Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
04GUATEMALA2904
2004-11-17 15:51:00
UNCLASSIFIED
Embassy Guatemala
Cable title:  

GUATEMALA HUMAN RIGHTS UPDATE #5-2004

Tags:  ASEC EAID GT MARR PGOV PHUM SNAR 
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UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 GUATEMALA 002904 

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: ASEC EAID GT MARR PGOV PHUM SNAR
SUBJECT: GUATEMALA HUMAN RIGHTS UPDATE #5-2004


UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 GUATEMALA 002904

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: ASEC EAID GT MARR PGOV PHUM SNAR
SUBJECT: GUATEMALA HUMAN RIGHTS UPDATE #5-2004



1. (U) This message summarizes significant recent
developments relating to human rights, including:

-- Conviction in murder of Menchu Foundation accountant (para
2)

-- Courts Give PDH Access to EMP Documents (3)

-- Journalists Demand Justice for &Black Thursday8 Riots (4)

-- Threats Against CALDH and Plan de Sanchez Witnesses (5-8)

-- PDH Leads &Movement Against Violence8 (9)

-- USG donates $86,000 to Special Unit for Human Rights
(10-11)

-- Threats against ANN Deputy Nineth Montenegro (12)

-- Supreme Court Recuses Judge in Gerardi Case (13)

-- New Trial for Rio Negro Massacre Suspended (14)

-- Freedom of the Press Has Improved (15)


Conviction in murder of Menchu Foundation accountant
-------------- --------------


2. On June 24, Ever Lopez Gomez and Billy Rene Barrios were
sentenced to 9 and 29 years respectively for the April 2002
killing of Menchu Foundation accountant Guillermo Ovalle.
Although Menchu Foundation officials believed the accountant
had been murdered to intimidate the organization, the Special
Prosecutor for Human Rights believes that Lopez and Barrios
killed the accountant during a shoot-out in a failed robbery
of a restaurant.

Courts Give PDH Access to EMP Documents
--------------


3. The Human Rights Ombudsman,s office (PDH) told Poloff in
July that the PDH, with support from Mutual Support Group
(GAM) and Security and Democracy (SEDEM),is currently
copying thousands of documents recovered from the now-defunct
Presidential Military Staff (EMP). On January 6, a judge
ordered the military to allow the PDH access to the
information. The PDH and other groups plan to analyze the
documents to assist in locating children disappeared in the
civil conflict and learn more about the military,s
operations during that period. The documents include
information on operations, maps, paychecks, car and gas
records, accounting, and human resources.

Journalists Demand Justice for &Black Thursday8 Riots
-------------- --------------


4. Approximately 50 reporters marched through the capital on
July 24, the one-year anniversary of the 2003 &Black

Thursday8 riots organized in favor of the presidential
candidacy of retired General Efrain Rios Montt, to demand
justice for the death of Hector Ramirez, who died of a heart
attack while running from a crowd of rioters. The Special
Prosecutor for Human Rights office has indicted 20
individuals, including Rios Montt,s grandson and niece, for
involvement in planning the chaos. Rios Montt, Secretary
General of the FRG, remains under house arrest for his
suspected role in the riots (though, in practice, he is not
restricted to his home, but to the capital). In addition,
the Supreme Court is investigating six former government
officials, four congressional representatives and two mayors,
and will decide whether to remove their immunity from
criminal prosecution. Special Prosecutor Gudiel told PolOff
that many witnesses have refused to testify out of fear of
reprisal. (Comment: The legal basis for this prosecution is
shaky at best. Unable to identify the rioters who actually
chased Ramirez, the Prosecutor is going after FRG leaders who
organized the demonstration as the "intellectual authors" of
Ramirez's "aggravated" heart attack.)

Threats Against CALDH and Plan de Sanchez Witnesses
-------------- --------------


5. The Legal Center for Human Rights (CALDH) and the Plan de
Sanchez community in Baja Verapaz (site of a 1982 massacre in
which the army and ex-Pacs allegedly killed 268 people) were
the targets of over 20 acts of intimidation between March and
September. CALDH provided legal support to community members
of the Plan de Sanchez community for a April 23 and 24
Inter-American Court (IACHR) hearing on the massacre. In
April, during an IACHR hearing, the Government admitted
responsibility for not investigating the massacre. The
threats against witnesses to the massacre and CALDH increased
in incidence following the hearing.


6. On March 11, a CALDH driver was kidnapped in front of the
CALDH office, held for several hours, questioned about his
work, and released after the theft of his vehicle. On
September 7, the police captured a suspect in the kidnapping,
who is currently awaiting a line-up and trial. After the
driver,s experience, CALDH requested police protection,
which was approved and coordinated by COPREDEH (President,s
Commission on Human Rights). In July, however, a string of
intimidating actions against the organization and community
began.


7. On July 14 and 15, there were two break-ins at the home
of CALDH director Edda Gaviola, although nothing significant
was stolen. On July 17, unknown intruders broke into the
annex office of CALDH in Guatemala City. On the same day, a
witness in the IACHR case received an inoperative bomb with a
note threatening his life. On July 30, another threat
against the Plan de Sanchez witnesses was delivered to
CALDH,s office in Rabinal. The vehicle of a CALDH employee
was hijacked on September 13. Throughout July to September,
CALDH employees were followed in vehicles, threatened by
phone and in person. The investigation into the series of
threats is ongoing.


8. On August 12, the Ambassador visited the CALDH offices to
hear first hand about the threats and express USG concern.
Three Amcits working with NISGUA, an accompaniment
organization working with the Plan de Sanchez community,
attended the meeting. On August 11, CALDH met with
Government Minister Carlos Vielmann and with Attorney General
Juan Luis Florido. Vielmann committed to improving the
diligence of the PNC security forces, who were frequently
absent from in front of the organization,s office during
July. PolOff has discussed the threats with the Special
Prosecutor for Crimes against Human Rights Defenders Betty
Gudiel on multiple occasions. Gudiel reported progress in
the March kidnapping case but stated that in the other case
lack of evidence had limited investigations and prosecutions.
In response to the threats against CALDH and other
organizations, the Ambassador also hosted a reception on
September 29 in honor of and to convey support for the local
human rights community. In October, CALDH relocated its
primary offices to a new location (the move was planned
before the threats began). Since that time, CALDH staffers
have not received further threats.

PDH Leads &Movement Against Violence8
--------------


9. Human Rights Ombudsman Sergio Morales, in coordination
with the Catholic and Protestant churches and over 400 other
organizations, formed the &Movement Against Violence,8 on
June 14 to raise awareness about the growing violence in
Guatemala. On August 13, over 5,000 individuals participated
in a national march led by the Movement. The GOG gave
government employees several hours off work if they choose to
participate. The Movement also created working groups to
analyze different types of violence and make recommendations
to the GOG.

USG donates $86,000 to Special Unit for Human Rights
-------------- --------------


10. On August 30, the Ambassador and Attorney General Juan
Luis Florido signed an agreement to donate $86,000 of DRL
funds to the office of the Special Prosecutor to Combat
Crimes against Human Rights Defenders. The Ambassador
stressed the Embassy,s support for the Special Unit and the
effective investigation of crimes against human rights
defenders. Betty Gudiel, the current Special Prosecutor, was
hand-chosen by Florido to replace Thelma de Lam (who had
personal disputes with Florido and was closely allied with
former AG Carlos de Leon). The Special Unit has taken
several cases to court in the last several months, including
the April 2002 murder of Menchu Foundation accountant
Gillermo Ovalle (see para 2),the April 2003 murder of Mayan
priest Diego Xon Salazar (one individual was convicted and
sentenced to 15-years in prison),and the September 2003
murder of community organizer and member of the Council of
Ethnic Communities (CERJ) Eusebio Macario (the court found
the suspect not-guilty).


11. The grant aims to better equip the Special Human Rights
Unit to arrive quickly at crime scenes, interview witnesses,
track and evaluate case progress, and more effectively record
evidence and prosecute cases. These funds will purchase two
vehicles, third-party liability insurance policies, 16
personal computers, one laser printer, 10 UPS stations and
computer cabling.

Threats against ANN Deputy Nineth Montenegro
--------------


12. Mario Polanco, director of Mutual Support Group (GAM),
reported to PolOff that, from August to September, ANN
Congressional deputy Nineth Montenegro, President of the
Human Rights Committee and former director of GAM (and
Polanco,s spouse),received 20 threatening phone calls.
Unknown individuals broke the windows of her vehicle in front
of her home and rifled papers inside but stole nothing. The
Congresswoman,s car was followed, and unidentified men
loitered in front of her home. In the past two months, the
threats have subsided.

Supreme Court Recuses Judge in Gerardi Case
--------------


13. Prosecutors in the 1998 murder of Bishop Juan Gerardi,
the Coordinator of the Archbishop,s Office on Human Rights
(ODHAG) are currently investigating 10-12 more suspects
thought to be involved in the killing. On August 25, the
Supreme Court ruled that the head of the Fourth Penal Court,
Willevaldo Contreras, should be recused from hearing further
cases against individuals implicated in Gerardi,s murder (he
heard the previous trial),because he has previously made
public statements demonstrating partiality. The Fourth Penal
Court appealed the ruling and that decision is pending.

New Trial for Rio Negro Massacre Suspended
--------------


14. On October 19, a new trial began against six ex-PACS
(three others were convicted in 1998) for the 1982 Rio Negro
massacre. However, after just one day of testimony, defense
lawyers presented a motion to suspend to correct the spelling
of the witnesses, names in trial paperwork. The trial was
not expected to resume for several months. Witnesses and
lawyers on the case have received numerous threats in the
months leading up to the new trial.

Freedom of the Press Has Improved
--------------


15. According to the Committee on Freedom of the Press and
the OAS Special Rapporteur for Freedom of the Press,
conditions for journalists in Guatemala have improved in the
last year. The representatives presented the reports at the
October 25 General Assembly meeting of the Inter-American
Press Society (SIP). Gonzalo Marroquin, President of the
Guatemala SIP Committee, stated, &it seems that an
institutional policy of confrontation and pressure against
the press doesn,t exist in Guatemala.8 Eduardo Bertoni,
Special OAS Rapporteur, recognized that in Guatemala the GOG
&investigates some cases, which doesn,t happen in other
parts of the region.8 However, Bertoni also observed that
the cases which are investigated &are not done so rapidly
and with the desired results (of prosecutions).8
HAMILTON