GUATEMALAN SOLDIERS ALLEGEDLY BEAT STREET KIDS

UNCLAS GUATEMALA 001150

SIPDIS

SENSITIVE
SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PHUM KCRM KJUS MOPS PGOV EAID GT
SUBJECT: GUATEMALAN SOLDIERS ALLEGEDLY BEAT STREET KIDS



1. (U) Summary: Allegations surfaced that Guatemala's joint
military-police patrols are not operating as designed.
Guatemalan Army units are in some instances patrolling
without their police counterparts and thus without any legal
authority to conduct arrests or detentions. Worse, a
respected NGO has filed a complaint against the Guatemalan
Army claiming that an Army patrol severely beat three street
children. The Charge d'Affaires raised our concerns about
the incident with the unit's commander, who claimed the
victims had been beaten by others. End summary.

Soldiers on the Street; Allegations of Abuse
--------------

2. (U) A local NGO filed a complaint with the Prosecutor
General's Office against the Guatemalan Army over a May 22
incident in which soldiers allegedly beat three adolescents
in the capital. Casa Alianza, the local affiliate of
U.S.-based NGO Covenant House, works extensively with street
children in Guatemala. On May 22, Casa Alianza staff
received an anonymous telephone call that claimed soldiers
were beating children in an abandoned building in Zone 1 of
Guatemala City. Casa Alianza staff arrived at the scene and
found three severely beaten adolescent boys, whom they took
to Casa Alianza's shelter for boys in nearby Antigua for
medical care.


3. (U) After providing medical care and debriefing the
victims, Casa Alianza filed a complaint with the Prosecutor
General's Office. The complaint alleged that on May 22 at
9:30 am on 8th Avenue between 19th and 20th Streets of Zone
1, two vehicles possibly from the Army (identified as 007GDH
and 010GDH) arrived with an unconfirmed number of soldiers.
The soldiers entered a building, found three adolescent boys,
and beat them severely. The three victims stayed several
days at the Casa Alianza shelter, but have since left. Casa
Alianza staff, however, provided us with a dozen photographs
to document the extent of the injuries.


4. (U) Guatemala employs joint patrols comprised of National
Civilian Police (PNC) and Guatemalan Army soldiers to augment
the meager resources of the PNC in specific high-crime areas.
In a new supplemental effort, the military has deployed
almost 3,000 recently trained reservists to patrol jointly
with the PNC. The soldiers' participation is intended solely
to provide security to the PNC. Although in this particular
instance the deployed soldiers were from a military police
unit, they had no legal authority to conduct arrests or
detentions.


5. (SBU) According to the Casa Alianza staff, however, the
victims were adamant that there were no PNC personnel present
in the May 22 patrol. Casa Alianza staff also told us that
an officer in the military police unit designated to
participate in joint patrols confirmed to them that there
were two patrols in the area on the given day. The Charge
d'Affaires raised the brutality allegations with the
commanding officer of the unit (the Army's Honor Guard),who
said that the Honor Guard's internal investigation confirmed
the presence of the soldiers, but that they arrived after the
victims had been beaten by someone else.


6. (SBU) Separately, military sources have told us that PNC
officers regularly fail to appear for planned joint patrols,
especially with the military reservists, but that the Army
intends to follow President Berger's orders to deploy assets,
with or without PNC presence. Embassy staff stressed to our
Guatemalan Army contacts that the military should not patrol
the streets without the PNC. Military sources tell us that
President Berger insists on maintaining a visible military
presence on the street.

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

7. (SBU) There have been credible reports of torture, abuse,
and other mistreatment by members of the PNC. This complaint
of army brutality, however, is notable due to the specific
details (location, license plate numbers, and the time of the
incident). The phone caller who first tipped off Casa
Alianza had said it was soldiers whoe were beating the youth.
The Honor Guard Commander's account therefore strikes us as
implausible, but given that the evidence -- oral testimony by
street children who are no longer available for comment -- is
weak, we expect little further action. We are concerned that
the impunity in this case will send the wrong message to
other soldiers. Regardless of any future prosecution or
punishment, military patrols without a PNC presence are a
concern. Joint patrols, while apparently popular with the
residents in high-crime neighborhoods, have been portrayed by
the human rights community as a "militarization" of citizen
security. Guatemala's leading daily paper, Prensa Libre,
reported June 13 that the Human Rights Ombudsman (PDH) is
investigating reports of abuse by army soldiers patrolling
the streets.

Wharton