From: rich@pencil.cs.missouri.edu (Rich Winkel)
Subject: Guatemala Human Rights Update October 5, 1992
Followup-To: alt.activism.d
Originator: rich@pencil.cs.missouri.edu
Organization: PACH
Date: Sat, 10 Oct 1992 03:33:18 GMT

/** reg.guatemala: 95.0 **/
** Topic: HRU#40 Oct 5, 1991 **
** Written  6:44 pm  Oct  8, 1992 by ghrc in cdp:reg.guatemala **

                  GHRC/USA Human Rights Update*
                      PEACENET Version #40
                         October 5, 1992

CASE UPDATES

MARITZA URRUTIA REPORTS ABDUCTION BEFORE INTER-AMERICAN
COMMISSION  On September 30 before the Inter-American Commission
on Human Rights of the Organization of American States, Maritza
Urrutia delivered a ninety-minute report on the torments she
underwent during the five days she was forcibly detained by the
Army (see Peacenet Updates #30, #32, 1992).  Urrutia said her
abductors made her read for five days from a text in order to
finally film a video, in which Urrutia admitted belonging to
"subversive organizations."  An unidentified woman presented the
video to a Guatemalan television station, and it aired the same
day, while Urrutia was still in detention. 
     The day after the video was broadcast, Urrutia was released
near the office of the Attorney General, who was to accompany her
to court to sign an amnesty offered to those accused of political
crimes.  The same day, Urrutia gave a press conference, saying
she had stayed with friends for a couple of days because she
needed that time to prepare her decision to stop working with the
armed opposition.  One week after her release, Urrutia left the
country with her four-year-old son, specifically requesting that
nothing be said about her abduction, as she feared for her
family's safety.
     According to Amnesty International, Urrutia was threatened
by her captors.  They said that if she revealed what had happened
to her, her family would suffer reprisals.  In her declaration
before the OAS Commission on Human Rights, Urrutia said she was
still worried about what could happen to her relatives in
Guatemala: Edmundo Rene Urrutia Castellanos (her father), Pilar
Garcia de Urrutia (her mother), Carolina Urrutia de Escobar (her
sister), Julio Escobar, Gabriel Escobar Urrutia, and Eduardo
Escobar Urrutia.  Urrutia nonetheless thought it was necessary to
make the report and contribute to the effort to end impunity and
human rights violations in Guatemala.  She asked the OAS to
solicit protection for her family from the Guatemalan government.

DEATH THREATS

PRENSA LIBRE CORRESPONDENT THREATENED  Prensa Libre Reporter LUIS
TAX, of Totonicapan, said that on September 26 four unidentified
men came to his house intending to threaten him.  Not finding him
home, they told members of his family that he should be careful
because they were going to take the law into their own hands. 
Tax said the death threat was related to a report he wrote
implicating police officers in criminal acts in the town of
Totonicapan. 

EXTRAJUDICIAL EXECUTIONS

On September 25 Honduran CARLOS PADILLA ARMIJO (35) was found
dead on the highway between Cuyotenango, Suchitepequez and the
Parcelamiento La Maquina.  Padilla had been disappeared along
with RENE RECINOS BARRIOS (35) on September 11 by four men
driving a tan Alfa Romeo with license plate P-19385.  Recino
Barrios' family members fear for his life.

OTHER HUMAN RIGHTS VIOLATIONS

AEU OFFICES BOMBED  On October 5, at 7:15 p.m., two bombs
exploded at the offices of the Association of University Students
(AEU) at the main campus of the University of San Carlos in
Guatemala City.  The bombs apparently had been planted beneath
the windows, outside the building.  The explosion caused
extensive structural damage to the windows, the building, and
equipment and furniture in the offices.  Reports of injuries to
students in the building at hour of press had not been confirmed,
but at least one student was injured and taken to the hospital. 
El Grafico reported on October 6 that as many as five students
were injured in the explosion. 
     Since the bomb attacks on the offices in January and
February of this year (see Peacenet Updates #6, #9, 1992),
students at the AEU offices have received numerous bomb threats
from anonymous callers.  OTTO PERALTA, president of the AEU, has
received numerous death threats and reports that he is under
constant surveillance.
     In response to these attacks, the Center for Human Rights
Legal Action, in Washington, D.C., has filed a complaint against
the Guatemalan government with the Inter-American Commission on
Human Rights of the OAS. 

MAN MAIMED BY ATTACKERS WITH MACHETES  JULIO VICTOR BELTRAN (35)
lost his left hand and several fingers of his right hand when men
armed with machetes attacked him at kilometer 19 of the highway
to the Atlantic, in El Triunfo, Palencia, Guatemala.  Robbery has
been dismissed as the motive of the attack.

PRENSA LIBRE COLUMNIST ATTACKED  LUIS HURTADO, a columnist for
the daily Prensa Libre, was hospitalized after being shot at
point-blank range on September 21 by a man who approached him
after following him from his office in Guatemala City.  According
to Prensa Libre, hours before the assault Hurtado said he was
receiving death threats because of his recent articles on the
armed conflict and government corruption.  Hurtado's family said
the crime was not politically motivated since, during his thirty
years as a journalist, Hurtado had written both in favor of and
against many individuals and groups. 

STREET CHILDREN ABUSED  According to Amnesty International, 
DANIEL ESTUARDO GALAN and four other street children said that on
September 20, while boarding a bus in Zone 1 of Guatemala City,
they were followed by a member of the National Police and a
member of the Treasury Police.  The policemen approached the
children and shouted at them.  The children tried to get off the
bus, and the National policeman shouted, "Stop because I am going
to take all of you to the First Precinct if you don't give me the
money you have stolen!"  The children continued getting off the
bus, and the National policeman fired at them, wounding Estuardo
Galan in the left buttock.  The policeman then grabbed Estuardo
Galan and hit him over the head several times with the butt of
his gun.  Estuardo Galan was left on the street --the policemen
did not attempt to arrest him or provide emergency medical
treatment.
     The other children told the policemen they were going to
report them to the Legal Aid Office of Covenant House.  The
National policeman replied, "I'm not afraid of anyone.  Do what
you want."  The children took Estuardo Galan to the hospital.  He
had a wound where a bullet had grazed his left buttock and a
three-centimeter wound on his forehead. 
     In a separate incident, on September 24 four street children
sleeping in front of the Covenant House refuge in Zone 1 of
Guatemala City were shot at with pellet guns by two men in white
Volkswagen moving at high speed.  LUIS FERNANDO ORTIZ PINEDA was
hit in the left side of his head, and LUIS GERONIMO CALDERON was
hit in the left leg.  The Covenant House security guard witnessed
the incident but was unable to identify the occupants of the
vehicle.
     In another incident, on September 21, three shots were fired
from a vehicle passing the Covenant House group home in Zone 7 of
Guatemala City, which houses children between the ages of eight
and fourteen.  No one was injured.  

GAM MEMBER'S SON BEATEN  NOE[L] DE JESUS GOMEZ CONTRERAS (18) was
threatened, intimidated, and beaten by unidentified men driving a
white Toyota with polarized widows.  According to Gomez
Contreras' account, he was riding his bike in Los Anices de
Orqueta, Tiquisate, Retalhuleu, when he noticed the car right
behind him.  He threw himself onto the side of the highway, and
while he was on the ground, the men got out of their car and beat
him, saying "Let's take him to the river and throw him in." 
Gomez Contreras managed to escape.  The incident was reported by
his mother, Juana Contreras, a member of the Mutual Support Group
for Families of the Disappeared (GAM).  GAM considers the
incident an attempt to intimidate its representatives so that
they will not struggle for human rights.

TRADE UNIONIST'S HOUSE ATTACKED  JORGE FERNANDO PAREDES, union
director of the General Office of Migration, reported a drive-by
shooting attack at his house at 18 A 15-55 Street, Zone 6 in
Project 4-4 of Guatemala City.  Paredes believes the attack was
connected to his unionist activities.   

ARMY THREATENS CIVILIAN POPULATION  On September 30, 500 members
of the Army from the barracks of Chupol, Los Encuentros, military
Zone of Solola, arrived in Xacaxac, Solola.  Accompanied by five
people dressed as civilians, the soldiers occupied the entire
town.  The soldiers asked the names of the indigenous leaders of
the town and the names of the people who were promoting the
construction of a small bridge.  Not achieving their objective,
they went to the school to interrogate the heads of families, who
had gathered there, but they did not give the soldiers an answer
either.  The citizens of the town asked the Army to leave, since
their presence "only caused insecurity and intimidation,"
violating the human rights of the people.  The soldiers occupied
Xacaxac and surrounding towns until the following day.
     In a separate incident, on October 1, in Patzite, El Quiche,
the Army threatened people who had not responded to citations the
Army has sent to men to serve in the military.  The notification
from the Army stated that there was a warrant out for these
people's arrest and that they would have to pay a fine of between
Q.50.00 and Q. 1,000.00 ($10.00 to $200.00).  Like other
communities, the citizens of Patzite on several occasions have
asked that military service be suspended.  Parents are worried
and have met to discuss how to keep their sons from being  shut
away in the military barracks or in prison. 
     Citizens of Patzite also reported that on several occasions
in the middle of September, armed men dressed as civilians
arrived in the town in cars with polarized windows and no license
plates and fired into the air to frighten the people.  The
citizens who reported the incident believed the men were agents
of the G-2 Army Intelligence Unit.
     Also on October 1, citizens of San Pedro Jacapilas reported
that the people of Santabal have received death threats and have
been intimidated, and civil defense patrol commanders are
watching their houses.  

A THOUSAND CAMPESINOS COULD BE EVICTED FROM RIO DULCE
Approximately 1,000 campesinos (farmers or peasants) who have
lived for more than sixty years on the mountainous banks of the
Rio Dulce, in Izabal, were notified that they would have to leave
the land.  The authorities said that the papers the municipality
of Livingston had issued the campesinos were no longer valid and
that the campesinos were therefore classified as invaders. 
Participating in the meeting where the illegality of the papers
was decided were the Treasury Police, representatives of military
Zone #6 of Izabal, the Office of National Reserve Areas Control,
and the General Office of Forests.  The campesinos affected by
the ruling maintain that the invalidation of their papers is
unjust.

SEVEN-HUNDRED-FIFTY CIUDAD REAL FAMILIES EVICTED  Approximately
750 families that have occupied National Bank of Housing (BANVI)
land on the outskirts of Ciudad Real, Zone 12 of Guatemala City,
were evicted by National Police riot squads, who tore down their
dwellings.  Feliciano Pu Gomez, a member of the National Council
of the Displaced of Guatemala (CONDEG), reported that on July 15,
when the families occupied the land, the citizens committee and
CONDEG presented documents to the president of BANVI and the to
National Reconstruction Committee, who in turn promised the not
to evict them.  The families are asking the government to swiftly
meet their demands.                                              

OTHER INFORMATION

ONE HUNDRED BABIES DIE EACH DAY IN GUATEMALA  The group RADDA
BARNEN Guatemala-Honduras and the Alliance for Community Youth
Development released a report indicating that approximately 100 
children under one year of age die each day in Guatemala, thirty-
two percent from hunger.  Based on a regional workshop conducted
in Guatemala in 1991, the report also states that eighty percent
of all children under one year of age suffer from malnutrition. 
The report notes that 4 million of the 9.7 million inhabitants of
Guatemala are children.  
     According to the study, the principle problems children in
Guatemala face are malnutrition and malnourishment, health
deficiencies, subhuman environmental conditions, the
disintegration of the family, early pregnancy, and
discrimination.  The study found that these problems begin before
the children's birth, especially if they live in rural areas,
where more than half of all pregnant women receive no prenatal
care and eighty percent of all births are unattended by a doctor. 
     The Guatemalan government designates 8.4 percent of its 2-
billion-dollar budget to health, while it devotes 13.8 percent to
education.  The education system serves only 26.4 percent of the
children of preschool age, 60.6 percent of the children of
elementary-school age, and 16.4 percent of children of age for 
junior high school.  Three out of ten children who begin
elementary school complete it.  
     The report indicates that 40,000 children are members of
displaced families, 56,000 are orphans because of the repression,
and 5,000 live in the street as a result of the disintegration of
the family. The majority of Guatemala's children live in
overcrowded homes, and 37 percent are poor. 
     
UN HUMAN RIGHTS EXPERT ARRIVES IN GUATEMALA  On September 26
Professor Christian Tomuschat, Special Advisor for Human Rights
to the United Nations, arrived in Guatemala to verify the
multiple reports of human rights violations he has received and
will present to United Nations Human Rights Commission (UNHRC) in
December. The Special Expert will be in Guatemala until October
6. 
     Tomuschat said that human rights in Guatemala is always a
topic of discussion in Geneva, since the government and the
various groups affected have different perceptions, and added
that he would try to make his report impartial and objective.  He
also said he was concerned about the returning refugees and would
like to ascertain whether the conditions are adequate for a
massive return.  He said he planned to talk with refugees who
have returned to find out what their fears and worries are. 
Tomuschat indicated that he has not dismissed the possibility of
visiting the Communities of Population in Resistance (CPRs).  
     The Special Expert said he did not know what the October 5
program President Serrano has prepared for him would entail but
that he wanted to talk to the people to know their situation, and
he thought the President wanted to show him facts that were not
real or concrete.  
     Tomuschat spoke with Juan Jose Rodil Peralta, the president
of the Supreme Court, on topics such as the murder of
anthropologist Myrna Mack.  Tomuschat said that if the guilty are
not punished, it would be a lamentable fact for the country,
since the people would lose confidence in the institutions that
administer justice.  After his interview with Rodil Peralta,
Tomuschat emphasized that "in Guatemala conditions need to be
created to guarantee the security of human rights for all
people."

GAM CHILDREN PROTEST ON THE "DAY OF THE CHILD"  GAM reported that
the children of disappeared parents commemorated the "day of the
child" with a march in Guatemala City.  The march began in the
Plaza Italia and ended at the National Palace, where the children
submitted a petition addressed to Guatemalan President Jorge
Serrano.  The petition requested that the right to health,
education, housing, food, and an unbroken home be respected.  In
the petition, the children accused the government of being
responsible for the breakup of their families and said the
government had to respond to their rights.  The children also
asked for the formation of an Investigative Commission for the
disappeared, which would determine the whereabouts of their
parents.

MILITARY COMMISSIONER ACCUSED OF MURDER RELEASED  Military
Commissioner Hector Rolando Toledo Toledo, accused of the murder
of rural health technician Enrique Garcia Vanegas, was released
by the military public prosecutor of Zacapa.  Both the plaintiff,
Odilia Claveria Estrada, Garcia Vanegas' widow, and the Public
Ministry have appealed the ruling.  They maintain that on
September 9 the military commissioner and Juan Antonio Espana
(who is in prison) deliberately ran over Garcia Vanega, who was
riding his motorcycle near the central park of Sanarate, El
Progreso. 

ANNOUNCEMENT

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The Guatemala Human Rights Commission/USA monitors the human
rights situation in Guatemala and provides information to various
constituencies in the United States and to a limited extent
abroad.  Information in the Guatemala Human Rights Update is
compiled from a variety of international sources including: the
Comisi"n de Derechos Humanos de Guatemala/Mexico (Guatemalan
Human Rights Commission/Mexico), Americas Watch, Amnesty
International and Inforpress.  Information is also gathered from
reports and alerts from groups in Guatemala including: the
Archbishop's Human Rights Office, the Council of Ethnic
Communities Runujel Junam (CERJ), labor unions, the University
Students Association (AEU), the Conference of Religious of
Guatemala (CONFREGUA) and the Mutual Support Group of Relatives
of the Disappeared (GAM).  

* Every two weeks, two PEACENET Updates are combined to form the
Guatemala Human Rights Update, which is mailed first class to
hundreds of organizations and individuals.  That publication
includes all the information in the PEACENET versions--with
infrequent addenda and corrections--and a list of suggested
actions.  To subscribe to the Guatemala Human Rights Update send
$30 (yearly subscription) to GHRC/USA at: 3321 12th Street NE,
Washington DC, 20017.  Or call (202) 529-6599 or fax (202) 526-
4611 for more information.

** End of text from cdp:reg.guatemala **

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