NP expresses its condolences over the killing of José Emanuel Méndez Dardón, the son of the internationally recognized Guatemalan human rights activist Amilcar Méndez, and grave concern over the political violence and impunity in Guatemala.
On the afternoon of Friday, the 17th, Nonviolent Peaceforce team in Guatemala received news of the murder of José Emanuel Méndez Dardón, 28, the only son of internationally recognized Guatemalan human rights activist, Amilcar Méndez. José was driving in his company’s vehicle when a man left a car behind him and approached on foot, shot and killed him and wounded his companion in the car.
The victim’s father, Amilcar Mendez, is known to many human rights activists concerned with Guatemala as a courageous advocate for the rights of the rural Indigenous people who were forced into armed “civil self-defense patrols” during the war. Amilcar has received several international peace awards including from the Robert F. Kennedy Memorial. Reference http://www.rfkmemorial.org/legacyinaction/1990_Urizar/
José Emanuel has been by his father’s side throughout the most difficult times of the war years in Guatemala. Following numerous threats, the family went into exile in Canada for a short period in the mid-eighties, but have otherwise lived and worked in Guatemala in spite of the dangers of Amilcar’s work. Professionally José was an air traffic controller. He was married and had two children. He is also survived by both parents and two sisters.
José Emanuel was clearly targeted but the motive is not clear. It may have been a way to indirectly attack his father. There have been numerous assaults on the children of activists in recent months. The violence during this electoral campaign period has reached levels unusual even in the context of Guatemala. It has been reported in international news outlets as the bloodiest election in Guatemala since 1985.
Even as he received the tremendous blow of the news of the death of his son, Amilcar commented that this has happened to so many thousands of Guatemalans, with complete impunity.
NP offers its condolences to the Méndez family and at the same time wishes to register grave concern over the extremely serious state of violence, lawlessness, and impunity in Guatemala. The climate of fear and intimidation is undermining the very foundation of the democracy Guatemalans are trying to build. NP calls upon President Oscar Berger, who has the constitutional mandate to guarantee and protect the life and security of all Guatemalans, to use his powers to mandate a thorough and complete investigation of this crime as well as the thousands of others that have gone unresolved.
August 27, 2007