Guatemala Human Rights Commission/USA
Home|About GHRC|Programs|Resources|About Guatemala|How You Can Help

Historic Police Archives in Danger; Judge Involved Receives Threats

May 19, 2006

The Human Rights Ombudsman of Guatemala, Sergio Morales, issued a communiqué on May 11 expressing grave concern about recent acts of intimidation aimed at hindering human rights investigations linked to the historic police archives, which were discovered on a police base in Guatemala City nearly ayear ago. These recent incidents highlight the precarious security of the archives and all those involved in the process of rescuing, restoring, and organizing the documents. At 9:40 AM on May 10, security guards protecting the buildings where the archives are stored noticed a small cloud of smoke rising from the stacks ofjunked cars that clutter the base. After putting the fire out, they found a plastic soda bottle that contained some type of fire accelerator (probably diesel or gasoline), leading them tosuspect that the fire was set intentionally. If the fire had continued unchecked, a large section of the police archives could have been consumed by flames.

In addition to the security of the site itself, Morales also highlighted the security risks faced by all those involved. The third judge of the firstcivil instance, María Ester Roldán, has been subjected to various acts of intimidation, including an attempt on her life, since she authorized the Human Rights Ombudsman's Office last July to carry out a human rights investigation involving all of the documents and sites of the National Police archives.The most recent act of intimidation occurred between May 9 and May 10.Arriving at her office, the judge noticed that the door had been forcedopen. Someone had entered the office while she was gone and rummaged through her case files. She has also been verbally threatened on a numberof occasions by a man who apparently works as a legal advisor to the National Civil Police. Judge María Ester Roldán told Prensa Libre that she had been threatened by attorney Carlos Humberto Rosales Mendizábal, who apparently works with the National Civil Police. According to Judge Roldán, Rosales came to her office and offered her money in exchange for changing her rulings on the archives, which granted the Human Rights Ombudsman's Office complete access to the files, as well as the right to investigate them. Rosales added that,for him, "it was easy to have a judge killed."

Background

The archives discovered last July appear to include all of the files of the National Police, dating back over a century. Visitors are struck by the sheer magnitude of the files, which to date represent the largest known collection of secret government documents in Latin America. Among the stacks of mildewed papers, there are file cabinets labeled "disappearances" and "murders" and others containing information on the government's counterinsurgency campaign. Disbanded as part of the Peace Accords in 1996, the National Police is associated with some of the worst human rights abuses committed during the war. Many hope that the archives will provide information on the victims, as well as evidence to support the prosecution of those responsible.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Donate to GHRC
Sign Up to Receive Emails from GHRC
Take Action
 
 
 

Home | Site Map | Contact Us

3321 12th Street NE, Washington, DC 20017

This site is maintained by the Guatemala Human Rights Commission/USA
as a means of informing the general public of the Commission's work
on behalf of the people of Guatemala