Guatemala Human Rights Commission/USA

Human Rights Defenders Program

Main - Delegation - Speaking Tour

THE PROBLEM: In the face of the deteriorating rule of law and pervading impunity for past and present crimes, human rights defenders have suffered. In the last six years, assaults against human rights defenders have increased 371%. In 2006, 278 attacks against human rights activists were registered, a notable increase from 2005, when 224 attacks were documented, and from 2004, when 127 attacks were recorded. In the first half of 2007, we saw 136 acts of violence against human rights defenders, which puts Guatemala on track for another record year.

Those that are promoting and defending the rights of Guatemalans: Indigenous leaders, community organizers, environmentalists, justice officials, journalists, union representatives, women’s rights advocates, and church leaders have suffered these increased abuses. Many have been verbally threatened and physically assaulted. Perpetrators impede on activists’ privacy by parking cars outside their homes and wiretapping their phones. Institutions have been raided and important equipment and files stolen. Still others have been killed in cold blood. The perpetrators appear to be clandestine groups and other criminal entities, made up of past or active members of the State security apparatus (i.e. police officers, military, ex-PACs). The assailants have one goal: To silence the voice of these courageous leaders who work to preserve the rights of others.

Even more unbelievable than violence perpetrated against human rights defenders and institutions is that the Guatemalan government has shown neither the will nor the ability to stem these results. The attacks in many cases follow a pattern: The government or other powerful sectors (i.e. military or oligarchy) support a particular policy or project; people voice their opposition; and they are threatened, physically assaulted, prosecuted on false charges, or murdered. Authorities have failed in investigating the attacks and bringing the perpetrators to justice. Prosecution of the perpetrators has occurred in fewer than 2% of the cases.

The following vignettes demonstrate just a few of the most egregious human rights violations against activists in 2007:

• On January 10, an attempt was made on the lives of the environmental activists Carlos Albacete Rosales and Piedad Espinosa Albacete in Guatemala City. Both activists are founding members of the environmental organization Trópico Verde. They have been victims of previous threats and acts of intimidation believed to be linked to their work in denouncing illegal appropriation of land inside the Maya Biosphere Reserve, El Petén.

• On January 15, Pedro Zamora Álvarez, a trade union leader from the Sindicato de Trabajadores de la Empresa Portuaria Quetzal, was killed in front of his two small children. Previously Zamora Álvarez had received numerous death threats believed to be related to his union work. Four other members of the Union’s Executive Committee have continued to receive death threats.

• On February 5, the shared offices of the Unidad de Protección de Defensoras y Defensores de Derechos Humanos (UPD) of the Movimiento Nacional por los Derechos Humanos (MNDH), and the Asociación Comunicación para el Arte y la Paz (COMUNICARTE) were broken into. Computers with case information, as well as communications equipment and money, were stolen. The two organizations work to defend and promote human rights and human rights defenders in Guatemala.

• On May 25, staff members of the Fundación de Antropología Forense de Guatemala (FAFG) received a death threat against them and members of their families through an email. On May 28, Fredy Peccerelli received a subsequent email threatening to kill him and members of his family.  It is believed that these threats may be linked to FAFG’s exhumation work that aims to identify victims of massacres during the internal armed conflict in Guatemala.

OUR RESPONSE: In order to respond in solidarity and with advocacy, GHRC is launching its new Human Rights Defenders Program to support human rights defenders and institutions that have suffered attacks.

ACTION STEPS : GHRC’s Human Rights Defenders Program will raise awareness among the international community about the increasing attacks while also providing moral accompaniment and material support for those affected. The following activities are a mere glimpse at what this Program will accomplish:

• We will denounce these attacks through GHRC’s Urgent Action Network, press releases, and paid ads and insist that Guatemalan authorities work to thoroughly investigate the crimes and prosecute the perpetrators.

• We will educate US lawmakers, academics, students, parishioners, and grassroots activists about the increasing attacks against human rights defenders and inform them of ways they can apply pressure on the Guatemalan government to address this issue.

• We will enact a major postcard campaign where activists like you can send a postcard to the President of Guatemala imploring authorities to recognize the problem, prevent violence against human rights defenders, investigate the attacks, protect those affected, and take legal action against those responsible for committing these grave abuses.

• We will raise funds to provide immediate material support to human rights institutions that have suffered illegal raids. Assailants will stop at nothing to debilitate activists’ important work. To counter that malicious intent, GHRC will collect financial support to help institutions purchase new equipment, repair damaged property, and get their activities back up-and-running.

All of these activities will allow GHRC to increase solidarity with human rights defenders in Guatemala, highlight their positive human rights efforts, help attacked organizations get back up-and-running, augment pressure against Guatemalan authorities to adequately respond to the situation, and bolster our relationship with human rights defender organizations.

HOW YOU CAN BE A PART OF THESE EFFORTS: Ten years after the signing of the Peace Accords, with the international community diverting attention to other areas around the world, human rights violations in Guatemala have once again reached wartime levels. Human rights defenders and institutions in particular have faced an increase in assaults, and the Guatemalan government has done very little to stem these attacks. International mobilization, advocacy, and solidarity are more important now than ever. For this reason, we are launching our Human Rights Defenders Program. GHRC will raise awareness, mobilize international pressure, and provide moral accompaniment and material support. We believe that the activities we highlighted above will help ebb the tide of violence against human rights defenders, and ultimately contribute to building a more democratic and sustainable Guatemala.

However, we can’t do it alone. We ask that you join our efforts by doing one or more of the following:

• Sign and send a postcard to the President of Guatemala denouncing attacks against human rights defenders and the failings of the Guatemalan government to address this issue. Also, get your friends, family members, coworkers, students, or fellow parishioners to sign postcards. Contact us (ghrc-usa@ghrc-usa.org or 202-529-6599) and we will send you as many postcards as you can get signed. We are aiming to collect and send 5,000 postcards.

• Sign up to our Urgent Action Network and receive e-alerts about attacks against human rights defenders and institutions and take action on behalf of your Guatemalan sisters and brothers. Just send us an email to ghrc-usa@ghrc-usa.org with your name, address, telephone number, and email address and we will sign you up.

• Host a presentation on this topic at your university, high school, church, or in your community.

• Donate to help human rights institutions that have been illegally raided and looted to quickly purchase new equipment, repair damaged property, and get their activities back up-and-running. Be sure to put "Human Rights Defenders Campaign" in your designation.

• Join an upcoming fact-finding delegation to Guatemala to learn more about this phenomenon. The delegation will meet with human rights organizations, victims of violence, and Guatemalan authorities. You can turn your gained knowledge into activism, mobilizing support in your community when you return.

• Subscribe to our bi-weekly UPDATE to get the most up-to-date information on the human rights situation in Guatemala. The publication covers human rights abuses, poverty levels, women’s issues, land evictions, legal cases, mining, trade, cultural rights, and much more. Click here to receive 24 Issues for as little as $25 a year.

• Or contact us for more ways you can take action on this issue (202-529-6599 or ghrc-usa@ghrc-usa.org)

 

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