Inter-American Court Rules in Favor Mack

NEW YORK – Human Rights First today hailed the decision of the Inter-American Court for Human Rights in the Myrna Mack case as a victory for human rights in Guatemala. The Court ruled that Guatemala had violated several provisions of the American Convention on Human Rights in the killing of anthropologist Myrna Mack Chang in 1990, and the subsequent denial of justice in the case. The Mack case, which remains before the domestic criminal courts, has become a symbol of the prevailing impunity in Guatemala for serious human rights abuses committed in the country by members of the security forces.

Myrna Mack was stabbed to death by members of a military death squad while on her way home from work on September 11, 1990. Her assassination was in retaliation for her anthropological research into the destruction of indigenous communities by the Guatemalan military during the country’s armed conflict. For over thirteen years, Myrna’s sister, Helen Mack, has sought to bring to justice all those responsible for the murder. Her efforts led to the groundbreaking 1993 conviction of one of Myrna's attackers -- a low ranking security official. Later, two colonels and a general,—the highest ranking officials in Guatemala ever to face trial for human rights violations—were indicted and tried for orchestrating the murder. On October 3, 2002, a Guatemalan criminal court convicted Colonel Juan Valencia Osorio for his role in ordering the killing, but acquitted the other two defendants. However, in May 2003, an appeals court overturned the conviction and the case has been taken to Guatemala's Supreme Court.

With the assistance of Human Rights First, the Center for Justice and International Law, and Hogan & Hartson L.L.P., Helen Mack brought a parallel case against Guatemala to the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights, for violations of Myrna’s right to life and the rights of her family to humane treatment and judicial protection. The case was referred by the Commission to the Inter-American Court in 2001. The Court heard oral arguments in the case in February 2003.

In its 240-page decision, the Inter-American Court unanimously found Guatemala in violation of articles 1, 4 (right to life) 5 (humane treatment), 8 (judicial guarantees) and 25 (judicial protection) of the American Convention. A majority of the Court ordered, among other things, that Guatemala:

• must effectively investigate the facts of the case in order to identify and prosecute all those responsible for the killing, as well as those who covered up the crime;
• must remove all obstacles to justice in the case and guarantee adequate security for the judicial authorities, prosecutors, witnesses, and relatives of Myrna Mack;
• must publicly recognize its responsibility in the case;
• must publicly honor the memory of Jose Mérida Escobar, a police officer who was killed during his investigation into the Mack case in 1991;
• must establish a scholarship in Myrna Mack’s name and name a street or plaza in Guatemala City after her;
• must pay US$266,000 for material damages to members of the Mack family;
• must pay US$350,000 for pain and suffering to members of the Mack family