From: Christic Institute <christic@igc.apc.org>
Subject: UA 270/92 Guatemala: Ill-Treatment
Followup-To: alt.activism.d
Originator: daemon@pencil.cs.missouri.edu
Organization: ?
Date: Fri, 28 Aug 1992 19:08:15 GMT

/* Written  4:57 pm  Aug 26, 1992 by hrcoord in cdp:carnet.alerts */
/* ---------- "UA 270/92 Guatemala: Ill-Treatment" ---------- */
From: Human Rights Coordinator <hrcoord>
Subject: UA 270/92 Guatemala: Ill-Treatment

/* Written  9:10 am  Aug 24, 1992 by hrcoord in cdp:ai.uan */


UA 270/92   Ill-treatment/Harassment        20 August 1992
GUATEMALA: David Lara, street youth
           Olindo Orellana, street youth
           Evelyn Marisol del Cid Lima (female), worker with
              Casa Alianza
           Francisco Hugo del Cid Jacobo
           Hugo del Cid Lima
           Jaime Salvador Crispin Urias, street youth
           Jose Alfredo Cornejo (''Cabellon''), street youth
           Marco Tulio Silvestre, worker with Casa Alianza

Amnesty International is concerned at the reported ill-
treatment of youngsters involved in the programs of Casa
Alianza (Covenant House), an organization working with
street children in Guatemala. Amnesty International is also
concerned at recent incidents of intimidation against staff
working with Casa Alianza. The following incidents are all
reported to have taken place in Guatemala City, the capital.

On 16 August 1992, David Lara and Olindo Orellana, both aged
19 and residents of the Casa Alianza group home for older
youths, were reportedly leaving the home when three men in
plain clothes approached them. The men reportedly identified
themselves as police but did not show any identification.
They reportedly handcuffed the youngsters, forced them into
a car and beat them. The youths were later released.

In a separate incident, on 15 August, Casa Alianza worker
Evelyn Marisol del Cid Lima was walking with her father
Francisco Hugo del Cid Jacobo and her brother Hugo del Cid
Lima in Zone 13 when a car with dark tinted windows drove by
at high speed. The occupants of the car reportedly fired in
the direction of the three people but no one was hurt.

On 14 August, 23-year-old Jaime Salvador Crispin Urias, a
Casa Alianza resident, was reportedly approached by an
unidentified armed man and forced into a car with dark
tinted windows in Zone 7. He and another man in the car
reportedly beat the youth several times on his face and head
with their pistols. He was reportedly freed three hours
later in Zone 1.

Three days earlier on 11 August, according to reports,
street youth Jose Alfredo Cornejo (''Cabellon'') and Casa
Alianza counsellor Marco Tulio Silvestre were followed and
stopped in the street by two men in plain clothes who
reportedly identified themselves as policemen but did not
show any identification. The men accused Jos Cornejo of
being a thief and questioned both insistently on their
activities. The men threatened to take them both to the
National Police headquarters but finally agreed to let the
two go. Jose Alfredo Cornejo has reported being constantly
followed and kept under surveillance. He was a member of the
so-called ''18 street gang'', four of whose members were
extrajudicially executed in 1990 and a further one in 1991.

BACKGROUND INFORMATION
Abuses against street children continue to take place in the
context of police claims of a spiralling crime rate,
particularly in the capital, Guatemala City. The police
maintains that in Guatemala City, gangs of street youths
(called maras) are responsible for high levels of crime.
Street educators and those working with street children have
also been targeted by the security forces, either because of
their work protecting street children from abuse, because
they have denounced human rights violations against the
street children or because they have provided evidence as
witnesses in judicial proceedings against members of the
security forces charged with human rights violations against
street children.

RECOMMENDED ACTION:  Please send
telegrams/telexes/faxes/express and airmail letters either
in Spanish or English:
- expressing concern at the reported ill-treatment of street
youths David Lara, Olindo Orellana and Jaime Salvador
Crispin Urias; at the shooting incident involving Evelyn
Marisol del Cid Lima, Francisco Hugo del Cid Jacobo and Hugo
del Cid Lima and at the harassment of Jose Alfredo Cornejo
(''Cabellon'') and Marco Tulio Silvestre;
- asking for an immediate investigation into these incidents
and that those found responsible be brought to justice;
- urging that immediate and adequate measures be taken to
safeguard the physical integrity of Casa Alianza' staff and
of street children and youths involved in their programs.

APPEALS TO:                   [Salutation]
1) President:
[Excelentisimo Sr. Presidente / Dear President]

S.E. Jorge Serrano Elias
Presidente de la Republica de Guatemala
Palacio Nacional
Guatemala, GUATEMALA
(Telegrams: Presidente Serrano, Guatemala, Guatemala)
(Telephone: 011 502 2 21212, 011 502 2 22266)
(Faxes:     011 502 2 537472, 011 502 2 519702)
(Telexes:   305 5331 CAPRES GU)


2) Minister of Interior:
[Sr. Ministro / Dear Minister]

Lic. Francisco Perdomo
Ministro de Gobernaci"n
Ministerio de Gobernaci"n
Despacho Ministerial, Of. No. 8
Palacio Nacional
Guatemala, GUATEMALA
(Telegrams: Ministro de Gobernacion, Guatemala, Guatemala)
(Telephone: 011 502 2 21212 ext. 500, 011 502 2 518105-6
(direct)
(Faxes:     011 502 2 518105)
(Telexes:   305 5085 MINGOB)


3) Head of the National Police:
[Sr. Director General / Dear Sir]

Lic. Jose Maria Menendez
Director General de la Policia Nacional
6 Avenida 13-71
Zona 1, Guatemala
Guatemala
(Telegrams: Director General de la Policia Nacional,
            Guatemala, Guatemala)
(Faxes:     011 502 2 27521)

4) Human Rights Procurator:
[Sr. Procurador / Dear Sir]

Lic. Ramiro de Leon Carpio
Procurador de Derechos Humanos
Avenida Simeon Canas 10-60 Zona 2,
Guatemala, GUATEMALA
(Telegrams: Procurador de Derechos Humanos, Guatemala,
Guatemala)


COPIES OF YOUR APPEALS TO:
Casa Alianza (Guatemala)
Apartado Postal 2704
Ciudad de Guatemala
GUATEMALA

Diario Prensa Libre        (Newspaper)
13 Calle 9-31, 50 Nivel
Edificio Prensa Libre
Zona 1, Guatemala
GUATEMALA

Lic. Joaquin Bamaca
Presidente          (Comission for the Rights of Child)
Comision Pro-Ninez
Congreso de la Republica
7ta Avenida y 9a Calle
Zona 1, Ciudad de Guatemala
GUATEMALA

Ambassador Juan Jose Caso-Fanjul
Embassy of Guatemala
2220 R St NW
Washington DC 20008

PLEASE SEND APPEALS IMMEDIATELY. Check with the Colorado
office between 9:00 am and 6:00 pm, Mountain Time, weekdays
only, if sending appeals after October 1, 1992.


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