Guatemala Human Rights Commission/USA

CONIC Leader and Wife Murdered

April 5, 2006

According to a communique from the National Indigenous and Campesino Coordinating Committee (CONIC), on April 5 at 7:00 P.M., ANTONIO IXBALAN CALI and his wife, MARIA PETZEY COO, were murdered.

Four armed men dressed in black opened fire on the couple in their home in the Valparaiso Community, Chicacao, Suchitepéquez. María Petzey was killed instantly. Antonio Ixbalán was seriously wounded and died hours later in the hospital in Mazatenango.

Antonio Ixbalán was the president of the Agriculturalists Association of Santiago Atitlán, which is a member of the National Indigenous and Campesino Coordination (CONIC).

Ixbalán and his wife are originally from Santiago Atitlán,  Sololá. Along with 44 other families, their struggle for land was rewarded on February 8, 2002, when they were given the Valparaíso finca (farm) in Chicacao, Suchitepéquez. They are currently struggling to have a 2.18 million Quetzal ($287,000 USD) debt forgiven.

CONIC said the murders of the Tz’utujil leaders were a direct attack against the organization itself. The murders occurred just nine hours after CONIC and other organizations had announced a “national uprising”to protest the Berger administration’s lack of response to their demands regarding land conflicts.

CONIC is demanding an exhaustive investigation of the murders to identify the material and intellectual authors.

REQUESTED ACTION:

Contact the Guatemalan authorities listed below.

1. Express extreme concern about the murders of Antonio Ixbalán Cali and his wife, María Petzey Coo.
   
2. Urge the Guatemalan authorities to conduct an immediate, thorough, and impartial investigation into the murders and to prosecute those responsible.
   
3. Urge the Guatemalan government to guarantee the safety of all CONIC members and others struggling for their rights.

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

Attorney General
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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