Anti-Genocide Activists in Guatemala Kidnapped, Threatened
Anonymous
18 Feb 2007 02:20:07 PM

 

An indigenous rights organizer pursuing the national genocide cases in Guatemala was recently kidnapped in Guatemala City while other members of the activist legal team with whom he works have recieved written threats and incurred other types of intimidation.

On Feb. 2, Otto Navarro, a lawyer with the Center for Legal Action in Human Rights (CALDH), found the tire of his car slashed. Later that day, Josè Roberto Morales, CALDH’s indigenous rights coordinator, was kidnapped by two armed men in a carjacking in front of his house. They released him in another neigborhood, advisng him that if he activated the vehicle’s alarm they would return to his home to murder him. His vehicle was later uncovered with all of his belongings, including a laptop computer, intact.

That weekend, from Feb. 3-5, unknow assailants broke into the offices of three other organizations: Human Rights Defenders Protection Unit, National Movement for Human Rights, & Communication Association for Art and Peace. Their files were searched, and computers and film equipment were stolen. On the morning of Feb. 5, as members of these groups waited for the authorities to arrive, a red Toyota Corolla drove by and filmed the group.

Also on Feb. 5, a note was left on the windshield of CALDH lawyer Angèlica Gonzàlez, saying:

“Stop bothering with protection, protect yourself which you do not understand despite so much warning, tell Pancho [CALDH’s legal coordinator] to take care of himself and his children and the wife that is always alone, we see them and you Lawyer-Gangster pieces of shit that only want money. Look for another job but one of these days we will go out for lunch together, as always it’s on us. Understand, you sons of bitches.”

In a press conference on Feb. 6, affected organizations argued that the attacks might be linked. CALDH’s legal team advises the Association for Justice and Reconciliation (AJR) in the cases charging ex-dictator Gen. Efraín Ríos Montt and other former officials with genocide. The National Movement for Human Rights records all cases of attacks against human rights defenders. Soon the group will release a report analyzing high-impact cases involving human rights defenders in 2006. The Communication Association for Art and Peace is finishing documentaries about topics such as genocide, the Dos Erres massacre, and the women of the Ixcán.

According to CALDH, the threats and kidnapping spring directly from their pursuit of the genocide case. The key figure sought by the AJR and CALDH in the genocide case, Rìos Montt - who ruled over the killing of some 70,000 predominately Maya people during the 1980s - declared on Jan. 17 (referring to elections later this year) that, “I will reach the highest rank. It could not be any other way…I will be president of Congress from 2008-2012.”

It is widely believed that the threats to CALDH and Rìos Montt’s political ambitions are connected.

On Feb. 7 - as had been planned before the intriguingly-timed threats and kidnapping- CALDH & the AJR presented a formal complaint to the courts, expressing their concern with the Attorney General’s unwillingness to move the genocide case past the investigative stage, where it has stalled since its original filing in 2001. CALDH & the AJR also called on the judge to proceed with collecting Ríos Montt’s initial statement in order to formally accuse him of genocide against the Maya Ixil people.

If the judge does not act, Rìos Montt may quite feasibly become the head of Congress in November, drastically complicating any attempts to hold him accountable for his horrific crimes.

People in Guatemala organizing against impunity for those guilty of genocide have issued an urgent plea for allies to e-mail or mail the Guatemalan authorities to urge them to advance the genocide case:

To send an e-mail:
www.nisgua.org/get_involved/action_alerts/action_alert_02.asp

For more information about the kidnapping, threats and genocide case, as well as to find mailing addresses for the authorities:

www.nisgua.org/get_involved/action_alerts/print_action_alert_04.asp

 

story source:

http://twincities.indymedia.org/

newswire/display/29515/index.php

Related Stories:

The Maya Survivors vs Los Genocidios:
Interview with Anotonio Caba, president of the AJR

Part 1: wiretapmag.org/race/42939/
Part 2: guerrillanews.com/articles/2918/The_Maya_Survivors_vs_Los_Genocidios_Part_Two

Guatemalan Genocide Survivors Clamor for Ríos Montt´s Capture:
austin.indymedia.org/newswire/display/34854/index.php

Indigenous Survivors in Guatemala File Demand for Accusation in Genocide Case against ex-dictator Rìos Montt:
austin.indymedia.org/newswire/display/34669/index.php

Guatemala Reacts to International Arrest Orders For Ex-Dictators & Military Leaders Responsible for Genocide
www.indymedia.org/or/2006/07/843051.shtml 

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