Editorial, week of June 8, 1998
"We are gathering the memories of the people because we want to contribute
to the construction of a different country. This path was and continues to
be full of risks, but the building of the Kingdom of God has risks and only
those that have the strength to confront those risks can be the builders."
-From Monsignor Gerardi's last address, April 24, 1998
The brutal murder of Monsignor Juan Gerardi Conodera on April 26, nearly a year and a half after the signing of the peace, struck a terrible blow to the Guatemalan peace process and the country's still fragile democracy. The brutality and the undoubtedly political nature of Gerardi's assassination have caused many to worry that the not so distant past -- when state-sponsored political repression claimed the lives of thousands -- has returned to Guatemala. The response of the Guatemalan government will be a test to the depth of its commitment to the Peace Accords, and its willingness to end the impunity which has existed so long in Guatemala.
It is no coincidence that Gerardi's murder occurred just two days after presenting Nunca Mas, the result of an effort by the Interdiocesan Project for the Recovery of Historical Memory (REHMI) to capture thousands of testimonies from survivors of human rights abuses committed during the war. In Nunca Mas, the military is held responsible for 79% of the human rights violations committed, and specifically names those officers and units responsible for the worst violations. Not surprisingly, the majority of Guatemalans believe that the murder of the Monsignor was committed by elements in the military, reacting to the release of the report. In a survey conducted by the Guatemalan daily, Prensa Libre, published on May 10th, 82% of those surveyed attribute the attack to a political origin, while only 17% believe it was an act of common crime. 78% attributed Gerardi's involvement in the REHMI project as the motive for the murder.
Because of a long history of impunity in Guatemala, most Guatemalans feel cynical that this case, like so many others, will ever be solved. No high-ranking member of the military has ever been convicted of a human rights abuse committed against Guatemalans. The declaration of responsibility for the assassination by Jaguar Justiciero, "the Jaguar of Justice," seems to support the widely-held belief that the murder was committed by members of the military. The Jaguar Justiciero, a well-known paramilitary death squat active in the eighties, associated with the Estado Mayor Presidencial (Presidential Guard) has been attributed, among other crimes, to the assassination of presidential candidate Jorge Carpio. It is possible that the group in this instance was not the original Jaguar Justiciero, but a group capitalizing on the terror engendered by the use of their name to sow fear. Either way, it is clear that the architects of past repression have a strong interest in destabilizing the peace by silencing human rights activists and others who work towards revealing the truth and working towards national reconciliation.
Unfortunately, at the present, there are no encouraging signs that the government is truly committed to bringing the assassins to justice, apart from making public proclamations strongly condemning the act. To date, the only arrested and chief suspect is Carlos Vielman, a vagrant with a record of criminal acts who, despite a complete lack of evidence proving his culpability, remains in detention. Vielman so lacks credibility as a suspect that members of the Archbishop's Human Rights Office (ODHA) have called for his immediate release.
Sadly, recent events have demonstrated that the Monsignor's murder was not an isolated incident. Despite substantial improvement in the overall human rights situation, human rights activists, along with members of the political opposition, unionists, and others active in the popular movement continue to face threats to their safety. Father Pedro Nota, an Italian priest working in Zone 18 of the capital and a public supporter of the REHMI project has announced that he will leave the country due to receiving a series of intimidations and death threats. At the beginning of May, Luis Yat Zapeta, mayor of Santa Cruz de Quiche, was assassinated by two armed men wearing ski masks. Two unionists with the Central General de Trabajadores received death threats last month, as did two members of the forensic anthropology team of the Archbishop's Human Rights Office.
All these events illustrate that despite the end of civil war, Guatemala is still far from achieving the "True and Lasting Peace" aspired to in the Peace Accords. For this reason, international pressure, now as during the war, continues to play an important role. Not only should we pressure the Guatemalan government for an immediate and thorough investigation into Gerardi's death (and ask that our representatives in Congress do the same), we should also continue to demand that the Guatemalan government fully comply with the Peace Accords, which articulate the reforms necessary to build a just and democratic society. It is also important that internationals continue to monitor the high-profile human rights cases currently sluggishly making their way through the Guatemalan and international court systems to ensure that they don't become lost in impunity -- the cases involving the deaths of Myrna Mack, Efrain Bamaca, and the massacre in Xaman, being examples. And of course, we should not forget that for decades the U.S. government supported murderous regimes in Guatemala, and demand that the CIA records documenting U.S. actions in Guatemala be declassified.
After 36 years of civil war, perhaps it is not surprising that those who actively participated or collaborated with the repression should be threatened by the truth that the REHMI project represents. By prosecuting Gerardi's murderers, the Guatemalan state will be making a strong move towards ending the impunity which for so long allowed those who participated in repression to act without fear of reprisal. It is only through taking these kinds of steps that the "Never Again" proclaimed by the REHMI project can become reality.
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