/* Written 11:19 PM Nov 24, 1991 by cerisea in igc:reg.guatemala */ /* ---------- "Cerigua Weekly Briefs" ---------- */ Cerigua Weekly Briefs, November 17 - 23, 1991 Government-Refugee Negotiations Renewed A government delegation met with the Permanent Commissions (CCPP) representing the refugees in Mexico for three days in San Cristobal de Las Casas, Chiapas, Mexico. In the agreement signed on November 20, the government promised to discuss the six conditions for the return of refugees in Mexico, as proposed by the Commissions. The government also recognized the CCPP as the only entity to represent the refugees in negotiations. The meeting was also attended by representatives of the United Nations High Commission on Refugees and the Mexican Commission to Aid Refugees, as well as the Intermediary Commission headed by Guatemalan Bishop Jorge Mario Avila. The chief government delegate, Sergio Mollinedo of the Special Commission to Aid Repatriates (CEAR), was asked if Vice President Gustavo Espina, who presides over CEAR, could disregard the new agreement, as he did with an agreement signed by Mollinedo in May. Mollinedo responded that he had the full backing of President Serrano when he signed the agreement with the CCPP. CCPP legal advisor Alfonso Bauer Paiz said the government's decision to discuss the refugees' conditions with the CCPP is a significant step toward their return in the near future. The six conditions to be discussed in Guatemala City on January 8 are: a voluntary, collective and organized return, the right to repossess land left behind, the right to organize, the right to individual and community security, that international organizations accompany the return and verify compliance of agreements, and freedom of movement. Do Conditions for Refugees' Return Exist? The Interior and Development Ministers and Vice-Ministers of Defense and Foreign Relations appeared November 21 before the Congressional commission on human rights to address the return of more than 45,000 refugees from Mexico. Radio Guatemala Flash said legislators were not satisfied by the government officials' claim that the necessary conditions exist. Christian Democrat Clodoveo Dominguez expressed pessimism over the possibility of a massive return. He said the lands for resettlement are inadequate and incongruent with the refugees' customs. Furthermore, Dominguez charged, our compatriots are treatly inhumanely--they are taken to places resembling concentration camps, and later settled where the government pleases. Another Christian Democrat, Claudio Coxaj, said the violence continuing across the country is proof that the government cannot provide security for returning refugees. Negotiations Vacillating After explosives were discharged near army facilities in Guatemala City on November 15, Presidential Chief Aide Manuel Conde accused the guerrilla forces and said the negotiations could be suspended if such actions continue. It is not yet clear who is responsible for the explosion which damaged area residential homes. Conde charged that the explosives were intended for the nearby military hospital, however if army installations were the target, there are several in the immediate area. Conde, the head of the government's negotiating delegation, accused the guerrillas of placing bombs in the city because they cannot obtain victories against army troops in the mountains. He warned the government could harden its position at the negotiating table. Meanwhile, Conciliator Bishop Rodolfo Quezada and UN representative Francesc Vendrell were busy this week attempting to bring the positions of the government and the insurgency closer together before the next round of negotiations. Vendrell met with President Serrano on the 18th and 19th according to Prensa Libre but nothing about their discussions was released to the press. Bishop Quezada traveled to Mexico on November 19 to deliver the government's proposal to the URNG leadership and receive theirs in return. By Saturday, Conde had changed his tune, saying it was almost certain that the government and insurgency will meet face to face before the year's end. Guerrilla Activity in Quiche and Near Capital Guerrilla forces occupied the district capital of San Vicente Pacaya, located less than 20 miles south of the capital, for three hours on November 15. The Guatemalan National Revolutionary Unity (URNG) said that its forces held meetings with residents to explain the status of negotiations with the government. El Grafico reported that 300 rebels participated in the operation in which the town's radio communication system was destroyed, leaving residents incommunicado. The army reported five soldiers dead and 15 wounded in two ambushes by guerrilla troops in the Quiche province, according to El Grafico November 22. The daily newspaper added that unofficial sources said the number of wounded was higher than 15. In one of the incidents a military convoy was attacked as it traveled on the road between Chinique and Zacualpa. Radio Independiente reported that area residents were terrorized by the army's intense counterinsurgency operations following the ambushes. Cerezo Questioned About Mack Murder Former President Vinicio Cerezo testified on November 20 in aspecial judicial proceeding to investigate the September 1990 murder of Guatemalan anthropologist Myrna Mack. Present at the hearing conducted under tight security measures were Judge Carmen Ellgutter of the Court of First Instance, Ronald Ivan Ochaeta of the Archdiocese Human Rights Office, Chief Prosecutor Jose Antonio Lopez Mendoza of the Attorney General's Office, and Helen Mack, the victim's sister. None of Cerezo's answers to 200 prepared questions were released to the public. Notisiete television reported the following day that the judge issued a new arrest warrant for Noel de Jesus Beteta, who was an agent with the Presidential Military Guard and has been reported missing since accused of the crime. The Attorney General's Office said Cerezo's testimony is being analyzed to determine future legal steps. Notisiete said the court subpoenaed former Interior Minister Carlos Morales and former National Police Chief Julio Caballeros to testify on November 25 and 26, respectively. Unionist Threatened and Beaten by Police Juan Pablo Lemus, a member of the Guatemalan Labor Federation of Food Workers (FESTRAS), was illegally detained and beaten by police officers on November 20. Lemus was walking home in an outlying neighborhood in Guatemala City when he was detained by two police officers conducting an identification check. The officers asked him for his ID and stole his money. He was then beaten and forced to get into the patrol car where he was threatened at gunpoint. Lemus was taken to a police station and later to a local hospital. He reported what had happened to hospital personnel and managed to escape from the officer who was accompanying him. Radio broadcast Independiente said the police maintains that when officers found Lemus, he had already been beaten. The officers took him to the hospital, the police version continued, where he mysteriously disappeared when he went to the bathroom. The crime was denounced by the human rights office of the Guatemalan Archdiocese, which demanded punishment for those responsible. FESTRAS, associated with the International Union of Food and Allied Worker's Associations (UITA), demanded that the Interior Minister and the National Police chief intervene to enforce respect for human rights. FESTRAS demanded that this crime not remain unpunished, as usually happens in Guatemala. Lemus said he can identify the police officers who threatened and beat him. He said over television newscast Notisiete that he denounced the crime to set a precedent so the police cannot continue to abuse honest, working citizens. CUC Member Kidnapped A member of the Campesino Unity Committee (CUC) was kidnapped on November 8, the Guatemalan daily El Grafico reported this week. Diego Martin Domingo was kidnapped by a civil patrol chief and four other armed men in the village of Ixcunen in La Democracia, Huehuetenango. Members of his family witnessed the kidnapping and were threatened by the assailants with death. CUC denounced the crime and said that repression in both urban and rural areas has increased. Banana Planatation Workers Threatened Government security forces are harassing workers at a banana plantation in northeastern Guatemala, according to the Banana Workers Union of Izabal (SITRABI). Members of the army, Treasury Police and National Police are intimidating workers to stop participating in the union, denounced SITRABI, affiliated with the Guatemalan Labor Unity Confederation (CUSG). SITRABI General Secretary Marel Martinez said the harassment is part of a labor dispute in the Mopa, S.A. plantation. Forty-five workers associated with the union were fired by the owner, who refuses to dialogue with workers. Maquila Workers Fired Unjustly Seventy-four workers at the maquila Confecciones Unidas, S.A. in Zone 18 of Guatemala City were fired on November 7 for organizing a union, charged Byron Morales of the labor union UNSITRAGUA. On November 22 television news broadcast Notisiete interviewed one of 20 workers fired from an unidentified maquila in Zone 1 of Guatemala City. The worker said they were fired for refusing to work extra hours without pay. Employment practices in maquilas were strongly criticized by Morales, Rigoberto Duenas and Jose Pinzon of the workers federation CGTG, and Adolfo Sax Palomo of the Federated Union of Banking and Insurance Workers (FESEBS) at a press conference on November 22. Maquila workers earn miserable wages, the union leaders charged, and are exploited and mistreated by their employers. Respect for Human Rights--an International Matter "Once again we urgently ask the Guatemalan government to take the necessary steps to turn its good intentions into reality," Norwegian Ambassador Haakon B. Hjelde said in a United Nations session in New York on November 21. The special human rights advisor of the Norwegian government was referring to the human rights situation in Guatemala which "continues to cause concern." The belief that issues related to fundamental human rights and freedoms are a matter ofinternational concern, asserted Ambassador Hjelde, is no longer under debate. "These issues do not belong exclusively to the dominion of a given State." Hjelde defended the consideration of human rights issues in making decisions related to economic cooperation. "Respect for human rights and the authority of the law are seen more and more as basic conditions for sustained economic growth, as well as for political stablity." DEA Fumigations Damaging Agriculture Beekeepers in the Peten province say aerial fumigations by the US Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) are seriously damaging their production. The Guatemalan daily Prensa Libre reported that farmers have filed suit against the DEA, charging that poisonous chemicals used in the sprayings have damaged over 50% of the beekeeping industry in the region. The areas most affected are the Melchor de Mencos and La Libertad districts, where guerrilla and army forces regularly engage in combat. The DEA sprays toxic chemicals allegedly to destroy poppy plants for opium production and marijuana. However, some analysts say the DEA fumigations, conducted in collaboration with the Guatemalan government and army, are directed at zones where guerrilla forces operate. US to Assist National Police National Police Chief Carlos Samayoa said US Ambassador Thomas Stroock has offered his country's assistance in improving the Guatemalan police force. In a meeting on November 21 Stroock indicated that the US government is willing to collaborate with the National Police so officers have better equipment, more modern communications systems and, above all, better training. The news was broadcast on Radio newscast Independiente. Gramajo Interviewed Over Guatemalan Television Former Defense Minister Hector Gramajo was interviewed in two segments on television news broadcast Notisiete November 20 and 21. When asked if he had ever ordered a massacre or an attack on a village, Gramajo said that he would not answer the question because the Guatemalan people should be the ones to respond. "God and the people of Guatemala know that I acted as a professional soldier within the law," he said. Two lawsuits filed by the New York-based Center for Constitutional Rights are pending against the former defense minister for responsibility in the deaths of thousands of Guatemalans in army counterinsurgency operations. ***************** In the U.S. and Canada subscribe to Weekly Briefs by sending check or money order to: ANI PO Box 28481 Seattle, WA 98118 Subscription fees in the U.S. and Canada: $18 for 6 months, $36 for one year. Elsewhere, contact: CERIGUA Apartado Postal 74206 CP 09080 Delegacion Itzapalapa Mexico, D.F. Telephone: 5102320 - FAX 5109061 - Telex (17) 64525 Also please send us your comments and suggestions to the Seattle address or by email to cerisea on PeaceNet.