Guatemala
26.06.00
Urgent Interventions
Guatemala: Threats/Kidnapping and Murder
URGENT APPEAL - OBSERVATORY
GTM 005 / 0006/OBS 061
Threats/Kidnapping and Murder
GUATEMALA
June 26,2000
The Observatory for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders, a joint program of the FIDH and the OMCT, requests you to intervene with the utmost urgency in connection with the following situation in Guatemala.
Brief description of the situation:
The Observatory has received information on serious threats made against the Center on Informative Reports in Guatemala (CERIGUA) and of the kidnapping and murder of the union leader Oswaldo Monsoon Lima, Secretary General of the Union of Fuel Pilots of Escuintla.
According to the information, on June 23, at approximately 13:50 hours, in the offices of the Center of Informative Reports on Guatemala (CERIGUA), an anonymous telephone call was received stating : "we know where they are and we are going to kill them".
Apparently the members of the Center have been victims of similar threats in the past, motivated by their diffusion of information and their fight for freedom of expression, the means of democratisation and the balance of information. Before the threats, the director, Ileana Alamilla, would have affirmed the intention to continue in her vindication that "the right to the free expression of thought can not be waived" and that they will redouble their efforts for "to accompany the civil society in the conquest of a new nation".
On the other hand, according to the Families of the Disappeared in Guatemala (FAMDEGUA) and the Latin American Commission of the Rights and Liberties of the Workers and Towns (CLADEHLT), on June 22,2000 they had knowledge of the death of the union leader Oswaldo Monsoon Lima. According to the CLADEHLT, on June 22 of 2000, between 12:30 and 15:30 hours, Oswaldo Monzon Lima, Secretary General of the Union of Fuel Pilots of Escuintla was kidnapped.
CLADEHLT warns that on October 17, 1998 Monzon Lima was threatened with death by Mr. Mario Ortiz Barranco, proprietor of the company "Transportes J. O. Gaitán, S.A." In that context, the said to him: "When one is an enemy it is not possible to be left alive, because he is very dangerous". This act was denounced to the Public Ministry on October 19 of the same year, as well as to the First Court of Peace, Escuintla. The 23 of October of 1998 he was dismissed from work, for having constituted the union organisation in the company and has since then suffered of harassment, in which Mr. Ortiz Barranco is suspected of involvement.
The Observatory emphasises its serious concern regarding these facts, which demonstrates the insecurity of anyone who lives in the country and the persistence of the homicidal intent of some sectors, especially against social leaders and of diverse organisations which jeopardises the promotion and the defence of human rights.
The Observatory remembers that in 1999 analogous facts took place (see the annual Report 1999), which came in the persisting year (see GTM 001/0003/OBS 011, GTM 002/0003/OBS 018 and GTM 004/0005/OBS 044). Facts that have apparently not been investigated by the authorities, who have not adopted measures either to prevent their reiteration, nor to protect the defence of possible attacks against lives, personal freedom and the effective exercise of the right to promote and to defend fundamental rights and liberties.
Action requested:
Please write to the Guatemalan authorities urging them to:
i. to adopt the measures necessary to guarantee the security and the physical and psychological integrity of those who integrate or collaborate with the Centre of Informative Reports on Guatemala;
ii. to order an exhaustive and impartial investigation of the kidnapping and death of Mr. Oswaldo Monsoon Lima, as well as into the other facts that were referred to earlier, so that the people in charge are identified, taken in before a competent and impartial court and sanctioned criminally and/or civilly according to the law;
iii. to ensure the implementation of the provisions of the Declaration on Human Rights Defenders, adopted by the UN General Assembly on December 9, 1998, with respect to the protection of the right of all individual persons " or collectively, to promote the protection and accomplishment of the human rights and the liberties fundamental in the national and international fields and to make an effort to help them " (Art. 1), and for the State to guarantee "... the protection by the competent authorities of all persons, individually, collectively, who are opposed to all violence, if it threatens, retaliates, or discriminates, the legitimate exercise of the rights mentioned in the present Declaration (Art. 12,2);
iv. more, generally, guarantee the effective respect of fundamental human rights and freedoms in accordance with the provisions of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and international and regional Pacts and Covenants ratified by Guatemala.
Addresses:
S.E. Alfonso Portillo, Presidente de la República de Guatemala, Palacio Nacional, Guatemala, Guatemala. Fax : (+ 502) 2214537 ó 334 16 15 ó 230-1508.
Sr. Julio Arango Escobar, Procurador para los Derechos Humanos, 12 Avenida 12-72, Zona 1, Guatemala, Guatemala. Fax: (+502) 238 17 34.
Sr. Juan Francisco Alfaro Mijangos, Ministro del Trabajo, Fax: (+502) 230 13 63.
Sr. Ministro de Gobernación, Ministerio de Gobernación, Palacio Nacional, 6 Calle y 7 Avenida, Guatemala, Guatemala. Fax : (+ 502) 362 02 39.
Sr. Fiscal General de la Nación, Ministerio Público, 6 Av 3-11, Zona 4, Guatemala. Guatemala. Fax : (+ 502) 331 4336.
Sr. Canciller, Ministerio de Relaciones Exteriores, Palacio Nacional, 6 Calle y 7 Avenida, Zona 1, Guatemala, Guatemala. Fax : + 502 251 8445. E-mail : mint@mieno.gt
Comisión Presidencial de Derechos Humanos (Copredeh) E-mail:copredeh@guate.net
Geneva – Paris, 26 June 2000
Kindly inform the Observatory of any action undertaken quoting the code number of this appeal in your reply.
The Observatory, an FIDH and OMCT venture, is dedicated to the protection of Human Rights Defenders and aims to offer them concrete support in their time of need.
1998 Human Rights Prize of The French Republic.
To contact the Observatory, call the emergency line: Fax : +33 (0) 1 55 80 83 92
Tel: FIDH +33 (0) 1 48 55 20 11 OMCT: +41 (0) 22 809 49 39
E.Mail : observatoire@iprolink.ch
GTM 005 / 0006/OBS 061
Threats/Kidnapping and Murder
GUATEMALA
June 26,2000
The Observatory for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders, a joint program of the FIDH and the OMCT, requests you to intervene with the utmost urgency in connection with the following situation in Guatemala.
Brief description of the situation:
The Observatory has received information on serious threats made against the Center on Informative Reports in Guatemala (CERIGUA) and of the kidnapping and murder of the union leader Oswaldo Monsoon Lima, Secretary General of the Union of Fuel Pilots of Escuintla.
According to the information, on June 23, at approximately 13:50 hours, in the offices of the Center of Informative Reports on Guatemala (CERIGUA), an anonymous telephone call was received stating : "we know where they are and we are going to kill them".
Apparently the members of the Center have been victims of similar threats in the past, motivated by their diffusion of information and their fight for freedom of expression, the means of democratisation and the balance of information. Before the threats, the director, Ileana Alamilla, would have affirmed the intention to continue in her vindication that "the right to the free expression of thought can not be waived" and that they will redouble their efforts for "to accompany the civil society in the conquest of a new nation".
On the other hand, according to the Families of the Disappeared in Guatemala (FAMDEGUA) and the Latin American Commission of the Rights and Liberties of the Workers and Towns (CLADEHLT), on June 22,2000 they had knowledge of the death of the union leader Oswaldo Monsoon Lima. According to the CLADEHLT, on June 22 of 2000, between 12:30 and 15:30 hours, Oswaldo Monzon Lima, Secretary General of the Union of Fuel Pilots of Escuintla was kidnapped.
CLADEHLT warns that on October 17, 1998 Monzon Lima was threatened with death by Mr. Mario Ortiz Barranco, proprietor of the company "Transportes J. O. Gaitán, S.A." In that context, the said to him: "When one is an enemy it is not possible to be left alive, because he is very dangerous". This act was denounced to the Public Ministry on October 19 of the same year, as well as to the First Court of Peace, Escuintla. The 23 of October of 1998 he was dismissed from work, for having constituted the union organisation in the company and has since then suffered of harassment, in which Mr. Ortiz Barranco is suspected of involvement.
The Observatory emphasises its serious concern regarding these facts, which demonstrates the insecurity of anyone who lives in the country and the persistence of the homicidal intent of some sectors, especially against social leaders and of diverse organisations which jeopardises the promotion and the defence of human rights.
The Observatory remembers that in 1999 analogous facts took place (see the annual Report 1999), which came in the persisting year (see GTM 001/0003/OBS 011, GTM 002/0003/OBS 018 and GTM 004/0005/OBS 044). Facts that have apparently not been investigated by the authorities, who have not adopted measures either to prevent their reiteration, nor to protect the defence of possible attacks against lives, personal freedom and the effective exercise of the right to promote and to defend fundamental rights and liberties.
Action requested:
Please write to the Guatemalan authorities urging them to:
i. to adopt the measures necessary to guarantee the security and the physical and psychological integrity of those who integrate or collaborate with the Centre of Informative Reports on Guatemala;
ii. to order an exhaustive and impartial investigation of the kidnapping and death of Mr. Oswaldo Monsoon Lima, as well as into the other facts that were referred to earlier, so that the people in charge are identified, taken in before a competent and impartial court and sanctioned criminally and/or civilly according to the law;
iii. to ensure the implementation of the provisions of the Declaration on Human Rights Defenders, adopted by the UN General Assembly on December 9, 1998, with respect to the protection of the right of all individual persons " or collectively, to promote the protection and accomplishment of the human rights and the liberties fundamental in the national and international fields and to make an effort to help them " (Art. 1), and for the State to guarantee "... the protection by the competent authorities of all persons, individually, collectively, who are opposed to all violence, if it threatens, retaliates, or discriminates, the legitimate exercise of the rights mentioned in the present Declaration (Art. 12,2);
iv. more, generally, guarantee the effective respect of fundamental human rights and freedoms in accordance with the provisions of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and international and regional Pacts and Covenants ratified by Guatemala.
Addresses:
S.E. Alfonso Portillo, Presidente de la República de Guatemala, Palacio Nacional, Guatemala, Guatemala. Fax : (+ 502) 2214537 ó 334 16 15 ó 230-1508.
Sr. Julio Arango Escobar, Procurador para los Derechos Humanos, 12 Avenida 12-72, Zona 1, Guatemala, Guatemala. Fax: (+502) 238 17 34.
Sr. Juan Francisco Alfaro Mijangos, Ministro del Trabajo, Fax: (+502) 230 13 63.
Sr. Ministro de Gobernación, Ministerio de Gobernación, Palacio Nacional, 6 Calle y 7 Avenida, Guatemala, Guatemala. Fax : (+ 502) 362 02 39.
Sr. Fiscal General de la Nación, Ministerio Público, 6 Av 3-11, Zona 4, Guatemala. Guatemala. Fax : (+ 502) 331 4336.
Sr. Canciller, Ministerio de Relaciones Exteriores, Palacio Nacional, 6 Calle y 7 Avenida, Zona 1, Guatemala, Guatemala. Fax : + 502 251 8445. E-mail : mint@mieno.gt
Comisión Presidencial de Derechos Humanos (Copredeh) E-mail:copredeh@guate.net
Geneva – Paris, 26 June 2000
Kindly inform the Observatory of any action undertaken quoting the code number of this appeal in your reply.
The Observatory, an FIDH and OMCT venture, is dedicated to the protection of Human Rights Defenders and aims to offer them concrete support in their time of need.
1998 Human Rights Prize of The French Republic.
To contact the Observatory, call the emergency line: Fax : +33 (0) 1 55 80 83 92
Tel: FIDH +33 (0) 1 48 55 20 11 OMCT: +41 (0) 22 809 49 39
E.Mail : observatoire@iprolink.ch