MACK CASE MISSTEP INCREASES SUSPICION

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 GUATEMALA 000651

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PHUM PREL KJUS GT OAS
SUBJECT: MACK CASE MISSTEP INCREASES SUSPICION

REF: GUATEMALA 623


1. (U) Summary: The case against the GOG on behalf of the
family of murdered anthropologist Myrna Mack was presented
February 18-20 in the Inter-American Court in San Jose, Costa
Rica. In the days leading up to the trial, FM Gutierrez
attempted to short-circuit this hearing by publicly accepting
state responsibility for Mack's death and withdrawing GOG
representative Ricardo Alvarado Ortigoza from the trial. The
court would have none of this. GOG lawyers returned for the
closing arguments and Gutierrez, a co-founder of the Myrna
Mack Foundation, took responsibility for the misstep. Mack's
sister, human rights activist Helen Mack, pushed the case
forward despite Gutierrez's antics. In the wake of the
public audience, both sides await the IACHR's decision,
expected in about three months. End summary.

Background
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2. (SBU) Before Foreign Minister Edgar Gutierrez was
appointed by President Portillo as head of the GOG
Secretariat for Strategic Analysis, he was one of the

SIPDIS
co-founders, along with Helen Mack, of the Myrna Mack
Foundation (FMM). The Mack Foundation was established in
1993 in memory of Myrna Mack, a slain anthropologist who was
a close friend (and by some accounts an intimate) of
Gutierrez's. Gutierrez worked at the Mack Foundation until
1998, when he left to work at the Archbishop's Office of
Human Right's Historical Memory Project (RHEMI). In 2000,
Portillo offered Gutierrez the senior GOG advisory position
because of the close personal relationship they developed at
the University of San Carlos in the 1970s. As a colleague of
Gutierrez's put it, "Gutierrez thought this was an
opportunity to do some good within the government," after a
career of working on civilian security issues from an NGO
perspective.


3. (SBU) Human rights leaders tell us that while many were
suspicious of Gutierrez after he joined the GOG in 2000,
Helen Mack was initially his constant defender. That
relationship soured in recent years, as trust turned to
suspicion. Human Rights Ombudsman Sergio Morales still
professes confidence in Gutierrez, but many other human
rights leaders now see the divide between Gutierrez and his
former colleagues in the human rights movement as
insurmountable. The misstep in San Jose made the breach
final, according to our human rights contacts.

Confused Correspondence
--------------


4. (U) On February 17, the day before the trial at the IACHR
in Costa Rica was set to begin, Gutierrez announced that the
Government of Guatemala admitted responsibility for the
murder of Myrna Mack Chang in September 1990. Gutierrez had
sent a letter on February 14 to the IACHR accepting state
responsibility. The GOG did not, however, address the other
charges (including delayed justice and the involvement of the
Presidential Guard (EMP) in the murder). The IACHR and the
Mack family, which appeared as the plaintiff in the case,
considered the admission of state responsibility in the
murder insufficient, and pushed forward with the trial on
February 18. On February 19, the GOG removed its
representatives, including Ricardo Alvarado Ortigoza, since
appointed as Ambassador to Geneva (reftel),from the
proceedings.


5. (U) With the GOG representatives absent, the Mack team
presented their evidence against the state and concluded the
proceedings on February 20. The GOG team returned for the
final arguments, after the presentation of evidence phase
concluded. Both sides are waiting for the IACHR to present
its conclusion, which Helen Mack told us could take up to
three months. What is unknown at this point is whether the
GOG's partial withdrawal from the proceedings will influence
the court's decision.


6. (U) Gutierrez has argued that his ministry's actions were
well-intentioned but misunderstood. Gutierrez has responded
to criticism by stating that the GOG's intent was not to
limit state's responsibility for the murder, but instead to
clarify state involvement in Mack's murder. Gutierrez
claimed that the GOG, under President Portillo, supports full
investigation of human rights crimes of the internal
conflict. Gutierrez publicly lamented the fact that his
first letter to the IACHR caused skepticism about the GOG's
motives and denied he was "covering up" for the EMP or other
GOG entities charged with human rights abuses, as his critics
claim.

Comment
--------------


7. (SBU) This debacle at the IACHR further undermines
Gutierrez's credibility with former friends in the human
rights community and will make achieving consensus on a
CICIACS all the more difficult. Time will tell if Gutierrez
can make it up to civil society, but we see reconciliation as
highly unlikely before Portillo and Gutierrez leave office.
HAMILTON