NetNews Usenet Archive 1993 #3/NN_1993_3.iso/spool/misc/activism/progress/10302

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Subject: Guatemala Human Rights Update 1/13/93
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/** reg.guatemala: 166.0 **/
** Topic: Human Rights Update #1 1-22-93 **
** Written  3:18 pm  Jan 22, 1993 by ghrc in cdp:reg.guatemala **

                 GRHC/USA Human Rights Update
                      Peacenet Version #1
                       January 13, 1993


CASE UPDATES

AGREEMENT REACHED FOR REFUGEES' IMMEDIATE RETURN  The attitude of
the Guatemalan government caused serious concern among Guatemalan
refugees in Mexico, scheduled to return to Guatemala on January
13.  In early January, the Guatemalan government tried to suspend
the repatriation due to the disagreement on the route the
refugees would take to their final destination, Poligono 14 in
the Ixc n, El Quich (see Peacenet Update #53).  The government
wanted the refugees to return by the shortest route, through the
Petn jungle, and the refugees wanted to return via the
Panamerican Highway, which would allow better access to suitable
lodgings, food, water, medical care, and international
observation to verify their safety.
     The government had also caused concern among refugees and
the international community by stepping up military activities in
the areas where the repatriates plan to settle.  In November, the
Guatemalan army bombed and strafed with machine gun fire the
communities of Cuarto Pueblo and Los Angeles, in the Ixc n, El
Quich, forcing seventy families to flee to Mexico.  (See
Peacenet Update #49, 1992.)  Also, on December 22 Defense
Minister Jos Domingo Garc!a Samayoa announced that among the
returning refugees are guerrilla infiltrators, who will be
captured upon entering the country.
     In light of the disagreement, the Guatemalan government at
first refused to assist with the return on January 13, but the
refugees began returning anyway, many on foot because, without
the government's compliance, neither the UN nor the Mexican
Commission to Aid Refugees (COMAR) was willing to lend the aid
(including food and buses) they had promised.  Mexican police
turned back two of the nine bus loads of refugees travelling to
the border (in buses loaned by nongovernmental organizations) on
the afternoon of January 12.  Later that night, however, the
Guatemalan government, the Permanent Commissions (representing
the refugees), and the United Nations High Commission for
Refugees (UNHCR) reached an agreement to abide by the accord
signed on October 8, allowing the refugees to choose their own
route to their destination and committing the Guatemalan
government and the UNHCR to assist them.

HOUSING PROBLEM CONTINUES FOR SQUATTERS IN GUATEMALA CITY
According to the General Committee of Squatters -- an
organization representing 1550 families who, having no land of
their own, moved onto land near the railroad tracks in Guatemala
City -- the National Bank of Housing (BANVI) is distributing lots
in the Santa Faz colony, Jocotales, Zone 6 of Guatemala City, to
people other than the families living near the tracks. (In April
1990 BANVI agreed to allocate at least ninety percent of the lots
in this colony to the squatters on the land near the tracks. See
Peacenet Update #51, 1992.)  Committee member Mat!n Catal n said
that if BANVI wants to distribute the excess lots, it should
first fulfill its promise to the inhabitants of the land near the
railroad tracks.

EXHUMED REMAINS IDENTIFIED  Remains exhumed in Lemoa, El Quich,
were identified as those of MIGUEL OSORIO LOPEZ.  Identified by
his wife, who recognized his clothing, Osorio Lopez was a victim
of army aggression at the beginning of 1982.

PROCURATOR SAYS SOLDIERS ATTACKED JOURNALIST  Human Rights
Procurator Ramiro de Le"n Carpio said the general commander and
members of the military detachment in the town of El Naranjo, La
Libertad, El Petn were responsible for the attack on journalist
Omar Cano and a group of civil servants who were investigating a
clandestine sawmill in El Petn (see Peacenet Update #50, 1992).
The Procurator gave Defense Minister Jos Garc!a Samayoa fifteen
days to apply the appropriate sanctions to the soldiers involved
and to have them brought to trial.

DISMISSALS AT INCAP DETAILED  Sergio Avila, the representative of
the employees of the Nutritional Institute of Central America and
Panama (INCAP), reported that forty-five workers have recently
been illegally fired.  The dismissals were illegal because INCAP
is involved in a suit concerning prior dismissals and is
forbidden to fire more employees until the case is resolved. (See
Peacenet Update #53, 1992).
     Also, the Union of Public Works of Zacapa reported that the
departmental head of INCAP, Sergio Estuardo de Le"n Paredes,  has
illegally fired seventy-six workers.  The Union of Public Works
has filed a complaint against INCAP.

UNIONS OPPOSE HIKE IN TRANSPORT FARES  The leaders of various
union organizations presented a claim of unconstitutionality
against the municipal accord authorizing an increase in urban bus
fares.  Union members argued that the municipality of Guatemala
City violated several articles of the Constitution, harming the
users of urban transport.
     The Fourth Court of Appeals declared the claim unfounded.
On hearing the ruling, union members expressed their discontent
and threatened to take action after January 13.  They also said
that they would file an appeal with the Supreme Court and with
the Court of Constitutionality.

MULTIPARTY COMMISSION VISITS RAZED COMMUNITIES  The Multiparty
Commission for the Communities of Population in Resistance,
headed by Monsignor Alvaro Ramazzini, visited Nuevo Cuarto Pueblo
I and II and Los Angeles, two towns in the Ixc n, El Quich that
were attacked and burned by the army in the last week of November
(see Peacenet Update #49).  The inhabitants of the towns showed
the commission the damage the army caused to their homes and
crops.
     Monsignor Ramazzini said he was afraid the repression would
intensify.  He also said that he found these actions strange,
since the Minister of Defense himself has acknowledged that the
Communities of Population in Resistance are noncombatant
civilians.

DEATH THREAT

CONGRESSMAN THREATENED  Congressman CESAR AUGUSTO PAIZ, of the
Movement of National Liberation party (MLN), reported to
Guatemalan Congress that he has been receiving death threats.  He
also said that on December 31, his residence in Teculutan, Zacapa
was strafed with machine gun fire by unidentified individuals.

EXTRAJUDICIAL EXECUTIONS

On January 3, JOSE DE JESUS BAMACA (30), the brother of
Congressman Joaqu!n Bamaca, was executed by several unidentified
individuals in El Quetzal, San Marcos.  According to the legal
report, the victim sustained head wounds from blows with stones
and bottles and also had neck and abdominal wounds.

The body of WALTER ERASMO FLORES ORELLANA (32), the deputy
director of the Real Estate Register of Quezaltenanango, was
found January 3 in Pacaja, Zone 10 of Quezalteneango, wrapped in
traditional indigenous clothing.  Flores Orellana had been shot
six times in the head, and he had bruises on various parts of his
body.

OTHER HUMAN RIGHTS VIOLATIONS

CASA ALIANZA STAFF MEMBER FOLLOWED  On January 6, as he was
leaving his home near 18th Street and 12th Avenue in Zone 1 of
Guatemala City, Jos Mariano Gir"n Villatoro, a staff member at
the legal office of Casa Alianza (Covenant House, a charitable
organization for street children) was approached by an
unidentified man who asked him when Bruce Harris, Casa Alianza's
executive director in Latin America, would return.  Gir"n
Villatoro replied that he did not know, and the man responded, "I
know Bruce is coming back next week."  Harris, who lives in
Mexico, planned to return to Guatemala on January 13.  According
to Amnesty International, the circumstances of the incident
seemed to indicate that government security forces were involved
and that the question was meant as an act of intimidation against
Harris.
     After the exchange with the man who questioned him about
Harris, Gir"n Villatoro quickly boarded a bus and saw that this
man was picked up by another driving a vehicle that Gir"n
Villatoro had noticed parked outside his house.  The vehicle
began to follow the bus.  Gir"n Villatoro got off the bus at the
National Police Headquarters, only to find a few minutes later
the same men along with one other waiting outside.  Gir"n
Villatoro was picked up by a friend.  Both left the station by
another entrance and were not followed.

BREAK-IN AT JOURNALIST'S HOUSE  The Zone 7, Guatemala City home
of HUGO GORDILLA, a reporter for the Guatemalan daily Prensa
Libre, was broken into on January 3 by unidentified individuals
who took few valuables.  Gordilla considers the break-in an act
of intimidation.

ARSON ATTEMPT AT TINAMIT OFFICE  On January 4, in the midst of
government attacks on the press, a fire was set in the offices of
Tinamit magazine in San Lucas Sacatepequez, Sacatepequez, twenty-
eight kilometers from Guatemala City.  According to the
magazine's owner, Otto Moran, the damage was minimal.  Moran said
the attack was not only against Tinamit, but against the national
press.

DRIVE-BY SHOOTING AT CONGRESSMAN'S HOUSE  On the night of January
6, Congressman Miguel Angel Montepeque's house, located on 13th
Street, 3-29, Zone 3 of Guatemala City, was fired on by
unidentified individuals in a vehicle.  The attack destroyed the
windows of the building.  Anglica Montepeque, the Congressman's
daughter, who was studying in one of the rooms, was not injured.
Earlier in the day, Congressman Montepeque had told the press
that he had the necessary evidence to initiate legal proceedings
against President Serrano and other civil servants involved in
corruption.

PRISONERS DEPRIVED OF FOOD  Prisoners in the Santa Elena Petn
prison have gone several days without food because the government
owes Q 34,000 to the distributor of the food, Maria Ofelia Peche.
Peche said that she and four other women, who serve food to the
prisoners incarcerated in El Quich, Puerto Barrios, Zacapa, and
Quezaltenango, went to the Ministry of Finance to collect the
money owed to them and were told there were no funds.

OTHER INFORMATION

HUMAN RIGHTS PROCURATOR SAYS GOVERNMENT INTIMIDATES PRESS  The
Human Rights Procurator said government agents were responsible
for intimidating journalists and asked President Serrano to
reflect on the harm his conflict with the press is causing.

GOVERNMENT BEGINS DIPLOMATIC CAMPAIGN  The Guatemalan Ministry of
Foreign Affairs designated several commissions to travel to North
America, South America, and Europe to garner support from various
governments in the annual vote of the United Nations Human Rights
Commission (UNHRC).  The campaign is aimed at achieving a
favorable ruling from the UNHRC so that Guatemala will not be
reviewed under clause 12 of the UNHRC agenda, which is concerned
with countries that seriously violate human rights.  Guatemala is
also hoping to avoid the appointment of another special human
rights expert for Guatemala.  Christian Tomuschat currently holds
the post of special expert and representative observer of the UN
Secretary General.

MUNICIPALITIES IN EL PETN ASK MENCH~ FOR SUPPORT  The
Association of Municipalities of El Petn (AMP) will ask
Rigoberta Mench# to help solve a serious flooding problem that
has affected the urban areas of San Benito, Flores, and Santa
Elena for the past ten years.  The government has not supported
the municipalities, and the situation has worsened.  Many
families have had to leave their flooded lands.  The floods are
believed to originate from a leak in a natural drainage channel
of Petn Itza lake.

GOVERNMENT AND ARMED OPPOSITION URGED TO SIGN PEACE TREATY  Human
Rights Procurator Ramiro de Le"n Carpio and the Episcopal
Conference of Guatemala asked the government and the Guatemalan
National Revolutionary Unity (URNG) to expedite the signing of
the peace agreement.

MUNICIPAL WORKERS DECLARE STOPPAGE  The National Federation of
Municipal Workers (FENATRAM), an organization of more than twenty
thousand municipal employees, decided to begin a work stoppage on
January 16.  The stoppage is in response to the 1993 budget,
which does not provide funds for an salary increase in keeping
with the rate of inflation.




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, Amnesty
International, and Inforpress.  Information is also gathered from
reports and alerts from groups in Guatemala, including the
Archbishop's Human Rights Ofice, 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 the
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,
Washington DC, 20017.  Or call [phone] or fax (202) 526-
4611 for more information.
** End of text from cdp:reg.guatemala **