Guatemala Human Rights Commission/USA

Protesters at Nueva Linda Finca Shot and Wounded

January 22, 2006

On Friday, January 20, private security guards reportedly opened fire on
protesters at the Nueva Linda finca (large farm) in Champerico, Retalhuleu.
According to reports, three campesinos were wounded.

The Guatemalan daily Prensa Libre in its “Adelanto informativos” section
published the following information Friday morning: “According to the
version from the campesinos in that place, they were attacked this morning by the
finca’s private security agents. Campesino leader Aparicio Pérez told Prensa
Libre by telephone that the protesters had conducted themselves peacefully
at the entrance to the finca, 'waiting only for justice.'"

Damian Vail, of the National Indigenous and Campesino Coordinating Committee
(CONIC), said campesinos who had maintained a protest along the highway
after the violent eviction in August 2004 were attempting to reoccupy the
finca this morning. Private security guards hired by the finca owner would
not permit it and opened fire. According to information provided by the
Guatemalan National Revolutionary Unity (URNG) political party, campesinos
were attempting to speak with people on the finca about the disappearance of
their colleague, Hector Reyes. They were at the entrance demanding his
appearance alive when security guards opened fire.

The campesinos injured were Roberto Miguel González (49 years old), Macario
Gómez Siguín(63), and Bernabé Alfonso Guillén (58). At least two were
injured seriously and were taken to a hospital in Retalhuleu.
After the shootings, the Guatemalan government called in the military and
the police to maintain order. Vail said that when CONIC leaders arrived on
the scene, around 11:00 A.M., the campesinos seemed to be withdrawing and
only four soldiers were visible. The police were in their patrol cars and in
pickup trucks. His impression was that the campesinos had not managed to
reoccupy the finca.

A communiqué from the Nueva Linda Justice Group, however, emailed at 11:53
A.M., states, “the finca is currently occupied.” The communiqué goes on to
e xplain, “The occupation was received today at 9:30 in the morning by
private security guards, who shot with the aim to kill at campesinos who
were heading toward the finca peacefully, with nothing more than their calls
for justice.” According to the communiqué, the police had arrived at Nueva
Linda and were refusing to arrest the security guards who had opened fire,
saying they needed a warrant first. The human rights procurator had not
come to the finca.

According to several accounts, a private helicopter flew over the campesinos
before the shooting started.

CONIC is working with a group of campesinos that chose to discontinue
protesting outside the finca after the August 31, 2004 eviction, while the
group that suffered yesterday's violence, represented by the Association of
Campesino Development Committees (CODECA), remained along the highway.
CONIC, mediating for the families that stopped protesting, has managed to
get the government to pay compensation to the families of nine campesinos
killed in 2004, as well as compensation to the community for crops and
bicycles that were destroyed in that eviction. The government is reportedly
searching for land for a finca for these families, and the Public Prosecutor’s Office is supposedly investigating the 2004 violence.

At the heart of the occupation that led to nine campesinos’ and four police
officers’ deaths in August 2004 was the disappearance of finca administrator
and campesino leader, Hector Reyes. Arrest warrants were never carried out
for two of the finca’s private security guards suspected of abducting and
murdering Reyes, although evidence against them was sufficient. Hector
Reyes was abducted on September 5, 2003, and his whereabouts remain unknown.
A January 2006 statement signed by several groups, including one called
“Nueva Linda,” notes, “Justice has been denied as the legitimate right of
the Reyes family to clear up the whereabouts of their father, and the State
has privileged finca owners, valuing private property over human life.”

REQUESTED ACTION:

Contact the Guatemalan authorities.

1. Urge the Guatemalan authorities to conduct a full, immediate, and
impartial investigation into the violence at Nueva Linda finca on January 20
and to apply justice fully and impartially.

2. Urge the authorities to prosecute those responsible for the forced
disappearance of Hector Reyes.

3. Urge the authorities to pursue justice in the killings that occurred
during the Nueva Linda eviction in 2004, at least three of which were
classified by the Human Rights Procurator as extrajudicial executions.

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
Salutation: Etimado Fiscal General/Dear Sir

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.

Guatemala Human Rights Commission- USA
GHRC-USA
3321 12th St, NE
Washington, DC 20017
202-529-6599
202-526-4611 fax
ghrc-usa@ghrc-usa.org

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