GUATEMALA HUMAN RIGHTS UPDATE -- August

From:     Alice Zachmann <azachmann@ghrc-usa.org>
Subject:     FW: Guatemala Human Rights UPDATE Vol14 No14
Date:     06 Aug 2002 12:23:23 -0400


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GUATEMALA HUMAN RIGHTS COMMISSION/USA

*GUATEMALA HUMAN RIGHTS UPDATE -- VOL 14-NO 14*

- Spain: Menchu case against genocide may be heard in Sept
        - street kids massacred
        - land conflict injures 50
        - PACs compensation controversy
- more...

CASE UPDATES

GERARDI CASE: CC DECISION FAVORS MILITARY 7/19/02 Guatemalas Constitutional
Court (CC) decided to grant military specialist Obdulio Villanueva the right
to appeal a 2001 decision which sentenced him to 30 years for the murder of
Monsignor Juan Gerardi.  A Guatemalan appeals court can now set a date for
an appeals hearing.  Bishop Gerardi, a prominent human rights advocate, was
bludgeoned to death on April 26, 1998.

TEN DOAN AGENTS ARE CAPTURED FOR DRUG THEFT 7/19/02 Guatemalas National
Civil Police (PNC) and Public Ministry (MP) officials reported the capture
of ten more Department of Anti-Narcotic Operations (DOAN) agents including
deputy Jose Arnoldo Garcia Salazar, accused of stealing 1,604 kilos of
cocaine last March.  Benjamin Lorenzana, first lieutenant, and second
lieutenant José Vicente Culajay Alvizúrez were among the ten captured.
        Guatemalan Judge Leonidas Ramos issued the arrest warrants. There are a
total of 18 now in prison related to this case. Including the capture of
these agents. The MP is investigating 7 more agents, among them, a deputy
who impersonated the DOAN chief and the storage guard German Osmin Garcia
Lima. U.S. Embassy spokesperson Kay Mayfield, stated that they have
repeatedly been asking for an investigation.
If the suspects are being looked for, this is positive; hopefully cases can
be followed through and solved when there are public doubts about the
services that the DOAN provides Magfield stated.

SPAIN: MENCHUS CASE AGAINST GENOCIDE MAY BE HEARD 7/22/02 (excerpted from
Centr-Am News, Issue # 200) Guatemalan Nobel Peace Laureate Rigoberta Menchu
Tum reported on July 15 that the Spanish Supreme Court had heard arguments
by representatives of family members of victims of atrocities committed by
the Guatemalan military during the 36-year-long internal armed conflict in
that nation.
The testimony was presented within the framework of a suit brought by Menchu
, through her Foundation and with other co-complainants, brought to the
Spanish Court in 1999 against former military dictator Efrain Rios Montt,
now president of the Guatemalan congress, and six other military officers,
for genocide, terrorism and torture.
The Court decided to reserve its finding until September, when it will
establish whether or not the case falls within its jurisdiction. The Spanish
Court has international jurisdiction in some cases, and became well-known
when one of its lead investigative magistrates, Baltasar Garzon, attempted
to bring former Chilean dictator Augusto Pinochet before the court for human
rights abuses. Menchu appeared to be optimistic about the Court deciding to
hear the case.

ALEGRIA CASE: NEW MURDER SUSPECT CAPTURED  7/26/02 Criminal Investigation
Service Agents in Puerto Barrios, Izabal, Guatemala, captured Estuardo
Benjamin Orozco Estrada, who is suspected of planning the murder of
journalist Mynor Alegria on February 6, 2001.National Civil Police (PNC)
director Luis Arturo Paniagua, reported that they captured Estrada after a
Guatemalan court issued an arrest warrant.  When PNC made the arrest, they
found a pistol  and a car which had been reported stolen since May 2002.

FUNDAMENTAL HUMAN
RIGHTS VIOLATIONS

CERIGUA REPORTS RAID OF CORRESPONDENTS OFFICE 7/16/02 In Jutiapa,
Guatemala, a correspondents office working for the Center on Informative
Reports on Guatemala (CERIGUA) was raided by unidentified men who took the
hard disk from a computer that had important information, Osmin Castro
reported.  Castro, a correspondent for the CERIGUA news service in Jutiapa,
stated that when Ana Marroquin, president of the Jutiapa Peasant Association
visited the office, she noticed that the office had been raided  and that
software equipment was missing.  The Jutiapa Peasant Association
collaborates with CERIGUA in a department-wide Correspondents Network
Project that CERIGUA has hosted for the past five years.  Marroquin believes
that this raid is a political act that seeks to intimidate the social
organizations that look after the peasants case needs.

RAIDED: OFFICES HOLDING FIVE  ORGANIZATIONS 7/22/02 Offices holding five
civil society organizations were raided.  Three of the offices are human
rights organizations and the other two belong to international accompaniment
organizations: the Guatemalan National Human Rights Coordinator
(CONADEHGUA), the Multi-Institutional Coalition For Peace And Harmony, the
International Center For Human Rights Investigations (CDIIDH), the
International Accompaniment Coordinating office, and the Austrian
Accompaniment Office to Guatemala.  The Mutual Support Group (GAM), a member
organization of CONADEHGUA, reported that unknown men forcibly entered
through the garage doors. When inside the office, they forced open doors
which were locked, searched desk files, stole software equipment, and the
organizations phones.

WOMEN AND CHILDRENS RIGHTS

UN CONCERNED FOR TREATMENT OF DETAINED TRAFFICKED GIRLS  7/15/02 (excerpted
from Casa Alianza Rapid-Response)Two Special Rapporteurs from the United
Nations have contacted the Guatemalan government concerned that foreign
trafficked girls used for sexual exploitation in Guatemala are immediately
jailed when rescued from brothels as if they were criminals.
        The UN Special Rapporteur on Abritrary Detention and the UN Special
Rapporteur on the Sale of Children, Child Prostitution and Child Pornography
sent urgent faxes to the Guatemalan Minister of Foreign Affairs and to
Guatemalas Permanent Mission to the United Nations in Geneva last Friday,
expressing their concerns over the detention of seven children from El
Salvador who were rescued by the police from the Club Ejecutivo
Internacional on July 9th. Instead of the children being sent to an
adequate home for trafficked victims, the six girls - as young as 14 and one
of them pregnant - were sent to the Gorriones juvenile detention center for
girls and the boy was sent to a center for delinquent boys.
        The UN is concerned about the application of the antiquated 1969 Childrens
Code in Guatemala that allows judges to lock children up for their own
protection. The 6 girls and 1 boy were discovered in the Club Ejecutivo
Internacional, following a complaint by an adult sex worker.  They had been
duped into leaving El Salvador to work in legitimatework places only to
find themselves forced into prostitution.
        Two men have been arrested in connection with the trafficking of the
children but the UN is highly concerned that the victims are also being
treated as criminals. The girls were later transferred to a home run by the
Secretary of Social Welfare in Antigua, Guatemala.
        The UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, ratified by Guatemala in
1990, states that children can only be deprived of their liberty as a last
resort. Trafficked children are victims, not criminals, explained Bruce
Harris, the Regional Director of Latin American programs for Casa Alianza.
The children should be given the necessary emotional support rather than be
further traumatised and locked up.
        The Guatemalan Congress passed a new Children and Adolescents Code in
1996, but the actual Congress suspended its implementation indefinitely.
Casa Alianza sued the Congress - and won - arguing that the Congress cannot
simply suspend laws indefinitely. The Congress has yet to set a date for the
new Codes implementation, which legislates that children cannot simply be
locked up for their own safety.
        The UN is worried about the treatment of trafficking victims by the
Guatemalan authorities, which continues to fall beneath international
standards and abuse basic human rights.  For more information, see
www.casa-alianza.org

MASSACRE OF STREET CHILDREN - THREE DEAD, THREE WOUNDED 7/22/02 (excerpted
from Casa Alianza Rapid-Response) Three street youth were murdered and three
homeless children critically wounded when unidentified men drove by and
opened fire with machine guns when they were sleeping in the middle of
Guatemala City on Saturday night.
These murders occurred at approximately 10:30pm on July 20th when a group of
six street children and youth were sleeping at the corner of 9th Avenue and
30th street in Zone 8. An unidentified gray car drove by and at least one
person opened fire with a machine gun, according to initial reports.
        Dead are Roberto Lopez Gomez, 17; Luis Armando Linares, 17, both
Guatemalans; and Loani Brigite Izaguirre, 20, from Marcala, Honduras.
Wounded are Julio Jose Chacon Ortiz, 22; Honduran citizen Javier Acuna
Rivera, 17; and Jose Antonio Abrego Moran, 22. Casa Alianza Street Educators
had attended all the children and youth regularly. Loani had recently been a
resident in Casa Alianzas Moms and Babies home, where in January of this
year she had given birth to a baby boy. It appears that she took the baby
back to Honduras to her family and then returned to Guatemala.
        Roberto received two bullets to the head and Loani received at least three
hits in her back. Both died instantly. Luis Armando died early on Sunday
morning in the San Juan de Dios hospital.
        The wounded children were taken to the Hospitals Roosevelt and San Juan de
Dios for emergency care. Casa Alianza staff are investigating the murders
and the armed attack and making sure that the wounded children have all the
necessary emotional and medical support they need. The agency will also
collect Robertos body and bury him in the last space available in the Casa
Alianza graveyard in Cd. Vieja, some 60km from Guatemala City. Social
workers are in contact with Loanis extended family to arrange for her
burial. The charity is searching for any family members of Luis Armando.
        The attack takes place on the eve of the visit of the Inter American
Commission on Human Rights Special Rapporteur on Children, Susana Villaran
de la Puente, who arrives in Guatemala this week to see what the Guatemalan
government is doing to respect the rights of children. The answer is
blatant
This was not the first time that Roberto had been attacked while living on
the street. In January 1996 an unidentified man poured gasoline upon him and
set him alight. He suffered 2nd and 3rd degree burns and was in the hospital
for three months. The torturer was never caught.
        Casa Alianza has written to the UN Special Rapporteur on Extra Judicial
Executions asking for her immediate intervention as well as to MINUGUA, the
UN force in charge of implementing Guatemalan peace accords, and to the
local Guatemalan authorities.
        Indignation, anger and frustration are the immediate feelings that come to
mind, expressed Bruce Harris, the Executive Director for Casa Alianzas
programs in Latin America. Once again we are confronted with the cold
blooded murder and massacre of homeless kids. Guatemala once again out does
itself at its level of cruelty towards its children.  More information and
recommended actions, see www.casa-alianza.org.

LABOR RIGHTS

FONTIERRAS UNIONISTS FIRED FOR WHISTLE-BLOWING 7/19/02 Six members of
Guatemalas National Land Fund (FONTIERRAS) union were fired for denouncing
several anomalous and corrupt acts implicating authorities within this
institution, reported Lourdes Tortola, one of the laid-off unionists.
Tortola pointed out that some of the anomalous acts that the FONTIERRAS
authorities have committed are the overvaluation and  purchase of
plantations that do not actually exist as well as the illegal sale of a
plantation  containing the Cancuen archaeological center to a U.S
.University.

PORTILLO MEETS WITH UNIONISTS 7/24/02 On July 23rd, Guatemalan President
Alfonso Portillo met with members of the Union and Popular Action Unity
(UASP) to discuss housing legislation, freedom of unions, and collective
negotiation in the private and public sectors.  Union leader Nery Barrios
reported that Portillo promised not to order displacements of peasants on
plantations.  The unionists discussed long-standing problems in the Health
and Education Ministries as well as the Guatemalan National Institute for
Social Security (IGGS) and Immigration Department.


LAND RIGHTS

CNOC REJECTS GOVERNMENTS EMERGENCY AGRARIAN PLAN 7/17/02 On July 16th,
Guatemalas Secretary of Agrarian Issues, Pedro Palma Lau presented to
President Alfonso Portillo the emergency guidelines to solve the land
problems which includes the creation of national land funds up to Q. 300
million (approximately $ 40 million).
Palma Lau also explained that the approach was based on the requests from
the peasants organizations even though he stated that it is non-viable to
comply 100% with requests.
Lau rejected an agrarian reform plan that included the confiscation of
plantations.   Among other aspects under consideration is the mapping out of
the zones that were most impacted by the conflict.
Lau commented that the foundations of his proposal are access to land,
employment and agrarian security. He also said that Alta Verapaz and Izabal
are considered high priority regions because they have been affected by the
coffee crisis.
Representatives from the National Peasants Coordinating Organization (CNOC)
as well as members of the international community attended the official
presentation of the agrarian reform proposal.
        After the meeting, Gilberto Atz from CNOC expressed his concern that the
guidelines of the agrarian policies presented do not meet the expectations
of his organization.
CNOC leader Juan Tiney later declared that his organization has only
partially accepted the government proposal.  The governments proposal for
land reform falls short, because it only addresses land conflicts in certain
areas of the country, and excludes the highlands region where there are also
severe land conflicts.
        Tiney believes that the award of 300 thousand quetzals (US $40 million) to
the National Land Fund (FONTIERRAS) would be fixed on a long term basis, and
that this year only 30 thousand quetzals (US $4 million) would be given, a
low amount in comparison with the existent demand.

50 INJURED IN SOLOLA OVER LAND DISPUTE 7/20/02 On July 19th, a dispute over
territorial boundaries turned into a confrontation in the region known as
Alaska located between La Nueva Santa Catarina Ixtahuacan and Nahuala,
department of Solola. A total of 50 people were injured, disappeared, and
one person was reportedly killed.
Among the injured there are peasants, police officers, and a representative
of the Human Rights Ombudsman (PDH) office.   The arguments began in the
morning after a few peasants from Nahuala arrived to Alaska to work on the
corn fields, but the residents of Nueva Santa Catarina Ixtahuacan did not
allow them to saying that the territory belonged to them.  The police
stations in Solola and other municipalities were alerted, bringing seven
patrols cars and 60 agents to the location.
After a few hours, the Nahuala peasants split up the field area to start
working. Soon after, gunshots were heard, followed by Molotov cocktail bomb
explosions made by the groups.
The PDH representatives who tried to negotiate with both communities opted
for leaving the area; the motorcycle in which they had arrived was burned in
the riots.
By the end of the day, over 50 injured people were taken to hospitals in
Totonicapan, Quetzaltenango and Solola.  People who suffered minor injuries
went home to avoid having to face problems at the tribunal. Both  groups
reported an unknown number of disappeared persons.


RIGHT TO JUSTICE

SLANDER SUIT AGAINST CHILD ADVOCATE 7/23/02 (excerpted from Casa Alianza
Rapid-Response) Casa Alianzas Director of Latin American programs goes on
trial in Guatemala next month in a case that tests the freedom of speech of
human rights defenders who speak out publicly against violations in a
country trying to move from decades of military dictatorships to democracy.
        The 12th Criminal Court of Guatemala has set August 16th as the date for
Bruce Harris, Casa Alianzas Regional Director for Latin American programs,
to go on trial for defamation. The Englishman faces up to five years in jail
for having spoken out about the involvement of lawyers and notaries in
questionable activities in Guatemalas lucrative international adoption
business.
        Harris was a guest of Guatemalas Attorney General, Asisclo Valladares at a
September 1997 press conference where they announced the findings of a
six-month joint investigation into the illegal trafficking of Guatemalan and
Mexican babies who were sent to other countries through international
adoptions.
        Harris is accused of defamation by Susana Luarca (formerly Susana de
Umana), a notary and lawyer, involved in a series of allegations of
questionable international adoptions. Luarca, a Mexican by birth yet
naturalized Guatemalan, was at the time married to the President of the
Guatemalan Supreme Court, Ricardo Umana. They have since separated.
According to the joint investigation between the Guatemalan Attorney General
and Casa Alianza, Umana would use her position to pressure court employees
and judges to facilitate her adoption cases.
        International adoptions from Guatemala cost adoptive parents between US$
15,000 and US$ 25,000 each and more than 2,300 adoptions were completed in
2001, making babies one of the most successful non-traditional exports from
the Central American country. Guatemala, which has no law to regulate
adoptions, exports more babies per capita through international adoptions
than any other country in the world. Umana is also a legal advisor to an
orphanage run by an American woman from where many international adoptions
take place.
        A few days after the 1997 press conference, Umana de Luarca slapped a
defamation suit against Harris, accusing him of defamation, perjury and
slander. She did not sue the Attorney General, whose office had to
investigate questionable adoptions.
        Harris, who has been defended by the Human Rights Office of the Archdiocese
of Guatemala amongst others, argued that Article 35 of the Guatemalan
Constitution protects freedom of expression and the Constitutional Law
requires that a Printers Tribunal should resolve any accusations of
defamation. But the Guatemalan judiciary, all the way to the Constitutional
Court, sided with Umana and stated that Harris did not have freedom of
expression because he is not a journalist and have refused to convene a
Printers Tribunal, leaving the case in a criminal court.
        Several international human rights and freedom of expression groups,
including the University of Notre Dame Law School, had written Amicus briefs
for the Guatemalan Constitutional Court supporting Harris legal arguments,
but without effect.
        The Center for Justice and International Law, CEJIL, a legal group that
supports victims of human rights violations, presented the case to the Inter
American Commission of Human Rights - a structure of the Organization of
American States - in Washington. The Commission has accepted the case
against the State of Guatemala for allegedly violating Harris rights of
Freedom of Expression and Equality under the Law, both protected by the
American Convention on Human Rights. The case, number 12,352, may take
several years to reach a conclusion.
        In the past, those with power have tried to shut us up with bullets,
commented Harris, referring to an armed attack against his life in Casa
Alianzas Guatemalan center in the early 1990s. Now they are trying to do
the same through quasi legal moves in the Guatemalan judiciary which has not
always been known for its total transparency.
        In Guatemala, defamation is a criminal case that carries up to a five-year
jail term and a case where, according to the Guatemalan Criminal Code, truth
is no defense. If the five person Printers Tribunal finds that defamation
did take place, the maximum sentence the judge can impose is six months of
house arrest.
        Harris is concerned that a Constitutional Court ruling that dictates that
only journalists have freedom of expression is a dangerous legal precedent
in a country renowned for human rights violations. This is not just a case
against me, this is an attempt by powerful interests to maintain a
stranglehold on a society that yearns for peace and democracy. But without
freedom of speech, neither will exist.
        As a result of the 1997 press conference, which drew the worlds attention
to illegal adoptions in Guatemala, many countries - including Canada, Spain,
the UK, Ireland, and Holland, amongst others - have stopped all adoptions
from Guatemala. The UN Special Rapporteur on the Sale of Children reported,
after a 1998 visit that the majority of adoptions from Guatemala are
illegal.
        In 1998, the United States, which receives more than 60% of Guatemalas
adopted children, instigated obligatory DNA testing between the baby and the
supposed biological mother.
        Harris filed a counter suit against Luarca, which will be heard on July
31st in the same court.
More information, see www.casa-alianza.org.

CSJ CLOSES DOWN JUSTICE CENTER DUE TO ASSAULTS ON JUDGES 7/24/02 After a
violent riot occurred at the Justice Center in Nebaj, Quiche, Guatemala, the
Supreme Court (CSJ) decided to close down the courts in this region for an
indefinite length of time.  While the justice center remains closed, the
criminal and civil prosecutions that take place there would be transferred
to the courts in Santa Cruz del Quiche.
In late July, Judge Griselda Yoc, and Judge Juan Tul requested to the CSJ a
transfer from the CSJ.  On July 9th, a group of neighbors from Nebaj arrived
to Yocs office and forced her to leave her office, bringing her to the
local plaza in which the judge had to explain the judicial situation of a
prisoner who was beaten up by the crowd.


RIGHTS TO A CLEAN AND
HEALTHY ENVIRONMENT

CONSTRUCTION OF DAMS COULD FLOOD A THIRD OF PETEN 7/17/02 The pending
construction of dams in the Usumacinta, La Pasion and Salinas rivers as part
of the Plan Puebla Panama (PPP) supported by the Inter-American Development
Bank (BID) will affect over 70 communities and will flood a third of Peten,
vice-president of the Petenero Front Against Dams, ucas Bartolo, said.
        Bartolo emphasized that the cause of the flood due to the dams would
generate serious harm to the Ecology in Peten.  Bartolo stated that this
organization would hold as many protests as it takes to prevent the project
from happening. He is counting on support from indigenous and peasant
communities from Mexico and Central America, as well as environmentalist
organizations.  They will also coordinate with the Life and Peace Alliance
and international solidarity organizations, Bartolo said.

RESIDENTS PROTEST MAYORS COMPLICITY IN DEFORESTATION 7/23/02 Dozens of
neighbors from different communities of Usumatlan, Zacapa focused on the
urban area of the El Jute community to show their discontent with local
authorities, who they consider to be accomplices to the deforestation of the
ecological reserve biosphere at Sierra de las Minas.
        On July  22nd, Aurelio Gallardo, president of the pro-improvement committee
of the El Jute community reported that  he witnessed the arrival of
tree-cutting machinery in the protected area.  Because Maderas El Alto
company has cut down trees in the protected area, the residents believe that
they are doing so with the complicity of the mayors.
        Residents of Huijo, Pueblo Nuevo, El Chico, Los Vados, El Mirador and El
Jute, and Usumatlan communities as well as delegates of the Anti-Corruption
Investigation office, the Office Against Environmental Crimes, the Public
Ministry and the Nature Defenders Association participated in the protest.


PEACE ACCORDS

CIVILIAN COMMISSION TO OVERSEE WEAPONS REGISTRATION 7/17/02 In a press
release, several civil society organizations announced the establishment of
a new joint commission between the Interior Ministry and civil society
representatives whose purpose is to create the most appropriate transition
mechanism for transferring the duty of arms registration from the Ministry
of Defense to the civilian Interior Ministry.
        The statement was signed by the Interior Ministry, the Center for Human
Rights Legal Action (CALDH), the Cultural Center for Audiovisual Resources,
Luciernaga, Guatemala. The Coordinator on Non-Governmental and Cooperative
organizations (CNGCOOP), the Sustainable Development Teaching Institute
(DEPAES), the Manuel Colom Argueta Foundation and the United Nations
Development Program (PNUD).

PAC COMPENSATION CONTROVERY CONTINUES:
GOVERNMENT ANALYZES TAX LEVY ON CHECKS 7/18/02 On July 17th, Guatemalan
President Alfonso Portillo reported that his administration is looking into
a tax that would be levied on checks written for an amount of Q. 10,000
(approximately US $1,334) which interest rate would be of 1 per million.
These tax funds would be used for compensation to the former Civil Patrols
(PAC) members as well as for victims of the civil war.
        According to Portillo, with the five-year collection of these taxes the
government will  collect about  Q. 400 million (approximately US $54
million) a year.  He made clear that the proposal is an ongoing discussion,
and he also emphasized that the resources would not only be for the ex-PAC,
but also for the civil war victims.  According to Portillo, one of the
issues to be resolved is to know the exact number of ex-PAC members due to
inconsistency of the reports from the government and the army.
Former-military official Otto Noack and the indigenous leader Rosalina Tuyuc
coincided in the affirmation of the launched tax by the Guatemalan
Republican Front (FRG) political party to compensate the ex-PAC members as
the last resource from the FRG party to win the 2003 elections according to
a AFP press release.
        For the retired military Otto Noack, the ex-PAC members represent hope for
FRG success in the 2003 elections because is a great political opportunity.

EX-PAC TAKE HOSTAGES 7/18/02 In San Marcos, former members of Guatemalas
Civil Defense Patrols (PAC) took 7 firemen and 3 former Guatemalan National
Revolutionary Unity (URNG) combatants as prisoners. Former combatant
Santiago Boc explained that after arriving at the area of Sacuchum  to give
a presentation to neighbors, Francisco Orozco, assistant to the local mayor
and former military commissioner along with a group of ex-PAC members
detained them.  Departmental Governor Edwin Borilla and the police Deputy
Commissioner Francisco Orellana helped to get the detainees released after
16 hours; the detainees had not been physically harmed.

EX-PAC MEMBERS DEMAND ATTENTION 7/22/02 Thousands of Guatemalasformer Civil
Defense Patrols (PAC) members and former military commissioners met in the
central plaza in Mazatenango, Suchitepequez requesting individual
compensation of Q. 20,000 (approximately  US $2,700) for their servicesto
the nation during the civil war.                Meanwhile, in San Miguel Uspantan,
Guatemala, 300 ex-PAC members also met to request monetary compensation.
        In Chicaman, Quiche, about 1,500 ex-PAC members met at a soccer field with
attorney Oscar Rodolfo Mogollon; they  discussed how to organize legally as
a group.  The  ex-PAC member Josue Lemus, a leader in the movement, stated
that the new organization would not be a political one. It is a lie that we
are bought votes for the FRG or that we belong to that party, Lemus said.

GOVERNMENT CONSIDERS DENYING PAC COMPENSATION 7/23/02 The executive branch
is still skeptical on whether or not to pay compensation to former Civil
Patrol (PAC) members in the form of cash compensation or to launch programs
for communities development.
On July 22nd, Guatemalan presidential spokesman Byron Barrera suggested that
the latter is more viable. According to Barrera, the negotiating commission
members see the former as a difficult one.  What we expect is an agreement
that everybody can benefit from should be reached at the negotiation table.
On July 23rd, Guatemalas Vice-President Juan Francisco Reyes Lopez
criticized Guatemalans who opposed the governments approach on paying a
compensation to ex-PAC members, saying that most people benefited from the
security and service the PACs provided.  Reyes Lopez argued that the
government must pay compensation to the ex-PACs, likening the issue to a
salary that was never paid.

EU MAY CUT-OFF AID IF EX-PACS ARE COMPENSATED            7/26/02 On July
25th, a delegation representing Socialist members within the European Union
warned that economic aid could be cut if the Guatemalan government
compensates former members of the Civil Defense Patrols (PAC).
        We consider compensating ex-patrol members is a clear violation of the
peace accords, a delegation member stated, adding that the government is
constantly complaining of not having enough money to comply with the
accords, therefore, promising a compensation to ex PAC members seems
irresponsible.
Claudio Fava, another delegate warned that if the Guatemalan governement
continues to discuss PAC compensation, the EUwill condition its economic aid
which is about 100 million Euros (approximately US $100 million).
        There is a contract in the treaties between the EU and other countries
that points out that respect for human rights is a fundamental condition for
any economic and political relations, Fava stated.

CONAVIGUA CONDEMNS REMILITARIZATION 7/23/02 Guatemalas National
Coordination of Widows (CONAVIGUA) publicly rejected and condemned military
recruitment strategies being carried out in rural areas.
        According to CONAVIGUA leader Rosalina Tuyuc, Guatemalan military members
have been holding events in some municipalities and communities in order to
recruit youth into military service.  The military has offered scholarships,
financial assistance and benefits to the families of recruits.
        Tuyuc, a human rights activist and former Congresswoman, opposes these new
military efforts to recruit youth.  Tuyuc believes the recruitment campaign
violates the spirit of the Peace Accords and is a means of re-militarizing
the society.
        Tuyuc believes the military is trying to regain control over communities,
and continues to be involved in organized crime, including the illegal
transfer of wood, arms and drugs.


MORE INFORMATION

HR COMMISSION VISITS GUATEMALA 7/23/02 An Inter-American Human Rights
Commission delegation, led by Santiago Canto and Susana Villagran traveled
to Guatemala to evaluate the situation of human rights defenders.  Villagran
reported that the 3-day visit is a response to worrisome information they
have received about the threats and break-ins that human rights defenders,
and organizations, have suffered the past few months. The IAHRC met a
variety of institutions and individuals, including the Supreme Court (CSJ)
president Carlos Alvarez; Human Rights Ombudsman (PDH) Julio Arango Escobar;
and PDH-elect Sergio Morales.  They also met with peasant organizations and
unions.  Santiago Canton, IAHRC executive secretary stressed that when the
safety of human rights defenders is endangered, it puts the whole society
and democracy at risk too.  The IAHRC recently gave protective measures to
11 human rights defenders and that they have documented more than 130 cases
of threats.

GUATEMALA AND US  AGREEMENT ON DRUG-TRAFFICKING STRATEGY 7/24/02 U.S. and
Guatemalan government officials reached an agreement on the creation of a
commission to fight contraband and drug trafficking at Guatemalas ports,
since these are areas vulnerable to organized crime.  The US Embassy will
support the commissions work.
        The meeting included the acting U.S. Ambassador to Guatemala Stephen
McFarland; US National Anti-Narcotic Service (NAS) director Perry Holloway;
Guatemalan Interior Minister Adolfo Reyes Calderon,Migration official Oscar
Contreras; head of the Department of Anti-Narcotics Operations (DOAN) Isaias
Martinez; and head of the Portuaria Quetzal, Leonel Montejo.
        The meeting focused on five specific points to fight trafficking of
narcotics and contraband items: the collaboration of DOAN agents with other
entities; better control of containers arriving and leaving Guatemalan
ports; training and assistance from US Embassy experts, installation of
electronic equipment to detect the presence of drugs and contraband items;
and preventive measures to combat corruption at the ports.

*Dates written before the text indicate the dates these incidents were
reported.

The Guatemala Human Rights Commission/USA is a nonprofit, nonpartisan,
humanitarian organization that monitors the human rights situation in
Guatemala.  Information in the Update that is not gathered directly is
culled from various sources, including the Guatemalan Human Rights
Commission (CDHG), Casa Alianza, Amnesty International, Associated Press,
Reuters and the Guatemalan Press, including Prensa Libre, La Hora, Guatemala
Hoy, Siglo Veintiuno, and Patrullaje Informativo.

Editors: J.C. Santelices and Alice Zachmann; additional translation: Elba
Valdes
ISSN #1085-0864

FOR MORE INFORMATION OR TO RECEIVE, PLEASE CONTACT:

GUATEMALA HUMAN RIGHTS COMMISSION/USA
3321 12TH STREET, NE
WASHINGTON, DC 20017
T: 202-529-6599
F: 202-526-4611
ghrc-usa@ghrc-usa.org
http://www.ghrc-usa.org

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