From: Andrew Lang <lang@igc.apc.org>
Subject: Myrna Mark Case
Followup-To: alt.activism.d
Originator: daemon@pencil.cs.missouri.edu
Organization: ?
Date: Sat, 23 Jan 1993 14:20:19 GMT

/* Written  5:40 pm  Jan 22, 1993 by cvasconi@nicarao.apc.org in igc:carnet.alerts */
/* ---------- "Myrna Mark Case" ---------- */
Myrna Mack case
Sister awaits justice
Human Rights Preconference
Elaborated by the Communication and Press Department CODEHUCA

Hellen Mack, sister of the Guatemalan anthropologist Myrna Mack who
was assassinated by Security Forces of the Guatemalan State on
September 11 1990, and who was director of the Association for the
Advance of Social Science in Guatemala (AVANCSO), is present at the
world preconference for human rights that is being held in San
Jos, Costa Rica.
The assassination was perpetrated in front of the AVANCSO offices
when she was getting into her car. This action shocked the national
and international community  and CODEHUCA expressed its repudiation
and immediately distributed an Urgent Action to protest before the
Guatemalan government.
Myrna, a professional committed to national problems, especially
those of the indigenous displaced persons (displaced by the
internal armed conflict), at the time of her death focused her work
at the study of possible solutions for their problematic situation.
Hellen Mack recognized that already before her death her sister had
received death threats by the Security Forces; after her death,
Hellen and her family started a difficult legal fight to get
justice for those who ordered and those who executed her death. The
Mack family wants to demonstrate with their investigation that
Myrna's death was caused by political motives; this has turned the
process into a real test for the Guatemalan judicial system.
From the start the Mack family has known that Myrna's death was
linked with political aspects and they have received international
support as well; Hellen recognized that CODEHUCA's support,
together with that of other institutions, has played an important
role.

The investigation.
Since they began the investigation they have received
intimidations, control and constant surveillance, in general this
is a 'psychological warfare' to show that they are being followed
and controlled all the time.
For example, in August 1991 an investigator of the case was
assassinated which caused that many witnesses left the country as
they already had received several death threats. However, two eye-
witnesses are still in Guatemala and their protection has been
demanded to the government as well as to the Interamerican Court
for Human Rights.
A regrettable aspect is the confirmation made in private to Hellen
Mack by many Guatemalan politicians, among which ex-president
Cerezo and the current Minister of the Interior Carlos Morales, on
the real possibility that the Security Forces have been responsible
for Myrna's death; however, at the time of giving their
declarations the discourse changes.
The above shows once more the power the military forces have over
civil society in a country where the amount of extrajudicial deaths
is more than 2,000 a year.
Currently there is concern as the Public Ministry has been taken
over by the military intelligence and have come with key
instructions of the presidency.
Hellen recognized the role the press has played at a national and
international level during the investigation and that this
indirectly permitted that her life has taken a different destiny as
her sisters.
However, two Guatemalan journalists had to stop colaborating for a
while due to death threats. On the other hand the Siglo XXI
newspaper has been heavily criticized by the Guatemalan government,
due to the covering they have given to the case.
Currently the investigation entered the stage of "..to Solve
Better", requested by the family's lawyers. The above has the
objective to request again information from the Ministry of
Defense; when this will be fulfilled it will be a landmark in the
judicial history of Guatemala and will mark the beginning of
investigations into thousands of extrajudicial deaths in Guatemala.
The declarations given during the preconference by the director of
the Interamerican Institute for Human Rights (IIDH), Sonia Picado,
who said that it was possible to talk about forgetting the human
rights violations that suffered many people, and that it was more
important to look to the future, caused the following reaction of
Hellen Mack: she said that it would be possible to forgive but not
to forget and gave as an example Pope John Paul II his reaction who
forgave his agressor but did not interfere in carrying out a
judicial process.
The same is Hellen Mack's demand, not only the punishment of the
actual perpetrator, Sergeant Mayor Noel Bateta, who's judgement
started in November 1990, but to also punish those who ordered the
execution.
At the moment the Myrna Mack Foundation is being created, and
Hellen Mack will be its director. The Foundation's objective is to
support programs that will modernize the judicial system, wants to
give incentives to the creation and promotion of cultural
activities that confirm pluralistic and dignity values. 
   

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