1. La Unidad - Proactive with National Police: In spite of the criticism and distrust of the National Police, The Unit of Protection of Defenders of Human Rights (La Unidad) has taken a proactive step to protect human rights defenders. La Unidad has reached an agreement with the National Civil Police emergency service, 110, to respond to calls of human rights defenders who are being watched and/or followed by persons presumably gathering information. This emergency number has been used in the past following break-ins, car robberies or assassinations. Now, the proposal is to use this service when suspicious persons or cars are seen in front of their offices or homes. The hope is to break the cycle of “intelligence” which later enables other kinds of attacks.
To establish this relationship, La Unidad is giving training workshops to the Police dispatchers explaining the work of human rights defenders and how they foresee this cooperation working. NP volunteers have accompanied the staff on these occasions and observed an open relationship between the Police dispatchers and La Unidad staff. On one visit, the dispatchers even showed the staff how their computer programs function.
On the other end of the operation, La Unidad has sent out a memo to human rights organizations asking that the defenders consider using this service. The memo states that international pressure has been directed to the Ministry of Government to provide more effective security measures and that this has opened up a new response mechanism for defenders that has a preventive character. Potential callers are instructed to identify themselves as a human rights defender in whatever category they belong (e.g. labor, farmer, journalist, activist) to allow for some follow-up on the preventive action. They may not want to give their name or that of their organization, but La Unidad explains that it would help this process if they did. They will need to give their location so a patrol car can be sent to the site.
This act of trust placed with the very agency that has been accused of abuses and incompetence has raised eye-brows, and some protests, in the human rights community. La Unidad staff counters that this opens several possibilities. It may help an institution such as the PNC recuperate some credibility and legitimacy by strengthening honest employees. It offers the PNC an opportunity to perform competently with assignments that require less technological capacity and skill. It allows the human rights defenders to follow up when the response has been inadequate before things get more life threatening. With an inside line of communication, defenders can report problems to the directors of the dispatchers. They can also track the record of patrols over time and watch for patterns of patrols that seem hostile or unresponsive.
2. Legacy of the War - “Civil Self-Defense Patrols”: The community of Los Cimientos, in the department of El Quiche, has been divided for many years by the legacy of the “Civil Self-defense Patrols” local groups of campesinos organized, armed, and forced by the army to do patrol duty during the war years. Over time, many recruits adopted the practices of the army and found it to their advantage. The Peace Accords of 1996 mandated the disarming of these groups. In spite of that directive, many communities continue to deal with the divisive and violent legacy of these patrols, now self-named “community leaders”.
In Los Cimientos, at least seventeen men in this community kept their arms and, according to the “denouncements” continued to intimidate and control the rest of the population. One of the main leaders, a Mayan himself, is said to have acquired considerable wealth in the process. In recent years a large group of men in the community, some of whom participated previously, have tried to resist forced service in the patrols, and have sought the support of government authorities, but to no avail. According to those who are resisting, the armed men have used threats and assassinations to exact free labor of their neighbors. If farmers don’t patrol, they must pay Q50/day. If they don’t pay that, they are forced at gun point to work for 3 days in the fields of the leaders.
Eventually, the threats and attacks became so severe that many families fled the area, believing their lives were in danger. Some 218 people left between May 7 and 10. Some of them took refuge in the mountains, some sought help in other villages, and some arrived in the capital determined to press their case with the national government, the press, international bodies, and human rights organizations. NP accompanied La Unidad to take their testimony and afterwards as it has accompanied the group through the steps in “denouncing” the abuses.
The refugee group has presented a list of “changes” they are requesting including that the group of 17 be disarmed and that a police sub-station be established in the town to assure their safety. They have taken the direction of pressuring government officials to take responsibility for disarming the 17 and assuring their safe return. They also seek assistance in pursuing a legal process to bring the armed men to justice for past abuses. They have not favored a conflict resolution approach arguing that that was attempted on two previous occasions, but the same dynamic has recurred. They say they cannot come to a satisfactory resolution as long as the other group remains armed.
The government response has been sympathetic but slow. A police patrol was sent to the town, but was repelled by gunfire. Another attempt was made to look for arms, but none were found. The situation of the Los Cimientos refugees has some urgency. The owners of the donated space where they are lodged has tried to put a time limit on their stay. Even so the conditions of the place where 107 people share one bathroom are sub-human. They have lost this year’s harvest so even if they return now they will need food supplies through next year’s harvest in December of 2008.
At least two collaborators working in human rights have told NP they see this as an important case because of its potential to open the way for resolution with the many other communities that are plagued with this legacy of the “civil patrols”. The NP team is continuing to follow closely their progress.
3. Violence and Fear in Election Year: According to a study by Movimiento Pro Justicia, between January 2005 and June 2006, 94-96% of the crimes committed in Guatemala were never even investigated. In 2007, an election year, the levels of violence indicate that the criminals, whatever their motivation, understand the odds of being held responsible.
Fear in the population can be measured with polls such as we quoted in the May report (86% put insecurity as their top concern) or with the rolls of razor wire that line the tops of walls or the number of cars with darkened windows. Small stores guard their inventory behind a cage. Customers must request and pay for their goods through bars. Private security guards with high powered rifles stand at the doors of restaurants and stores that do allow the public to enter. But all this is the back drop even before election-related violence enters in.
A most disconcerting phenomenon that influences a large population is the assassination of urban bus drivers. During 2006, 53 urban bus drivers were assassinated. By June 10 of this year 25 urban bus drivers had lost their lives. Since there is a longer track record of this problem it would appear that the elections are not the primary factor. Earlier in the year reports focused on extortionists who threaten drivers if they don’t pay a “tax”. As the election campaigning has progressed, however, it has become a political football. High level functionaries including President Berger attribute the deadly trend to political parties seeking to destabilize the government or to gain advantage for a “get tough” program. Candidates have accused other parties of creating a climate of fear and they in turn have been accused of using the situation for their political advantage.
The Electoral Observation Mission of the Organization of American States visited Guatemala as part of its electoral monitoring. Their report compared the situation with the last election stating, “the magnitude of the concern over the climate of insecurity and violence is greater than what we found in the electoral process of 2003.” The mission was in the country 22 days and spoke to Government authorities, the Supreme Electoral Tribunal, the Human Rights Ombudsman, civil society, and presidential and vice presidential candidates. Everyone agreed, according to their report, that the violence at this stage in the elections is cause for concern. They emphasized the problem of the economic influence of drug traffickers on the elections in some regions, but on a positive note, they applauded the review mechanisms that have been set up to monitor the electoral campaigns.
4. June 21, 2007 and the Law Against Forced Disappearances: The summer solstice was a long day of remembrance for the families of the disappeared. A mass in the National Cathedral and a photo exhibit in Central Park were the centerpieces of a week of events commemorating the victims of forced disappearances. Almost twenty years ago various organizations agreed to designate June 21 as the National Day Against Forced Disappearances. On that date in 1980 twenty-seven union activists were kidnapped ("disappeared") from their headquarters in Guatemala City and never seen again. The commonly quoted estimate is that 45,000 people were taken in similar fashion over the years, mostly in the late 70’s and early 80’s.
On June 20th the organizers invited members of Congress to speak about the proposed law, which would form a National Commission to Search for Persons, Victims of Forced Disappearance and other Forms of Disappearance. The Commission would be autonomous and its objective would be to identify and find the people or their remains, to provide some estimate of the damages and injuries caused by the crimes, and to coordinate the implementation of reparations.
The authors of the bill estimate the Commission will need 15 years to develop a National Registry of victims and to resolve all the cases. This bill does not propose to bring to justice the perpetrators. It will, however, extend psychological support and limited legal aid to family members.
Fifteen organizations supported this forum including GAM, a member organization of NP, The National Movement of Human Rights, and two semi-autonomous government agencies. On of these, the President’s Commission on Human Rights (COPREDEH) went a step further and placed a full page ad voicing strong support for the bill.
Friday evening, the 22nd, four key leaders who survived the repression of the 70’s and 80’s, were honored and paid “homage” by an organization of children of the disappeared (H.I.J.O.S). All of the honorees had spent time in exile due to threats against their lives. One of the four is well known to NPG. Miguel Angel Albizures is a founder of the National Movement of Human Rights, the parent organization to the Unit of Protection of Human Rights Defenders, which NPG accompanies.
On June 30, H.I.J.O.S. organized a march in the main part of the capital. It was sparsely attended and included painting slogans on walls and cars. June 30 is also Armed Forces Day and the military held a large parade in the central park. NPG attended both events. PBI and twenty plus journalists were also present at the H.I.J.O.S. march. Heavily armed security forces blocked the marchers from reaching the central park and threw tear gas to deter their progress.
The work of the team
Personnel: Ann Frisch finished her three month term and returned to the U.S. on June 30. Ann left us with an extensive photo gallery and the written summaries of several of the cases covered by La Unidad. Her blog was an important outlet for information about our work to friends and followers of NP. We are grateful for her positive contributions and attitude and for all her strength and spirit in helping to launch the Guatemala project.
NP Staff visit: David Hartsough visited the Guatemala team for 4 days and assisted with evaluation interviews with members of the staff of La Unidad. He also participated in an accompaniment here in the city. Betsy and David met with Claudia before she left for two weeks of travel. David introduced us to Amilcar Mendez, an internationally renown human rights activist. We also shared two social occasions with Heidi Flores, daughter of Mel Duncan, and her family. We greatly appreciated David’s visit, his helpful observations and his connections.
Three-month evaluation: The evaluation carried out during and after David’s visit consisted in informal conversations with individual staff members of La Unidad in which we asked for their general assessment of the accompaniment and their opinion on specific issues (e.g. risk assessment, whether to accompany inside meetings and testimonies, accompaniment to their homes in the evenings, concerns and suggestions for improvement.
La Unidad staff all affirmed that our presence had increased their sense of security and even that of the people they visit. They appreciate that we are versed in the overall situation of Guatemala and they want us to be well informed on the cases they are covering as well. Therefore, they prefer to have us in the meetings with them rather than sitting outside, even though we don’t participate. They see it as enhancing their security in various ways.
The staff also noted that the threats received in February and last May were directed at the institution and not the individuals so at this time they don’t feel that the risk justifies full time accompaniment beyond work hours. Claudia had also said this and that she would let us know if she felt the risk justified more intensive accompaniment. The staff said they most appreciate our presence when they leave to take testimonies and especially for trips in the countryside.
The staff mentioned some concern or discomfort that we are underutilized for hours or days while the staff is occupied in administrative matters. (At least one NP volunteer maintains a presence in the office everyday, all day. Usually, one other volunteer accompanies Claudia. On many days, this leaves at least one volunteer free, unless the first volunteer leaves with a staff member.)
Given this, and the sense that the security risk for the individuals in La Unidad is low at this time, we have started conversations with NP and La Unidad about the possibility of taking on some additional short term accompaniment assignments, without exposing La Unidad at a time when we might be needed.
Public Relations: During the month Betsy continued outreach to various organizations including the Forum for International NGOs, which hosted a workshop on computer security technology. She met with Frank LaRue, head of the government President’s Commission on Human Rights and later accompanied La Unidad to a gathering they hosted to solicit input on the national plan for human rights. She met with a representative of the Dutch Platform Against Impunity in Guatemala, which includes several international organizations working to encourage embassies to take a proactive stand on human rights. The team has also maintained collegial contacts with members of the other accompaniment organizations.
Report written by Betsy Crites and Christine Schweitzer (Programme Director)