Guatemala Human Rights Commission/USA

Army Violently Evicts Campesinos in Petén

April 3, 2006

According to information received from the Agrarian Platform, on the morning of March 29, some 310 members of the Worker and Campesino Labor Federation (FESOC) in the community of La Bendición, Flores, Petén, were violently evicted by army troops from land they were occupying. The army reportedly entered the area with tanks and helicopters, then burned homes and injured campesinos during the eviction.

Since last year the campesinos had been waiting for the National Council of Protected Areas (CONAP) to comply with its commitment to relocate them on other suitable land. The land where the campesinos were living had been reclaimed by CONAP as a protected area.

Although FESOC had presented the case to the Presidential Commission to Resolve Land Conflicts (CONTIERRA) so that a solution favoring the campesino families could be reached, CONTIERRA was apparently unable to stop the eviction.

The Agrarian Platform, of which FESOC is a member, has expressed support for the campesino group and is demanding that the government attend to the families who were evicted and to the persons who suffered injuries during the eviction by the army, in which the campesinos’ belongings were also destroyed.

The Agrarian Platform concluded that this recent eviction reveals the Grand National Alliance (GANA) administration’s incapacity to resolve the agrarian conflict in the country; and confirms the lack of political will in attending to the demands of campesino groups.

REQUESTED ACTION:

Contact the Guatemalan authorities listed below.

1) Express serious concern about the army’s violent eviction of campesinos in La Bendición, Flores, Petén.

2) Express concern about the injuries suffered by some of the campesinos and the burning of the families’ homes and belongings.

3) Remind government authorities that the campesinos, as members of FESOC, were engaged in processes to resolve the land conflict peacefully, having presented the case to the the Presidential Commission to Resolve Land Conflicts. In addition, they were waiting for the National Council of Protected Areas to comply with its commitment to find suitable land for their relocation.

3) Urge the government to respect its own processes for peacefully resolving land conflicts and to limit the army’s role to defending national borders, as mandated by the 1996 Peace Accords.

4) Urge the government to investigate and punish the excessive use of force by the army and to compensate the campesinos for their injuries and losses.

SEND APPEALS TO:

Presidente de la República de Guatemala
Licenciado Óscar Berger Perdomo
Casa Presidencial, 6 a. Avenida, 4-18 zona 1
Ciudad de Guatemala
Guatemala
Email: presidente@scspr.gob.gt
Salutation: Excelentísimo Sr. Presidente/Dear President
Fax: 502 2251 2218

Juan Luis Florido
Fiscal General Fiscalia General del Ministerio Publico
8a. Avenida 10-67, Zona 1
Ciudad Guatemala
Guatemala
Fax: 011 502 251 2218
Salutation: Estimado Fiscal General/Dear Sir

Minister of the Interior
Ministro de Gobernacion
Carlos Vielman
6a.Avenida 4-64, zona 4, nivel 3
Ciudad de Guatemala
Guatemala
Fax: 011 502 2362 0237
Email: ministro@mingob.gob.gt
Salutation: Senor Ministro/ Dear Minister

SEND COPIES TO:

Ambassador Jose Guillermo Castillo
Embassy of Guatemala
2220 R St. NW
Washington DC 20008
Fax: 1 202 745 1908
email: ambassador@guatemala-embassy.org

PLEASE SEND APPEALS IMMEDIATELY.

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