Guatemala Human Rights Commission/USA

FORENSIC ANTHROPOLOGISTS AND FAMILY MEMBERS THREATENED

JANUARY 13 2006

URGENT ACTION APPEAL
Amnesty International

GUATEMALA:
Fredy Peccerelli, head of the Fundacion de
Antropologia Forense de Guatemala (FAFG), Guatemalan
Forensic Anthropology Foundation.
Bianka Peccerelli Monterroso (f), sister of Fredy Peccerelli
Omar Giron de Leon (m), FAFG Laboratory Coordinator
and husband of Bianka Peccerelli Monterroso
Jeannette Peccerelli (f), former wife of Fredy Peccerelli
Other members of the FAFG

New name: Gianni Peccerelli, brother of Fredy Peccerelli
Fredy Peccerelli, head of the Guatemala City-based Fundacion
de Antropologia Forense Guatemala (FAFG), the Guatemalan
Forensic Anthropology Foundation, his brother Gianni Peccerelli,
his sister Bianka Peccerelli Monterroso and brother in law Omar
Giron de Leon have all received death threats in recent days.
They may be in grave danger.

On 9 January, Fredy Peccerelli received an SMS text message
on his mobile phone which read, ''hijo de su madre: vamos a
quebrarle el cullo a tu hermano yani lo tenemos bien controlado
en un Volvo sin vidrio trasero paren las exhumaciones hij.'' (''Son
of a bitch: we are going to kill your brother Yani. We have him
properly under control in [his] Volvo without its back window.
Stop the exhumations, sons...''). The message apparently refers
to Fredy's brother, Gianni Peccerelli, who has recently acquired
a Volvo with a missing back windscreen which is yet to be
repaired.

Some time between 9.30am and 2pm the following day, an
anonymous letter was deposited in the mail box at the home of
Fredy Peccerelli's sister, Bianka Peccerelli Monterroso and her
husband Omar Giron de Leon, who is the Laboratory
Coordinator for the FAFG. The letter read, ''Hijos de puta, no se
han ahuevado los vamos a matar. Fredi no entiende a tu
hermana la vamos a secuestrar y violar una y otra vez y si no
paran los vamos a mandar pedazo por pedazo. Omar sera viudo
pero solo por minutos luego te meteremos una bala en la
cabeza. Uno por uno los mataramos. Que mueren los
antropologos [sic]. Fredi Revolucionario Omar preparate.'' (''Sons
of a bitch, you haven't given up yet. We are going to kill you.
Fredi don´t you understand. We are going to kidnap your sister
and rape her again and again, and if (you) don't stop we will
send (her) to you piece by piece. Omar will be a widower, but
only for a few minutes, then we are going to put a bullet in your
head. One by one we will kill you. Death to the anthropologists.
Fredy Revolutionary. Omar get ready.'').

Fredy Peccerelli and other members of the FAFG have been
subjected to numerous death threats as a result of their work to
exhume mass graves of those killed by the Guatemalan military
and their civilian adjuncts in the early 1980s. In 2002 the Inter-
American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) ordered that
Bianka Peccerelli Monterroso, Omar Giron de Leon, Fredy
Peccerelli and other members of the FAFG receive
precautionary protection measures. However, concerns remain
that the level of protection they are receiving is inadequate.
Following the death threat received by Bianka Peccerelli
Monterroso and Omar Giron de Leon in September 2005 (see
original UA), two police officers were stationed outside their
house and Bianka Peccerelli Monterroso was given 24-hour
police protection. However, from late December 2005 onwards,
the police officers stationed outside the house failed to report for
duty on some days. On 7 January, three days before the written
death threat was received, they stopped coming altogether.
Since these most recent threats, the homes of Gianni Peccerelli
and Bianka Peccerelli Monterroso are being guarded by police.
However, as they have been threatened directly, the FAFG is
calling for the authorities to provide them with personal
protection 24 hours a day, and to guarantee that this level of
protection will be maintained.

Jeannette Peccerelli, Fredy Peccerelli's former wife, is receiving
24-hour police protection after being threatened at gunpoint in
August 2005, apparently as a result of her connection with Fredy
Peccerelli. On 5 January 2006, she was shopping with her two
children, accompanied by the police officer protecting her, when
an unidentified man began following them. In fear for their safety,
they were forced to abandon their shopping trip.

RECOMMENDED ACTION: Please send appeals to arrive as
quickly as possible:
- expressing grave concern for the safety of Bianka Peccerelli,
Gianni Peccerelli, Fredy Peccerelli, Omar Giron de Leon and
Jeannette Peccerelli;
- urging the authorities to take immediate measures to offer all
the protection needed to the individuals named above and the
offices of FAFG, in accordance with the 2002 order of the
IACHR;
- calling for an immediate and thorough investigation into the
threats, with the results made public and those responsible
brought to justice;
- calling for the authorities to account for their failure to conduct
adequate investigations into previous threats against members
of the FAFG;
- reminding the authorities of the right of human rights defenders
to carry out their activities without any restrictions or fear of
reprisals, as set out in the United Nations Declaration on the
Rights and Responsibilities of Individuals, Groups and
Institutions to Promote and Protect Universally Recognised
Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms.

APPEALS TO:
Vice-Minister of the Interior:
Vice-Ministro de Gobernacion
Julio Cesar Godoy Anleu
6a.Avenida 4-64, zona 4, nivel 2.
Ciudad de Guatemala, Guatemala
Fax: 011 502 2361 5914
Salutation: Senor Ministro/ Dear Minister

Head of the Special Prosecutor's Office on Human Rights:
Jefa de la Fiscalia de Seccion de Derechos Humanos
Rosa Maria Salazar Marroquin
7a. Avenida 11-20, Zona 1, Segundo nivel
Ciudad de Guatemala, Guatemala
Fax: 011 502 2230 5296 (if a voice responds, say ''por favor,
tono de fax'')
Salutation: Estimada Fiscal/ Dear Madam

COPIES TO:
Human rights organization:
Fundacion de Antropologia Forense de Guatemala (FAFG)
Avenida Simon Canas 10-64, Zona 2
Ciudad de Guatemala, Guatemala
Fax: 011 502 2254 0882/2288 7297/ 2288 7302 (if a voice
responds, say ''por favor, tono de fax'')

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

Please send appeals immediately. Check with the Colorado
office between 9:00 am and 6:00 pm, Mountain Time,
weekdays only, if sending appeals after February 24, 2006.

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This Urgent Action may be reposted if kept intact, including
contact information and stop action date (if applicable). Thank
you for your help with this appeal.

Urgent Action Network
Amnesty International USA
PO Box 1270
Nederland CO 80466-1270
Email: uan@aiusa.org
http://www.amnestyusa.org/urgent/
Phone: 303 258 1170
Fax: 303 258 7881

 

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