From: Andrew Lang <lang@igc.apc.org>
Subject: Army bombs communities Guatemala
Followup-To: alt.activism.d
Originator: daemon@pencil.cs.missouri.edu
Organization: ?
Date: Thu, 17 Dec 1992 16:32:46 GMT

/* Written  4:20 pm  Dec 16, 1992 by codehuca@nicarao.apc.org in igc:carnet.alerts */
/* ---------- "Army bombs communities Guatemala" ---------- */
COUNTRY : GUATEMALA
NUMBER  : 13

                        URGENT COMMUNIQUE

          "SCORCHED EARTH" TACTICS AGAINST COMMUNITIES
                   OF POPULATION IN RESISTANCE

     The Commission for the Defense of Human Rights in Central
America (CODEHUCA) informs the international community of the air
bombardments carried out by the Guatemalan army against the
Communities of Population in Resistance (CPR), located in El
Quich, in the north of the Ixc n.
     On November 21, 1992, these air bombardments were part of a
military operation carried out in the northern Ixc n area by 450
men. The operation was directed against the civil communities of
Cuarto Pueblo and Los Angeles, some 600 people which are part of
the Communities of Population in Resistance (CPR).
     The military objective was to destroy the socio-economic
infrastructure of these communities. The tactics used resembled the
counterinsurgency tactics of the early 1980s, known as "scorched
earth". The Guatemalan Human Rights Commission (CDHG) reports:
     "The army demolished everything, set the houses on fire,
     killed the animals and destroyed all the work materials,
     household utensils, clothes, blankets, etc. Furthermore, they
     robbed all that was of value and destroyed the crops".
     "On November 30, the army left Cuarto Pueblo, leaving behind
     burnt buildings, and moved on to Los Angeles. They demolished
     the entire community of Los Angeles on the December 1. The
     inhabitants escaped only moments before the army arrived".

     This operation forced seventy families (600 persons) to flee
on foot into the Marques de Comillas area, Chiapas, Mexico. The
United Nations High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR) and the Mexican
Commission for Aid to Refugees (COMAR) sent representatives and
humanitarian aid to them (medicine, food and drinking water), which
was difficult due to difficult weather conditions.
     The Guatemalan government is not fulfilling the 1987
'Esquipulas II' accords, in which the Central American presidents
committed themselves to deal properly with the basic needs of
refugees, displaced persons and returnees. The carrying out of
military operations against civil population, creating more
refugees, goes completely against the meaning of the accords. 
     This situation obviously puts in danger the return of
Guatemalan refugees from out of Chiapas, Mexico; even more so,
given that a first group plans to return to the northern Ixc n area
in January, 1992.
     We ask the Solidarity Network to speak out against these
military operations that clearly violate the International Law of
War not to attack in any way civilian populations.

     "The inaction of the international community towards Guatemala
     is unjustifiable. The community should play an active role
     with concrete measures and sanctions imposed. ... It must be
     said that the international community has given many blank
     cheques for the killing of our people. ... Silence is also
     part of the repression". (Rigoberta Menchu, CODEHUCA
     publication Brecha, No. 5/6, December, 1992)

     We encourage you to inquire as to whether your country
maintains any military relations (provision of training, weaponry
and/or financing) at all with Guatemala, and if so to pressure them
to break all military ties with Guatemala, so as not to be
complicit in these violations of humanitarian and human rights law.
In the U.S., information concerning military 'aid' is available
from PACCA: 1506 19th St., NW, Ste 2, Washington, DC, 20036, USA.
     Recently, the International Monetary Fund -IMF- provided the
Guatemala government with credit worth $150,000,000. We encourage
you to bring this (and other human rights information) to the
attention of your country's IMF representative, and pressure them
to condition financial and commercial relations with Guatemala on
respect for all political, civil, economic, social and cultural
rights. The international economic community cannot stand idly by
as financial and trading partners like Guatemala continue with such
repressive measures against their own population.

Please send your messages to:

President Jorge Serrano El!as           Defense Minister
National Palace                         Jos Domingo Garc!a S.
Guatemala City, Guatemala               National Palace
Fax: (5022) 536472 / 519702             Guatemala City, Guatemala
                                        Fax: (5022) 537472
Human Rights Ombudsman
Lic. Ramiro de Le"n Carpio
12 Avenida 12-72 zona 1
Guatemala City, Guatemala
Fax: (5022) 512026

CODEHUCA - AP 189-1002, San Jose, Costa Rica, tel 506-245970, fax
506-342935. Contacts - Marjoleine Motz and Grahame Russell