Guatemala Human Rights Commission/USA

                                                                              

NATIONAL HUMAN RIGHTS MOVEMENT THREATENED

May 16, 2006

Between May 11 and May 15 the National Human Rights Movement received several intimidating telephone calls.  On Friday, May 12, between 8:10 and 8:15 A.M., Erenia Vanegas, of the Movement’s Unit for Protection of Human Rights Defenders, received a telephone call at work.  In the background was a sharp sound, and the caller said, “Don’t get yourselves into shit” (no se metan en mierda).  On Monday, May 15, at 8:45 A.M. Luisa Pineda received a call in which there was no background noise.  The caller said, “If you continue looking we are going to kill you all.”  The caller in each case was a man of about 35 years of age.

On Thursday, May 11, the office received a suspicious call in which a woman asked for information about the people working at the Movement, as well as the type of work the organization did and the investigations they carryied out. 

Background

The National Human Rights Movement is a coalition of organizations that work independently to monitor and promote human rights.  Since its creation  in 2002, the National Human Rights Movement has provided protection to human rights defenders who have been threatened.  The organization’s Unit of Protection for Defenders, formed in 2003, monitors and investigates attacks against human rights defenders.  The Unit of Protection for Defenders has contributed to national and international reporting on political violence, publishing studies on the attacks suffered by human rights defenders, accompanied by a list of emblematic cases in various regions of Guatemala. 

The National Human Rights Movement believes that because of its work, groups or sectors are attempting to intimidate them and sow terror.  The Unit of Protection for Defenders has recently been monitoring cases that are especially complicated because they may involve attacks by members of organized crime, the security forces, and/or public officials.  The Unit of Protection for Defenders is involved in complicated cases in the Petén, Zacapa, Escuintla, Guatemala City, and Jutiapa, and its work on these cases could have provoked the threats. 

As well as supporting the Unit of Protection for Defenders, the National Human Rights Movement participates in the Front against Mining and in various activities related to implementing the recommendations of the Historical Clarification Commission.  The Movement is also supporting the Human Rights Procurator in his investigation of the National Police files found last year, and this could be another reason for the threats.

In addition, the organization’s reporting has become a threat to some sectors who prefer to keep hidden the facts that the Unit publishes.  In April 2006, the Unit of Protection for Defenders published a report on the situation of human rights defenders, outlining 65 cases of attacks on human rights defenders working with various organizations.  

Requested Action:

1. Contact  the Guatemalan government officials listed below.  Urge them to investigate the source of the threats received by the staff of the National Human Rights Movement.

2. Demand that officials prosecute those responsible, to the full extent of the law.

3. Remind the government that failing to protect human rights workers and investigate attacks or threats against them is a violation of the Peace Accords.  Under the Peace Accords the government agreed to “take special measures to protect those persons or entities working in the field of human rights.”  The government agreed to “investigate, in a timely and exhaustive manner, any complaint it may receive relating to acts or threats that may be directed at them.” 

 

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