On Monday, October 2 at approximately 3:00 AM, a letter was found at the ECAP office in Rabinal that said, "You should be careful, because you all are scheduled for a kidnapping and for something more...This October 2 you shouldn't travel at all or meet with anyone...Take care of yourselves before you regret it..."
BACKGROUND ECAP is a non-governmental organization that works with survivors of the internal armed conflict in Guatemala. The organization works for the recuperation of individuals and communities that suffered psychological, social, and cultural damage as a result of the political violence in Guatemala.
Among other things, ECAP accompanies exhumations and provides psychosocial support to survivors of the massacre in Plan de Sánchez, Rabinal, Baja Verapaz. On November 19, 2004, the Inter-American Court on Human Rights ruled against the Guatemalan State in the case of the massacre in Plan de Sánchez. In April of 2004, a report on the extent of the mental health damage in the community was presented at a hearing in Costa Rica and, after the court's sentence projects were developed with beneficiaries in a number of communities in the region. ECAP is part of a committee that is tracking the reparations process. The community of Plan de Sánchez is also participating in the genocide cases moving through the national court system.
REQUESTED ACTION
1. Contact the Guatemalan government officials listed below and urge them to investigate the threats against ECAP and to hold those responsible accountable.
2. Urge them to provide adequate security for ECAP employees.
3. Remind the government that failing to protect human rights workers and investigate attacks or threats against them is a violation of the Peace Accords. Under the Peace Accords the government agreed to "take special measures to protect those persons or entities working in the field of human rights." The government agreed to "investigate, in a timely and exhaustive manner, any complaint it may receive relating to acts or threats that may be directed at them." Urge the government to follow through on its commitment to protect human rights workers.
SEND APPEALS TO:
Presidente de la República de Guatemala Licenciado Óscar Berger Perdomo Casa Presidencial, 6 a. Avenida, 4-18 zona 1 Ciudad de Guatemala GUATEMALA Email: presidente@scspr.gob.gt Salutation: Excelentísimo Sr. Presidente/Dear President Fax: 502 2251 2218 Salutation: Etimado Fiscal General/Dear Sir
Attorney General Juan Luis Florido Fiscal General Fiscalia General del Ministerio Publico 8a. Avenida 10-67, Zona 1 Ciudad Guatemala GUATEMALA Fax: 011 502 251 2218 Salutation: Estimado Fiscal General/Dear Sir
Minister of the Interior Ministro de Gobernacion Carlos Vielman 6a.Avenida 4-64, zona 4, nivel 3 Ciudad de Guatemala Guatemala Fax: 011 502 2362 0237 Email: ministro@mingob.gob.gt Salutation: Senor Ministro/ Dear Minister
SEND COPIES TO:
Ambassador Jose Guillermo Castillo Embassy of Guatemala 2220 R St. NW Washington DC 20008 Fax: 1 202 745 1908 email: ambassador@guatemala-embassy.org
Guatemala Human Rights Commission- USA GHRC-USA 3321 12th St, NE Washington, DC 20017 202-529-6599 202-526-4611 fax ghrc-usa@ghrc-usa.org www.ghrc-usa.org
For more information about attacks on human rights defenders in Guatemala, please take a look at our updated Human Rights Review at: http://www.ghrc-usa.org/Publications/HumanRightsReviewJanuaryAugust2006.pdf and listen to Maria Martin's piece about increased attacks on journalists and human rights defenders in Guatemala at: www.latinousa.org