From: Andrew Lang <lang@igc.apc.org>
Subject: APPEALS STILL NEEDED CERJ CASE
Followup-To: alt.activism.d
Originator: daemon@pencil.cs.missouri.edu
Organization: ?
Date: Fri, 6 Nov 1992 04:53:32 GMT

/* Written  3:43 pm  Nov  5, 1992 by nisgua@igc.apc.org in igc:carnet.alerts */
/* ---------- "APPEALS STILL NEEDED CERJ CASE" ---------- */




NISGUA -- Network in Solidarity with the People of Guatemala
1314 14th St., NW
Washington, DC  20005
202-483-0050
202-234-1656 fax

NOVEMBER 5, 1992

RAPID RESPONSE ALERT UPDATE
ON ALERT SENT OUT ON OCTOBER 27, 1992
"CERJ MEMBERS ARRESTED, TORTURED"


The two members of the indigenous human rights organization, the
Council of Ethnic Communities -- All Are Equal (CERJ), who were
illegally detained on Wednesday, October 21 in Santa Cruz del
Quiche, El Quiche are still being held in prison.  Please
continue sending appeals on this case. 

Note, however, that the name of one of the two was intitially
listed incorrectly.  The name of Roberto Calvo Gonzalez is
actually ALBERTO CALVO GONZALEZ.  The name of the other man is
JUAN REN GONZALEZ. 

There is little additional information on the case, except that
the two are still in prison.  They do have a lawyer representing
them, and a judge was appointed to handle their case, although we
understand that the case has now been passed on to a second
judge.

Please send appeals to the Human Rights Procurator, the
President, and the President of the Congressional Human Rights
Commission.

The following is the text of the alert: 

     The CERJ, which has been able to talk with the men since
their arrest, states that they were blindfolded and their feet
were tied.  The men said they were taken to a clandestine prison
where they were tortured.  They were forced to drink unknown
substances in order to induce them to make statements against
CERJ and its founder, Amilcar Mendez.  After two days they were
taken to a regular prison, which is where CERJ members were able
to talk with them.

     The spokesperson for the National Police, Fredy Garcia
Avalos, provided the national press with the police's version of
the incident.  According to the police, the two were captured in
the early morning hours as they were about to place a pamphlet
bomb, an explosive device that releases a shower of pamphlets. 
The police version stated that the prisoners were carrying
propaganda of the insurgency when they were arrested.  The police
maintain that the prisoners stated that a number of CERJ
activists participate in such activities and that they were given
the bomb by Amilcar Mendez.   

     According to press reports the two were taken to the Justice
of the Peace in Santa Cruz del Quiche where one of them was
formally questioned (indagado).  One press report stated that the
police found Jose Aquino, Santiago Lopez, Tomas Lopez and Jose
Lopez (three brothers) assisting in the placement of the pamphlet
bomb, but that these four men escaped before they could be
captured.  (The report did not explain how the names of these
four could have been learned if they fled when the police
appeared.) 
     
     In response to the incident the CERJ sent a formal request
to the Human Rights Procurator asking that the lives of the
arrested men be guaranteed, that they not be subjected to any
kind of torture or psychological pressures, and that they be
immediately released because they are innocent.  The CERJ asked
that a commission be formed to investigate the incident.  They
also requested that the prisoners undergo a medical examination
because of indications that they had been tortured and made to
give false statements.  Finally, the CERJ asked that the
Procurator investigate if the arrested men were processed before
a legally competent judge.

     The CERJ noted in its statement that it is a "legal
organization within the Constitution of the Republic" and that
Amilcar Mendez and CERJ have "at no time...carried out guerrilla
actions."  CERJ stated that their mission is to "help campesinos
to be able to get out of the civil patrols" and that "Amilcar
Mendez and we as peasants have always based our struggle on the
Constitution of the Republic."  The CERJ rejected the accusations
of the authorities against the two arrested members as "a calumny
and a manoeuver by the Army which for a number of years has
maintained a campaign of defamation...against Amilcar Mendez and
other organizations."

     The CERJ was founded in 1988 to protest the civil defense
patrols (PACs) which require indigenous men to render unpaid
patrol service and manual labor for the Army.  The patrols are
supposedly voluntary, but those who miss their shifts or oppose
service face fines, punishment, death threats, and assassination
at the hands of local patrol chiefs and others.  The CERJ
organizes peaceful demonstrations, petitions Congress, and holds
informal classes for rural indigenous people on the Guatemalan
Constitution and how to defend their human rights.
(Sources:  CERJ; press reports)




Activate Your Rapid Response Network to:

Denounce the capture of Juan Ren Gonzalez and Roberto Calvo
Gonzalez and ask that the arrest be investigated.  Request that
their physical integrity be guaranteed and that all forms of
torture used against them be ceased immediately.  Ask that they
be released immediately.  Ask that they receive an examination by
an independent medical examiner.  Express concern for the family
of Amilcar Mendez and ask that his family's safety be guaranteed. 
     
Direct Messages To: (note: please make sure you send some of your
messages to the Procurator, Ramiro de Leon Carpio) 

Ingeniero Jorge Serrano Elias  
Presidente de la Republica     
Palacio Nacional               
Guatemala, Guatemala           
Telex:  305-5331 CAPRES GU     
Fax:  502 2 537472             
      or 502 2 519702          
Telephone:  502 2 21212
      or 502 2 22266         

Lic. Ramiro de Leon Carpio
Procurador de los Derechos Humanos
Avenida Simeon Canas 10-61, Zona 2
Guatemala, Guatemala
FAX:  502 2 512026

Lic.  Oliverio Garcia Rodas
Presidente
Comision de Derechos Humanos
Congreso Nacional de la Republica
9 Av. 9-48, Zona 1
Guatemala, Guatemala

Telex and fax messages can be sent through FAXNET.  Call 800-831-
2202 and ask for message NISGUA #31.  Other companies also have
copies of the message.

Prepared Telex Message, #31:

Exijo que se de libertad a los miembros de CERJ, Juan Ren
Gonzalez y Alberto Calvo Gonzalez de inmediato.  Exijo que se
investigue la detencion y la tortura de ellos.  Ruego que los
capturados sean sometidos a examen medico independiente.  Pido
que se garantice la integridad fisica de los capturados, sus
familias, y la familia de Amilcar Mendez.   
   
(Translation:  I urge that CERJ members Juan Ren Gonzalez and
Roberto Calvo Gonzalez be freed immediately.  I urge that their
arrest and torture be investigated.  I urgently request that they
receive an independent medical examination.  I ask that the
physical integrity of the arrested and of their families and of
the family of Amilcar Mendez be guaranteed) .
Newsgroups: misc.activism.progressive