Human Rights Office accused the Army of controlling
the National Police. The Human Rights Office said that the
Hunapu Unit (made up of the Military, National, and Treasury
Police), is also subject to Army influence, and has become the
"principal instrument with which the government legitimizes its
repressive policy". The Archbishop's Office added that the
Hunapu Unit affords the Army a new tool of social control.
International Organizations Denounce Human Rights Violations In
the forty-fourth session of the UN Subcommission on Minority
Protection and Discrimination Prevention, various organizations
denounced repression in Guatemala. The International Federation
of the Rights of Man said the Subcommission should condemn the
persistent, massive, and flagrant human rights violations in
Guatemala under the government of Jorge Serrano Elias. Amnesty
International said the human rights abuses continue, and the
International League of Women for Peace and Liberty emphasized
the consequences of human rights abuses on women. The
International Council on Indian Treaties, the Association of
International Education Development, the International
Association Against Torture, the World University Service, the
American Bar Association, and the Latin American Federation of
the Relatives of the Disappeared also denounced human rights
abuses in Guatemala and suggested possible actions to pressure
for change.
Indigenous People Demand Freedom to Leave Model Villages
About 133 families from Los Cimientos, in Chajul, who have lived
for more than a decade in model villages between Nebaj and Cunen
in El Quiche, asked Human Rights Procurator Ramiro de Leon Carpio
to guarantee their right to free movement so that they can leave
the villages.
Death Sentence for Gutierrez Cruz Criticized The Assistant
Secretary of the General Confederation of Guatemalan Workers
(CGTG), Rigoberto Duenas, condemned the sentencing to death of
Corporal Nicolas Gutierrez Cruz, who was involved in the January
massacre in Ciudad Peronia. (See Peacenet Update #33.) Duenas
said, "We believe the death penalty is not the most effective way
to punish criminal actions and end impunity." He also noted that
the material actor in the Ciudad Peronia murders would be
punished, but the intellectual actor would remain at liberty.
Clodoveo Dominguez, deputy of the Christian Democratic Party,
also criticized the sentencing to death of Gutierrez Cruz and
called for swift and complete justice in all cases of human
rights abuses, even when high-ranking officials are suspected to
be involved.
Another Child Disappears in Guatemala City Ten-year-old MANUEL
DE JESUS AGUSTIN PORRAS was discovered missing on August 16.
Augustin Porras had been playing in front of his house on X
block, lot 23, El Exodo, Nuevo Mexquital in Zone 12 of Guatemala
City. His parents, Pedro Agustin and Antonia Porras, reported
the child's disappearance.
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).
* Every two weeks, two PEACENET Updates are combined to form the
Guatemala Human Rights Update, which is mailed first class to
hundreds of organizations and individuals. That publication
includes all the information in the PEACENET versions--with
infrequent addenda and corrections--and a list of suggested
actions. To subscribe to the Guatemala Human Rights Update send
$30 (yearly subscription) to GHRC/USA at: 3321 12th Street NE,
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** End of text from cdp:reg.guatemala **