Guatemala Human Rights Commission/USA

The Mutual Support Group (GAM) and the Human Rights Procurator's Office (PDH) released the following communiques in response to the escalating gang violence in Guatemala, recently manifested in prison riots, retaliation attacks and murders. On August 15, members of the Mara Salvatrucha gang attacked members of the Mara 18 gang in prisons and detention centers throughout the country. The involvement of prison officials is strongly suspected. On September 20, members of the Mara Salvatrucha raided a juvenile detention center in Guatemala City. Almost fifty youth have died in gang-related prison violence in the past month.

Statement of the Human Rights Ombudsman ’s Office (PDH)
September 20, 2005

Regarding the situation of imprisoned and at-risk children and youth in the charge of the President of the Republic’s Secretariat of Social Welfare, the Guatemalan Human Rights Procurator’s Office (PDH) declares:

• According to national legislation, the President of the Republic’s Secretariat of Social Welfare is the state agency responsible for imprisoned and at-risk children and youth.
• In addition to the development of public policies that address the issue, the Secretariat should also be responsible for the protection, shelter, custody, rehabilitation, and re-socialization of children and youth offenders.
• These last functions should be developed through a network of shelters and detention centers that care for at-risk children and youth in a different way from children and youth awaiting a sentencing trial and in an even more distinct way from those who have already been sentenced.
• The events of September 19 took place in one of the centers in the charge of the Secretariat of Social Welfare, designed for imprisoned minors who have already been sentenced.
• Even though this is of the most serious incidents recorded, it is not the only incident to occur in shelters and centers under this state agency in the last few years.
• According to the records and reports available to the PDH, during 2004 and 2005:

• A total of seventeen different incidents were reported in centers under the charge of the Secretariat of Social Welfare. Eight were reported in 2004 and nine were reported in the first eight-and-a-half months of 2005. Among these, the following stand out:
• Two murders committed by administrative personnel in the Orientation Center for Youth in Conflict with Criminal Law in zone 13.
• Six reports of physical and/or psychological mistreatment in various centers.
• Three reports of neglect.
• Two death threats and an escape.
• Three riots or disturbances in different shelters or detention centers, including the incident in Mi Hogar El Manchén in Antigua, Guatemala and last month’s similar incident in the Preventative Center in San José Pinula, Etapa II, “La Libertad.” The riots left twenty-five minors injured and thirteen dead.

• The former is confirmed by the public statements of the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights’ Special Rapporteur on Prisoners’ Rights, Dr. Florentín Meléndez, who after the violent events of August 15, 2005 in various penitentiary centers throughout the country, declared that he has observed how the prisoners are provided “treatment characterized by abandonment, overcrowding, the lack of adequate infrastructure, health, or access to medical care or psychologists, as well as the lack of judicial supervision and projects specifically directed at rehabilitation. In particular, the Rapporteur noticed the absence of a penitentiary policy for criminal youth.” The Rapporteur added that there are structural problems not duly attended to by the state, pointing out that he viewed as “especially poor the conditions in which children and adolescents in conflict with the law are imprisoned, as well as…the lack of effective controls to prevent arms from entering the detention centers…”
• In relation to the most recent riot, the PDH knows that officials of the Secretariat of Social Welfare had knowledge of the tension prevailing inside the center due to the recent confrontations between prisoners belonging to rival gangs. The events of September 19 reveal the agency’s scarce capacity or total lack of capacity for prevention.
• In the PDH’s opinion, this riot is an irrefutable demonstration of how the Secretariat of Social Welfare, as the state agency responsible for youths in conflict with the law and at-risk children and youth, can no longer guarantee the basic well-being of the population under its care.
• The PDH demands that the governmental authorities fire Rossana Fratti de González, the current head of the Secretariat for Social Welfare for the following reasons:

1. Multiple human rights violations of minors have taken place in the institutions under her charge.
2. According to the records, the PDH’s recommendations to the Secretariat have not been adequately addressed, perpetuating a situation that violates the “no-repetition” principle regarding violations confirmed and repeatedly denounced by the PDH.
3. The Secretariat has not fulfilled the recommendations of the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights handed down in December, 2003.

• In addition to changing the leadership of the Secretariat, the PDH also urges the adoption of measures to address the structural deficiencies of the national system to protect children and youth. Among other things, the national system should:

• Provide the Secretariat with better financial resources to attend to the rehabilitation and resocialization of youth offenders in a dignified way.
• Separate minors from those who have reached adulthood while serving their sentence in the state’s detention centers.
• Send youth who are involved in gangs and those who are not involved to different detention centers.
• Lastly, the PDH demands that the government thoroughly investigate the events that occurred in the Preventative Center in San José Pinula, Etapa II, “La Libertad,” in order to determine the responsibility of the institution and the staff involved.

 

Mutual Support Group (GAM)
September 21, 2005

CRIMES SHOULD BE INVESTIGATED

Guatemala is submerged in one of the worst security crises of the last few years. There have been at least six conflicts in various penitentiaries in the country, which have left more than fifty imprisoned youth dead. The conflict between the two gangs now affects citizens in general.

The gang activity has not been investigated and the deaths are rising with each day in the “war” fought between Mara Salvatrucha and Mara 18. The insecurity and anxiety are now affecting the innocent, dedicated people working for and contributing to the country in positive ways.

The Mutual Support Group believes that the crimes committed by Mara Salvatrucha against Mara 18 would not have happened if it weren’t for the support of the officials and guards in the penitentiary system. It is illogical and irrational to have assault weapons or nine-millimeter handguns inside a prison when the guards allegedly search all those who enter.

GAM thinks that powerful forces are behind these crimes, looking to divert the public and the international community’s attention from long-term problems to the recent violence. They also seek to exacerbate the confrontation between the two gangs so that they can profit from the sale of arms and munitions in the resulting war and so that Guatemala will become a place where it is impossible to invest, develop, or live.

Óscar Berger’s administration has the means to stop the process of disintegration in this country. The application of security policies should not be delayed.

GAM calls for a larger allotment of funding for social investment in the next general budget in order to guarantee attention to youths, as well as create opportunities that allow them to study, work, and contribute to Guatemala. Only in this way can prevailing chaos be avoided.

On September 19, 2005, a group of Mara Salvatrucha members entered a juvenile detention center and attacked members of Mara 18 with firearms, knives, and grenades. The attack left thirteen dead and twenty-five injured youth.

 

 

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