Guatemala Human Rights Commission/USA

Opponents of CAFTA Suffer Raids and Attacks

May 13, 2005

Between Sunday, May 8, and Thursday, May 12, break-ins occurred at eight organizations in Guatemala that have opposed the Central American Free Trade Agreement. In the majority of the cases, important information was stolen, but objects of value were left behind, indicating a clear political motive behind the break-ins.

On the night of May 11, intruders entered the offices of Children for Identity and Justice against Oblivion and Silence (HIJOS). The back doors of the office were forced open and a vehicle was driven in. After carefully searching through the organization’s files, the intruders took printed photographs and photographs on disc, along with a laptop and a desk computer. Valuable objects left behind included an overhead projector and a laptop computer that was new and devoid of information. HIJOS members aim to recover the historical memory of their relatives killed or disappeared by the army during the armed conflict and to denounce the army’s abuses. HIJOS also has been in the front lines at protests against the Central American Free Trade Agreement (CAFTA).

On May 11, three raids were carried out on different organizations: the Guatemalan Institute of Comparative Studies in Criminal Science (ICCPG); and two sectors of organized workers, the General Confederation of Workers of Guatemala ( CGTG) and the Confederation of Labor Unity of Guatemala (CUSG). Also, the home of a member of the Coordinating Committee of NGOs and Cooperatives (CONGOOP) was raided, and clear signals of intimidation were left.

On the night of May 8, the offices of the National Coordinating Committee of Campesino Organizations (CNOC) were raided. The intruders took fifteen computers that contained valuable information about the work of the organization and its members. Other valuable items, such as printers, scanners, photocopiers, telephones, and faxes, were not stolen. Following the raid, CNOC moved into the offices of the ICCPG, and the raid on this office followed.

All the organizations that have been raided have been critical of the new economic policies adopted by the Guatemalan government, as well as its attitude toward the Peace Accords. Several of the raided organizations are members of the Popular, Union, Campesino, and Indigenous Movement (MICSP), a group that has headed the opposition to the Central America Free Trade Agreement and mining of metals in Guatemala. The CNOC office serves as the headquarters of MICSP.

BACKGROUND AND ANALYSIS

From January1 to May 12, 2005, sixty-five attacks have been carried out against human rights defenders and others active in social causes, according to the National Human Rights Movement. Under the previous government of Alfonso Portillo, an average of seventeen raids, or break-ins, occurred annually at human rights organizations. To date this year, in just over five months, fifteen such raids have occurred.

The director of HIJOS, Cecilia Gonzalez, told AP that “those responsible are the government; it’s obvious that they are looking for information to see our strategies of opposition.” The Anti-Imperialist Block, a new coalition of groups, wrote in a statement, “From the planned and strategic manner in which the raids and intimidating acts have been carried out, we hold the current government of the GANA party, and sectors of military intelligence, and paramilitary groups responsible.” The coalition demanded that the Public Prosecutor’s Office carry out an investigation and bring to criminal trial those responsible. The group also demanded that the Human Rights Procurator’s Office make a pronouncement against the repressive actions of the current government.

Ruth del Valle, of the National Human Rights Movement, said that in order to determine the motive for the attacks the Attorney General’s Office would have to identify which sectors are interested in silencing the social movement, or in any case, causing problems for the stability of the government.

Edwin Sperison, the director of the National Civil Police, told AP, “These could be self-robberies that [the groups] are committing to ask for money from abroad.”

“The new wave of raids against the work of social and human rights organizations brings to light an organized campaign by clandestine groups to obtain intelligence on the work of human rights defenders and social activists who threaten certain political interests,” Amnesty International said in a May 13 statement. Amnesty called the attacks “a dangerous social phenomenon that is occurring in full view of the authorities and with total impunity.” The human rights movement in Guatemala,” AI said, “is receiving a dangerous message: your work will not be supported or tolerated.”

Date	Act of Intimidation
May 6	Robbery and an attempt to abduct Francisco Sánchez, a member of HIJOS. The act was carried out by two armed men traveling in a taxi. The men stole personal documents from Sanchez and also the keys to the car he was driving. They also tried to get the HIJOS member to enter the taxi, which did not occur because of his resistance, which led to a struggle. The assailants left the scene firing several shots, without taking the vehicle.
Night of May 7 to morning of May 8	Raid of the offices of the National Coordinating Committee of Campesino Organizations (CNOC), in which 15 computers were stolen containing information on strategic plans, operational plans, memoirs of activities, data bases, proposals on rural development and food security, reforms to the labor code, and an alternative agricultural proposal. The raid occurred as Congress was discussing the Land Registry Law, which, in spite of the consensus reached between campesino organizations and the Chamber of Agriculture, is being arbitrarily modified by legislators. The offices of CNOC, in addition to being the seat of the coordinating committee of campesino organizations, also has served as the headquarters of the Popular, Labor, Campesino, and Indigenous Movement (MICSP), which led the anti-CAFTA protests.
Night of May 8 to morning of May 9	Break-in at the office of the National Human Rights Movement in Santa Rosa Break-in at the office of the Federation of Lutheran Churches in the Petén
May 10-11	Attempted break-in at the General Confederation of Workers of Guatemala (CGTG), the Confederation of Labor Unity of Guatemala (CUSG), and the Institute of Comparative Criminal Sciences Studies . In these three cases, nothing was stolen because the perpetrators did not manage to enter or because they left when they saw that people were still in the buildings.
May 11	Break-in at the home of a member of the Coordinating Committee of NGOs and Cooperatives (CONGOOP). Break-in at the home of the coordinator of the Austrian Accompaniment Project.
May 11-12	Raid at HIJOS. The back doors of the office were forced open and a vehicle was driven in. Printed photographs and photographs on disc were taken, along with a laptop (the only computer left after the first raid) and a computer. All the files were also reviewed with great care. A common robbery must be dismissed as the explanation, since several valuable objects were left behind, such as another laptop, microphones and cables, an overhead projector.
May 12	As some of the members of HIJOS were meeting in the Lutheran Federation—which had been helping them resume their work after the first raid of their office earlier this year—the Lutheran Federation’s car was stolen, a clear sign of intimidation toward those who contribute so that HIJOS and various other organizations can continue working.

 

 

 

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