Guatemala Human Rights Commission/USA

Indigenous and Land Rights Leaders Threatened

March 25, 2005

GUATEMALA:

-Carlos Humberto Guarquez (m), staff member of the Fundación Maya,(FUNDAMAYA), Maya Foundation

-Alfonso Guarquez (m), journalist, his brother

- Dominga Vasquez (f), local mayor, FUNDAMAYA member and wife of Alfonso Guarquez

Carlos Humberto Guarquez, prominent member of indigenous rights group the Fundación Maya (FUNDAMAYA), Maya Foundation, local mayor Dominga Vasquez and her husband journalist Alfonso Guarquez, have received death threats in an apparent effort to intimidate them into stopping their opposition to expansion of mining in the local area. Their lives are in serious danger.

On 25 March at about 11.45pm, villagers in Tablón near the town of Sololá in western Guatemala alerted the police to a burning vehicle, which had been doused in petrol before being set alight. The vehicle belonged to FUNDAMAYA and was used by one of the organization's staff, Carlos Humberto Guarquez. Five written death threats directed at Carlos Humberto Guarquez were found around the burning vehicle. One threat stated: ''The same will happen to you Mr. Carlos Humberto for interfering in these stupid social issues, tomorrow will be your day to disappear from this world. Every pig eventually gets slaughtered, also Ms. Dominga [Vasquez] and her husband Alfonso Guarquez''.(''eso te pasa Señor Carlos Humberto por estar metido en babosadas de la sociedad, manana llegará tu día de desaparecer en este mundo, a todo coche [cuche] se le llega su sábado, tambien a la Señora Dominga y su esposo Alfonso Guarquez'').

Carlos Humberto Guarquez, Dominga Vasquez and Alfonso Guarquez are among five indigenous people who have been accused of inciting a protest on 11 January, against the transportation of equipment belonging to mining company Montana Exploradora (a subsidiary of the Canadian-US firm Glamis Gold), which owns two gold mining projects in Guatemala. The local governor for the department of Solola presented a complaint to the local Prosecutor's Office which then filed criminal charges against them in relation to the protest, and is continuing its investigations.

FUNDAMAYA forms part of the recently created coalition Frente Nacional contra la Mineria, National Front against Mining, which campaigns to raise awareness of the potential environmental damage caused by mining and the negative impact on indigenous communities living close to mines. Carlos Humberto Guarquez is FUNDAMAYA's representative to the coalition.

Dominga Vasquez received an anonymous threat by telephone on 5 January, after speaking out against mining in the area. The caller told her that she would ''suffer the consequences for having led [this] ...and be careful with what will happen to you'' (que debia atenerse a las consecuencias por haber encabezado [esto]...ten cuidado con lo que te puede pasar). The threats have been reported to the national police, the Public Prosecutor's Office, the Human Rights Ombudsman and the Presidential Commission of the Office of Human Rights (COPREDEH). Her husband Alfonso Guarquez, who is also the brother of Carlos Humberto Guarquez, is a journalist for the national information service Cerigua and has reported on local opposition to mining.

RECOMMENDED ACTION: Please send appeals to arrive as quickly as possible:

- expressing concern for the safety of Dominga Vasquez, Alfonso Guarquez and Carlos Humberto Guarquez, after they received a death threat on 25 March;

- calling on the authorities to take immediate measures, in accordance with the wishes of those concerned, to guarantee their safety;

- calling for an immediate and thorough investigation into the death threats, for the results to be made public and for those responsible to be brought to justice;

- urging the authorities to ensure that any criminal investigation against indigenous leaders involved in opposition to local mining comply with domestic and international standards regarding fair trials; - reminding the authorities of their obligations to respect the principle of free, prior and informed consent of communities to be affected by development projects, as stated under the International Labour Organization (ILO) Convention I69, ratified by Guatemala in 1996.

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