Human Rights Convergence Denounces Intimidation Against CALAS

The Human Rights Convergence stands in solidarity with the Center for Legal Action in Environment and Social Issues (CALAS) in the wake of recent acts of intimidation toward the organization. On July 29, an unknown man fired a series of gunshots in front of the CALAS offices. The event occurred just one day before the organization was scheduled to participate in an evidentiary hearing in order to bring the former head of security for the San Rafael mine, Alberto Rotondo, to trial for violence against community members. The Convergence is calling for a criminal investigation into these acts, and holding mining company Tahoe Resources accountable for both acts of intimidation against CALAS and acts of violence against residents who opposed the mine.

Leer el cominicado en español:

La Convergencia por los Derechos Humanos Frente a la intimidación a CALAS Manifiesta

El Centro de Acción Legal Ambiental y Social de Guatemala –CALAS–, organización de la Convergencia por los Derechos Humanos, el 29 de julio de 2015 fue objeto de actos de intimidación, en tanto que en horas de la noche, un hombre desconocido en motocicleta realizó una serie de disparos frente a la sede de dicha organización.

Este acto intimidatorio contra de CALAS se da un día previo a que se celebrara la audiencia de ofrecimiento de prueba con el objeto de llevar a juicio al señor Alberto Rotondo, quien en su calidad de gerente de seguridad de la Mina San Rafael violentara la integridad física de comunitarios del municipio de San Rafael Las Flores, Santa Rosa, Guatemala.

Human Rights Convergence: Eradicate Anti-Social Movement Efforts in Guatemala

On June 25, The Human Rights Convergence — a coalition of human rights organizations — published a statement regarding the protection of civilian responses to the recent corruption scandals in Guatemala.

The Convergence put forward this information to demonstrate the acts of retaliation and repression against those participating in social movements calling for an end to government corruption. The Convergence sites specific incidents of attacks and threats, which include:

•  A fire set to a local business of a social movement leader in Quetzaltenango.
• Death threats against Congressman Amílcar Pop, after he initiated the judicial demand to investigate President Pérez Molina.
• The seizure of a local bus from San Juan Sacatepéquez on its return from a march that occurred in Guatemala City on June 13.
• The murder of two community leaders, Pablo Pajarito Rompich in Quiché and Santiago Ramírez in Petén.

The Human Rights Convergence therefore requests that actions be taken by all involved actors: that the CICIG, the Public Prosecutor’s Office, and the Human Rights Attorney Office open investigations into these allegations; that the National Security System limit the executive branch’s powers to exploit public resources for illicit activities; and that Guatemalan society as a whole maintain its commitment to fighting impunity and corruption.

Below you can find the full statement from the Human Rights Convergence in Spanish.

The Human Rights Convergence is a coalition of organizations that was formed to support the agenda of human rights in Guatemala, in general, and in particular, to develop actions oriented towards the fight against impunity.

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PDF Version: Pronunciamiento de la Convergencia de los Derechos Humanos

DESARTICULAR CIACS QUE ATENTAN CONTRA MOVIMIENTO SOCIAL 

ANTE LA OLEADA DE AGRESIONES Y AMENAZAS CONTRA EL MOVIMIENTO QUE RECLAMA LA DEPURACIÓN DEL ESTADO, LA CONVERGENCIA POR LOS DERECHOS HUMANOS, EXPONE:

One Year After Violent Eviction, La Puya Under Threat Again

Members of La Puya commemorate the May 23, 2014 eviction

On May 23, members of La Puya – a peaceful resistance movement to the El Tambor gold mine owned by US company Kappes, Cassiday & Associates (KCA) – joined together to commemorate the one-year anniversary of the day that police violently broke up the blockade that the movement had maintained for over two years. Last year’s violent removal of protesters resulted in at least 27 injuries and the entry of mining equipment into the site; however, community members have maintained a presence at the mine and continue to stand in opposition to the project.

As part of the commemoration event, community members highlighted four important points:

1. Members of La Puya call for an investigation into the serious human rights violations committed by police on the 23 of May 2014, and demand that criminal charges be filed against those deemed responsible for these abuses.
2. Community members want to raise awareness about the fact that the mining company EXMINGUA (KCA’s subsidiary in Guatemala) operates in San Pedro Ayampuc without the required municipal construction license.
3. Community members have again requested the renewal of dialogue with the government at the highest level, in order to jointly find an intelligent solution to the environmental issues facing residents.
4. Members of La Puya ask that the media does not spread false rumors or misinform the public.

Statement by the Human Rights Convergence on the Resignation of Vice President Baldetti

On May 10, 2015, the Human Rights Convergence released a statement on the resignation of Vice President Roxana Baldetti. (Full text in Spanish available below).

On April 16, the criminal ring “La Linea,” allegedly headed by Juan Carlos Monzon — private secretary of the then vice-president Roxana Baldetti — was uncovered. The magnitude of the fraud and the organization of the ring, which profited off the state’s tax system, presumes previous knowledge and personal gain on the part of the vice-president. This knowledge prompted Guatemalan society to demand Baldetti’s resignation.

In light of these events, the Convergence wishes to express its support to those who are mobilizing to demand an end to state corruption, as well as for the ongoing work of the CICIG. The Convergence also wishes to stress the need for investigations into the integrity of the justice system, as well as the candidates for the vice-presidency.

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ANTE LA RENUNCIA DE ROXANA BALDETTI ELIAS A LA VICEPRESIDENCIA DE LA REPÚBLICA, LA CONVERGENCIA POR LOS DERECHOS HUMANOS, EXPONE

Por la Convergencia por los Derechos Humanos

1) El 16 de abril fue el inicio del desmantelamiento de una estructura criminal que utilizó el sistema aduanero y de recaudación tributaria para esquilmar recursos del erario y enriquecerse ilícitamente. Además del jefe de la Superintendencia de Administración Tributaria (SAT), así como su antecesor, la investigación identificó al militar retirado Juan Carlos Monzón, secretario privado de la vicepresidencia, como el cabecilla de la banda.

2) La magnitud de lo defraudado y el esquema funcional de la banda denominada “La Línea”, permiten inferir que la entonces vicemandataria no era ajena ni a la estructura ni a los beneficios de la misma. De allí que, desde el inicio la sociedad guatemalteca demandara la separación del cargo de la señora Baldetti Elías, a fin de facilitar la investigación y la acción judicial independiente.

3) La forma y el mecanismo en que la jueza contralora liberó mediante medida sustitutiva a los únicos cabecillas detenidos, puso de relieve que el pacto por la impunidad, suscrito entre el entorno económico-oligárquico-militar y los partidos Patriota y Libertad Democrática Renovada (Líder), daba sus frutos.

4) Desde un inicio el clamor social en diversos aspectos planteó la demanda de la renuncia, misma que fue presentada por la señora Baldetti, tres semanas después de los sucesos y luego de haber facilitado incluso, la fuga de su secretario.

5) Si no hubiese habido presión social, ningún otro sector se habría sentido obligado a requerir la renuncia hoy producida que deja al Congreso la responsabilidad de aceptarla y designar a un sustituto o sustituta de la ex vicemandataria. Así como deja en manos del sistema de justicia la oportunidad de reivindicarse y concretar el proceso de persecución penal con independencia.

6) Este proceso no habría sido posible sin dos factores fundamentales. En primer lugar, la inobjenetable investigación conducida por la Comisión Internacional Contra la Impunidad en Guatemala (CICIG), desde hace más de año y medio. En segundo lugar, la persistente, digna y masiva movilización ciudadana en todo el país, en particular en la ciudad capital.

Por todo lo anterior, la Convergencia por los Derechos Humanos:

1) Saluda la demanda ciudadana por limpiar de corrupción y corruptos al aparato de Estado en todos los niveles, así como a las muestras de resistencia.

2) Felicita la investigación y acciones de la CICIG, a la vez que manifiesta su respaldo a las diligencias que aún habrá de emprender.

3) Dadas la condiciones en las que se ha desarrollado el caso judicial contra la Red “la línea” se hace necesario que la CICIG, el Ministerio Público y el Organismo Judicial den paso a una amplia investigación de operadores de justicia implicados en casos de corrupción y procuración de impunidad y con ello la persecución penal correspondiente.

4) Demanda del Congreso de la República resolver a la brevedad la sustitución de la vicepresidenta y evaluar con detenimiento y sin arreglos bajo la mesa, las cualidades de quienes aspiren a sucederla.

5) Respalda las convocatorias sociales y ciudadanas para continuar en el reclamo de depuración del sistema político y de justicia y llama a todos los sectores a acuerpar la demanda social de renovación plena del Estado, que modifique las condiciones institucionales y legales que permiten el modelo clientelar, corrupto e impune sobre el que se basa el funcionamiento de la Red hoy puesta al descubierto.

Guatemala, 10 de mayo de 2015
II Aniversario de la condena por genocidio

Guatemala Closes Spaces of Action for Civil Society and Indigenous Peoples

This press release by the Guatemalan Human Rights Convergence argues that the Pérez Molina administration has responded to human rights demands with violence, censorship and prohibition of freedom of speech. The Convergence highlights the wave of repression against both indigenous and mestizo communities in northern Huehuetenango — in particular, those living in Barillas, Santa Eulalia, and San Mateo Ixtatan and resisting large-scale development projects — and looks at cases of criminalization of community leaders.

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EL ESTADO DE GUATEMALA CIERRA ESPACIOS A LA SOCIEDAD CIVIL Y A LOS PUEBLOS INDÍGENAS

La firma de los Acuerdos de Paz supuso un compromiso y una ruta para la construcción de una sociedad democrática. Sin embargo, ante el aumento importante de personas que exigen y defienden derechos; la respuesta del Gobierno es cada vez más violenta en contra de grupos sociales y pueblos indígenas que le piden a este  que cumpla con su obligación de garantizar el libre ejercicio de todos sus derechos. Esto se da, además, en temas de derecho de la niñez y la juventud, derechos de las mujeres, derecho de salud, educación y vivienda, derecho a un salario digno, inversión económica, auditoría social; así como en demanda de seguridad, justicia y equidad.

La violencia y el cierre de espacios es la respuesta del gobierno de Otto Pérez Molina, para proteger intereses personales y empresariales.  La censura, los asesinatos y atentados en contra de periodistas y comunicadores sociales son una muestra. Asimismo las comunidades indígenas que ejercen su derecho constitucional a la petición y a la consulta reciben como respuesta actitudes racistas y represoras por parte del funcionariado público y de quienes trabajan para las empresas que se quieren instalar en sus territorios.

GHRC Condemns the Assassination of Two Journalists in Mazatenango, Guatemala

The Guatemala Human Rights Commission condemns the March 10, 2015 assassination of journalists Danilo Lopez and Federico Salazar. This attack also left journalist Marvin Túnchez severely injured. GHRC calls on the Guatemalan government to thoroughly investigate this attack and to bring those responsible to justice. We also call on the Guatemalan government to effectively implement a protection program for journalists.

Guatemala has a long history of being known as one of the most dangerous countries in the world to be a journalist. At least 342 journalists were killed during Guatemala’s internal armed conflict (1960-1996). The Committee to Protect Journalist stated today that “Guatemala has a troubling pattern of impunity in attacks against journalists. If authorities allow these crimes to remain unsolved, all local journalists will face even more danger.”

The killings were also denounced by the IACHR and the RFK Center, and below you can find the translated statement from human rights group UDEFEGUA:

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We Repudiate the Assassinations of Journalist in Mazatenango

Today, March 10, 2015, in an attempt to assassinate three journalists, two were killed and one was seriously injured. The two journalists who were killed were Danilo Zapón López and Federico Salazar, and the injured journalist was Marvin Israel Túnchez. This vile attack is part of a much wider generalized violence against journalists, social commentators, and editors in the country, which has reduced the freedom of expression not only for journalists, but also the general society.

Commemorating International Women’s Day

In honor of International Women’s Day on March 8, women human rights defenders from the Alliance Against Criminalization held a press conference today in Guatemala City, commemorating the historic struggle of women’s resistance movements in Guatemala and calling for greater protections for female land and human rights defenders. Read their statement below (the original Spanish version is also available below).

Women from the Alliance Against Criminalization at a press conference on Friday, March 6

The Alliance Against Criminalization: Commemorating International Women’s Day

We, women defenders of human rights and natural resources — from a diversity of identities and member organizations of the Alliance Against Criminalization — come together today to commemorate the historic struggle of our mothers and grandmothers. Supported by their resistance throughout the ages, we have the strength to confront all forms of domination over our bodies and over nature.

The issue of violence against women defenders is a patriarchal, historic, social and complex phenomenon that affects all aspects of our daily lives, whether we live in rural areas or urban cities. It also impacts the relationships we establish with our family, our community, our organizations and our State.

Human Rights Group UDEFEGUA: 2014 the “Most Violent Year” for Defenders

According to the annual report from the Guatemalan Unit for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders (UDEFEGUA), 2014 was the most violent year for human rights advocates in Guatemala, with an average of 2.2 attacks reported daily. Violence against individuals and organizations that promote human rights has been on the rise since 2013, when those opposed to the genocide trial formed what human rights groups have called ¨an alliance to promote impunity, limit freedom of expression and criminalize defenders.¨ The year also saw a sharp rise in physical attacks against defenders, where in past years, verbal or written threats had been more common.

The majority of attacks (82% of the total) were perpetrated against defenders of land and environmental rights — both against individuals and communities, as well as against reporters covering these events. It is also important to note that women activists and defenders of women’s rights have been among the most vulnerable this year. Women were victim to 54% of overall attacks against defenders, including acts of sexual harassment, an increase over previous years.

Despite the rise of violence, the government’s response has been inefficient and insufficient, and levels of impunity in Guatemala remain high. For these reasons, the Inter-American Court of Human Rights — in the case of Florentín Gudiel et al vs. Guatemala — ordered the creation of an institutionalized Protection Program for Human Rights Defenders, which could serve as a future model for the protection of human rights defenders.

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UDEFEGUA 2014 Annual Report

2014 was undeniably the most violent year for people and organizations that promote human rights. The wave of violence against them has been increasing since 2013 when opposition to the genocide trial coalesced in an alliance between government actors (including the President’s office), business interests from the agriculture and extractive industries, groups of former members of the military involved in human rights violations, and right-wing extremists. This alliance was strengthened through a series of “pacts of impunity” which included strategies to criminalize public protest and limit freedom of expression.

Persecusión Política a Defensores de Derechos Humanos Se Agrava

An update from the Guatemalan Human Rights Protection Unit (UDEFEGUA) on the criminalization of human rights defenders in Guatemala, especially regarding recent actions taken by courts and judges which violate the minimum legal guarantees of the accused.

Comunicado por UDEFEGUA:

La segunda semana de noviembre se tornó en una donde el Sistema de Justicia muestra su participación en la persecución política a defensores y defensoras de derechos humanos.

El día jueves 13 de noviembre, el juez de primera instancia de Villa Nueva decidió enviar a juicio a Oscar Morales, líder de la resistencia en San Rafael Las Flores, por una presunta amenaza realizada al gerente de la empresa minera San Rafael, S.A. subsidiaria de la Tahoe Resources, minera canadiense.  En la audiencia de imputación el juez había mostrado su parcialidad cuando ligó a proceso al defensor sin elementos de investigación.  Ahora al trasladar el proceso vuelve a hacerlo sin que exista elementos de investigación claros, ya que el mismo Ministerio Público había planteado que no podía acusar al defensor.  Fue claro que al trasladar el caso al Tribunal de Sentencia de Villa Nueva para que se procesa al juicio, el juez obedecía intereses privados representados por el abogado del querellante adhesivo.  El día 29 de diciembre está ordenado el inicio del debate oral y público en contra de Oscar Morales. 

Concerns Over Incitement to Violence Across Guatemala

(Translation of a press release issued by the Human Rights Convergence. The original Spanish version is available below).

END THIS PROVOCATION AND TERROR

Faced with various events that suggest premeditated incitement of social conflict, the Human Rights Convergence states:

1. Over the last week, a number of acts have occurred that illustrate a pattern of incitement to violence with the intention of sparking conflict, in order to then justify repressive action. The following stand out:

• On Wednesday the 17^th, during a day of protests organized by movements in defense of territory, a group of masked people tried to convince the community members located at the crossroads of Cubilhuitz-Salaquín to burn down government buildings. When the community members refused, the masked group threw rocks at the office building, provoking the arrival of the National Civilian Police (PNC), who attacked the community.

• On Thursday the 18^th, while the National Civilian Police pressured protestors at a point along the highway in Camotán, Chiquimula to end the protest, supposed members of security forces shot at protestors and injured various members of the police. This provoked a reaction by the PNC against the community, to the point that community reporter Norma Sansir was arrested and unjustly charged, along with a lay employee of Nuevo Día, Carlos Juárez, and three other community members, including one person arrested on their own property. Police also launched tear gas inside schools.

• Community leaders from San Juan Sacatepéquez describe how on the afternoon of Friday the 19^th, in the hamlet of Los Pajoques, a group of about 15 armed men, employees of the cement company that is attempting to build a factory in the area, arrived and shot into the air. They injured one person in the community who died upon arrival at Roosevelt Hospital. Another person passed away from bullet wounds later that afternoon. The community pursued the armed men and managed to hold four of them prisoner. The rest fled the area after having injured various people, including those who passed away. The community demanded the presence of the PNC, which never arrived on the scene  despite — according to declarations from the head of the Human Rights Ombudsman’s Office (PDH) — assurances by the Chief of Police that he himself would arrive. The community members tried to hand over the four people they had detained (those accused of having shot, injured and killed two in the community) to the police.

Nevertheless, hours passed and the PNC never arrived in the community. With the absence of the responsible state authorities, the conflict intensified to such an extreme that unidentified groups set fire to houses and vehicles. Finally, in an equally reputable act, those who had been holding the four suspects prisoner executed them, raising the death toll to six.

2. It is notable that in each case, and particularly in that of San Juan Sacatepéquez on Friday night and early Saturday, the state authorities – absent from the scene of the conflict and without conducting investigations – blame organizations defending their rights to land and territory. This comes without any detailed investigation of the pattern of provocative acts described above.