Support New Opportunities for Justice in Guatemala

December 20, 2006

UPDATE: On August 1, 2007, the Guatemalan Congress voted to establish the commission of experts to help investigate and prosecute organized crime.

Guatemalan leaders in power during the worst massacres in the 1980s have finally been detained in Guatemala, accused of committing genocide. They now face the prospect of extradition to Spain. Survivors and witnesses of these massacres, supported by courageous human rights activists, helped make these developments possible. 

For their work seeking to hold accountable those responsible for the massive human rights crimes of the past, these human rights defenders face constant threats, physical violence and harassment.

Take this rare opportunity to urge the Guatemalan government to prosecute those responsible for massacres and to investigate the illegal armed groups they control.  These illegal armed groups are believed to be responsible for the escalating attacks against human rights defenders.

In order to prevent future attacks against human rights defenders, please urge the Guatemalan Congress to:

1. Approve an agreement signed last week with the United Nations, to establish an international commission to investigate and assist in prosecuting these illegal armed groups.
2. Support Guatemalan and Spanish legal proceedings against those accused of committing genocide.

Background

ECAP (Equipo de estudios Comunitarios y Accion Psicosical - Team of Communitarian Studies and Psychosocial Action) is a Guatemalan organization that provides psychosocial support to massacre survivors and witnesses involved in legal proceedings before courts in Guatemala and overseas.

On September 13, an ECAP employee who works with survivors of an infamous massacre in Plan de Sánchez, Baja Verapaz in the center of Guatemala, was assaulted and all of the documents related to ECAP’s work in that community were stolen.  On September 30, the same person was followed for several hours by an unmarked car.  On October 2, a note was found at the ECAP office in Rabinal, Baja Verapaz, threatening this ECAP individual as well as one other. On November 21, near Plan de Sánchez, three men in military clothing, with their faces covered, attacked the same ECAP employee, attempting to knock the individual off a motorcycle. In response to these threats, on October 20, 2006, the Inter-American Court of Human Rights awarded ECAP provisional measures requiring the Guatemalan state to promptly take measures necessary to protect the life and personal integrity of ECAP members.

ECAP members fear that the attacks seek to deter them from obtaining justice for crimes in courts in Guatemala and overseas. In their opinion, the attacks are being orchestrated by illegal armed groups. These groups are a legacy of the internal armed conflict and use violence to protect their political and financial interests and to obstruct efforts to expose the truth about their past crimes. They allegedly have connections with state officials, former and current members of the armed forces, businesses and organized crime.

The victims of the army’s brutal repression during the internal armed conflict, many of whom are supported by ECAP, filed legal proceedings in the Guatemalan judicial system. However, such legal proceedings have largely remained stalled. Nobel Peace Prize winner Rigoberta Menchu and other civil society leaders therefore brought a suit before the national high court in Spain court accusing a range of political, police and army leaders of committing genocide. The proceedings make use of Spain’s universal jurisdiction laws. In October the court issued international arrest warrants for some of the accused. And in November three of the accused were detained in Guatemala in preparation for extradition to Spain.

It is alleged that some of these leaders have links with the illegal armed groups and that this connection explains the increase in attacks against human rights defenders such as ECAP. The illegal armed groups feel threatened by the legal proceedings in Spain. More broadly, they fear that their structure could be dismantled and are therefore seeking to deter those activists who could play a vital role in such a process.

On December 12, 2006, the United Nations and the Guatemalan government signed an agreement to establish an independent commission to investigate these illegal armed groups. The International Commission against Impunity in Guatemala (CICIG) will also assist justice officials in prosecuting the clandestine security groups in local courts.

CICIG has the potential to:

• uncover the full extent of the illegal armed groups;
• dismantle their underlying structure;
• prosecute high-profile individuals responsible for crimes and attacks on human rights defenders; and
• prevent future attacks on human rights defenders by putting an end to the culture of impunity which encourages such attacks.

However, the Guatemalan congress must ratify the agreement before CICIG is established. It is therefore vital that you take action and write to the leaders of each political party in Congress to demand that they support the measure.

Further Information:

Situation of Human Rights Defenders in Guatemala: http://www.humanrightsfirst.org/defenders/hrd_guatemala/
hrd_guatemala.htm

Text of the Agreement to Prosecute Illegal Armed Groups: http://www.humanrightsfirst.info/pdf/061215-hrd-digned-
english-agreement-cicig.pdf

Press coverage of Human Rights First analysis of the Agreement: http://www.ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=35865

Sample Letter:

Spanish Version of this Letter (PDF-22KB)

Jorge Méndez Herbruger
Presidente of the Guatemalan Congress
9ª Avenida 9-44 Zona 1
Guatemala
jorgemh@congreso.gob.gt

President Mendez: 

I am writing to urge you to support and ratify the Agreement between the United Nations and the State of Guatemala on the establishment of an International Commission against Impunity in Guatemala (CICIG). In my opinion, CICIG is a vital tool to investigate and assist in the prosecution of illegal armed groups in Guatemala.

I am aware of the recent assaults, attempted kidnaps, threats and harassment against ECAP (Equipo de estudios Comunitarios y Accion Psicosical) in Rabinal, Baja Verapaz.ECAP plays a critical role in supporting victims of the internal armed conflict who are also involved in legal proceedings in Guatemala and Spain. I applaud the recent detention and potential extradition to Spain of those accused of committing genocide and I ask that you support Guatemalan and Spanish legal proceedings against them.

However, I also recognize that it is a dangerous period for those human rights defenders involved in the legal proceedings and broader efforts to achieve justice for past crimes. I fear that illegal armed groups may be involved in the harassment of ECAP and many of the more than 200 attacks against human rights defenders in the last year. In my opinion, CICIG could:

• fulfill the government’s commitment to combat illegal armed groups under the Comprehensive Agreement on Human Rights of 22 March 1994;
• uncover the full extent of the illegal armed groups;
• dismantle their underlying structure;
• prosecute high-profile individuals responsible for crimes and attacks on human rights defenders; and
• prevent future attacks on human rights defenders such as ECAP by putting an end to the culture of impunity which encourages these attacks.

I therefore call upon you to ratify the Agreement and support CICIG once it is established.

Thank you for your attention to this urgent matter.  I will continue to closely monitor this situation.

cc.

Myrna Frynee Ponce Broche de Samayoa
Presidenta, Comisión Derechos Humanos
myrnaponce@congreso.gob.gt

Mario Amilcar Estrada Orellana,
Presidente, Comisión Relaciones Externales  

Jaime Antonio Martinez Lohayza,
Jefe, Bancada Gran Alianza Nacional
jmartinez@congreso.gob.gt

Baldomero Crespo Villega,
Jefe, Bancada Frente Republicano Guatemalteco
acrespo@congreso.gob.gt

Roberto Kestler Velásquez
Jefe, Bancada Unidad Nacional de la Esperanza
rkestler@congreso.gob.gt

Jorge Mario Vazquez Velásquez
Jefe, Bancada Partido de Avanzada Nacional
jvasquez@congreso.gob.gt

Vector Julio Perez Rojas
Jefe, Bancada Independiente Solidaridad
hperez@congreso.gob.gt

Cesar Leonel Soto Arango
Jefe, Independiente Unión del Cambio Nacion