/* Written 10:45 PM Apr 13, 1992 by cerisea in igc:reg.guatemala */ /* ---------- "Cerigua Weekly Briefs" ---------- */ CERIGUA WEEKLY BRIEFS, APRIL 5 - 11, 1992 Student Killed in Attack by Security Forces In the early morning hours of April 10, about 100 San Carlos University (USAC) students were amid preparations for the school's traditional 94-year old "Huelga de Dolores" demonstration through downtown Guatemala City. Joint police and military Hunahpu forces traveling in two trucks and two patrol cars tried to pass through a street closed off for the morning procession to be held hours later. Students in charge of security asked the agents to turn around and, following an exchange of words, agents sprayed the crowd with machine-gun fire killing one and wounding several others. Army spokesman Yon Rivera said the forces were responding to a "provocation" saying students fired shots at one of the trucks. The killings are the latest in a series of attacks against students following several bomb threats, explosions and Hunapu raids on campus. Julio Pu was killed at the scene and at least six others were wounded. Anti-riot squads cordoned off the San Juan de Dios hospital where the wounded students were receiving treatment. The Human Rights Ombudsman reported that fifteen students have disappeared. Student leaders said there had never been an attack like this even under the worst of dictators, calling it a plan "orchestrated by the military high command and the interior ministry." One student said "we're asking the death penalty for those people because it was a brutal, act of savagery." The USAC Superior Council issued a condemnation of the attack while infuriated students shouted in front of the National Palace "the massacred will be avenged." Ramiro de Leon: Government Responsible for Student Killings The Human Rights Ombudsman named as responsible for the student attack: the Defense and Interior Ministries, National and Treasury Police Directors, the Military Mobile Police commander and Hunahpu chiefs. Ramiro de Leon demanded that those in charge hand over the attackers to the proper authorities. Interior Minister Fernando Hurtado said students fired on Hunahpu forces as evidenced by bullet holes in a security vehicle. Attorney General Acisclo Valladares said evidence indicated shots were fired at the Hunahpu forces, however, such a provocation did not justify the security forces' response. He said he will demand severe punishment for those involved in the attack. Some 30 agents have been arrested in the attack. University Student Association (AEU) leader Otto Peralta rejected accusations by defense and interior ministries that students fired shots at Hunahpu forces. Peralta said students were working on floats for the Huelga de Doloresmorning procession when Hunahpu attacked. Government spokesman Gonzalo Asturias refused to comment on President Serrano's response to the killings. Asturias said Serrano, who had gone out of town, gave specific instructions to Interior Minister Fernando Hurtado on how to respond to the unfortunate event. Whatever Hurtado says is what Serrano thinks about the situation, said Asturias. Peralta said support was already coming in from the international solidarity community. Student Julio Pu was buried April 11 in La Verbena cemetery in the capital. Dianna Ortiz Reconstructs Events of Her Kidnapping for Court Sister Dianna Ortiz answered over 100 questions during hours of testimony before Guatemalan judge Leticia Secaira Pinto on April 7. The next day court officials accompanied Ortiz to the site of her kidnapping at the Posada Belen religious retreat in Antigua where she explained how she was abducted and beaten. She recounted how her captors tied her hands while threatening to kill her if she called for help and later burned her body with cigarrettes they were smoking. Despite her efforts, she says she will never forget the physical and psychological harm inflicted. Ortiz is accusing former defense minister Hector Gramajo as responsible for planning her kidnapping, rape and torture in November 1989. In an interview with the Washington Post, General Gramajo called her charges "ridiculous." Gramajo also said he "personally intervened" to help get Ortiz out of the country after the alleged attack occurred. Army spokesman Captain Yon Rivera said "the army has no responsibility in this case...Her versions have been confused with the past." Yon Rivera told the Post the army may file charges against Ortiz for defamation. In a press conference, Ortiz requested the appointment of an impartial prosecutor, charging that Fernando Linares was protecting the guilty. "Over the last two years, a complete investigation has not been carried out and neither has the Attorney General's Office dealt sufficiently with my case. The only significant legal step taken was the appointment of the special prosecutor" by President Jorge Serrano, said Ortiz. Judge Secaira says Sister Ortiz is cooperating with the courts. Attorney General Acisclo Valladares says, however, that Ortiz's testimony is contradictory and offers the court little evidence to go on. El Grafico columnist Carlos Soto scorned the Guatemalan government for its acceptance of US security guards to protect Ortiz. He called it an admission of its own untrustworthiness. And worse, the Guatemalan government can murder, kidnap, rape and torture its own citizens without anyone saying a word, he said. This bloodstained nonsenseso proudly called a "democratic process" is a disgrace, Soto said. Such a horrible crime against the nun did not occur under regimes like Lucas Garcia but under the first democratic government of Vinicio Cerezo, he said. Gramajo Says Ortiz is Being Manipulated General Hector Gramajo says he is happy Dianna Ortiz is back so that they can get to bottom of the situation. Gramajo told TV Notisiete that "without a doubt something terribly bad and hurtful happened to her and her personality...it's evident that she's lost control. People are manipulating her. Everybody speaks for her. They bring her here, they take her there. I know how she must feel because they've brought me here, taken me there. There's tremendous manipulation." In response to Ortiz's defamation charges against him for calling the incident a lesbian love affair gone wrong, Gramajo said "they say I said things...I wrote a letter saying I didn't say those things they said I did." Last November a US Federal Court found Gramajo guilty by default for his role in Ortiz's kidnapping. The general failed to appear in court to respond to the charges filed against him while a graduate student at Harvard. When asked if he would go before the Guatemalan court, the general said it was his duty as a public official to cooperate "just like I did in the United States." Menchu: Her Nomination is Important for Self-Educated People Peace is not the work of one person alone but rather the work of all peoples in all parts of the world, said Rigoberta Menchu Tum in a press conference held in Mexico City honoring her candidacy for the 1992 Nobel Peace Prize. Her nomination is a symbol for the 500 year struggle of indigenous America, she says, the product of the indigenous peoples' sacrifice, patience and hope that their culture will indeed survive into the next century. As a woman without titles or profession, she says her nomination is of great importance to the self-educated indigenous people who have much to contribute to the development of a new society. The people hope, she says, that their human rights work and their political fight against forced participation in the civil patrols will have influence at the national level. Menchu says the honor bestowed her will provide encouragement for the political-diplomatic work of indigenous peoples throughout the American continent. Laws and constitutions must be written to represent indigenous interests and the people must make their own decisions and maintain their own institutions, says Menchu. Only then may they become theauthors of the future of Indigenous America, she concludes. Parliamentary Model Proposed in Guatemala Christian Democrat party chief Alfonso Cabrera says the current political model in Guatemala is in need of revamping. He proposes that all sectors hold a broad national dialog aimed at constitutional reforms and the development of a more flexible political system. The political crisis is the product of political parties that do not represent the interests of the people, Cabrera charges. The current model no longer functions because of its historical concentration of power and rigidness that has given rise to a dangerous accumulation of social and political tensions. He says in order to break with typical Latin American political models, Guatemala must substitute the presidential system with a parliamentary system that will allow broad representation of minorities. Politicians and pressure groups have failed the people and there is great discontent over the democratic system's inability to resolve basic needs, says Cabrera. Conditions are Ripe for Coup d'etat Political observers say a coup d'etat could occur under the pretext of restoring order. Administrative corruption, impunity and public unrest contribute to conditions favorable to an overthrow, says business leader Julio Toriello de Leon. "Frustrated groups starting to lose faith in democracy" may try to justify a coup by arguing the need to restore order, abolish corruption, and rid the country of drug-trafficking and "subversion," says De Leon. Prensa Libre assistant director Eduardo Zarco says rumors of an overthrow continue amid discontent with the executive, legislative and judicial authorities. Human Rights Ombudsman Warns of Social Upheaval Following the violent eviction of Cakchiquels occupying the Jaibal plantation, Ramiro de Leon said Guatemala's situation is "explosive and anything can happen from one moment to the next." The Human Rights Ombudsman went to San Jorge La Laguna where he confirmed that police and military forces violated the rights of the Cakchiquels during the eviction. De Leon said security forces bound and tied the captured before taking them away. He asked that authorities return the peoples' belongings as well as the statue of the patron saint San Jorge. Otherwise, he said, there will be further outbreaks of unrest because the people are infuriated. Twenty people remain in custody while supporters held a march to demand their release. Military Police Attacked in Guatemala City A bomb exploded in the path of two vehicles belonging to theMilitary Mobile Police while travelling through the capital. The convoy with some seventy army personnel was attacked in the early morning, causing several military casualities, five of whom were hospitalized. No one has claimed responsibility for the attack, however military spokesman Yon Rivera blamed the guerrillas and expressed concern over the possible emergence of an urban guerrilla front. Peten Resistance Communities Fear Army Offensive The army has stepped up harassment of the Resistance Communities in the Peten (CPRP) creating fear of another offensive similar to the "Lacandona Offensive" launched last year. The CPRP denounced that the air force has bombed civilians and cultivated fields and has violated Mexican air space over the state of Tabasco. During the May-June offensive last year, the army murdered and kidnapped several persons in the Peten and in Tabasco including Mexican citizen Joaquin Lopez whose case is under investigation by Amnesty International. Widow to Request Third Exhumation of Mexican Journalist The Mexican government has closed the case of Ramon de la Mora, a Mexican journalist killed in Guatemala. The Mexicans corraborate the Guatemalan army's version of the killing which claims De la Mora was shot to death while fighting with the guerrillas against government troops. Despite identification found on his body, De la Mora was buried as an unknown but was later exhumed for an autopsy in Guatemala. The victim's widow Consuelo Aguilar attended the autopsy which indicated that his face was beaten and mutilated beyond recognition and that he was tortured and burned with electrical shock in the genital area. Other signs of torture were found on his thorax, extremities and anus. Aguilar said her husband probably died from the torture because of his physical frailty and that there were no bullet holes found to indicate he died in battle. Following the Guatemalan army's announcement that the case was closed, military officials held a meeting with Mexican representatives. After another exhumation, Mexican experts produced a report which showed there were no signs of torture on the victim's body and that De La Mora died of bullet wounds, in keeping with the Guatemalan army's version. Aguilar says she will request a third exhumation and bring her husband's murderers to justice. ***************** In the U.S. and Canada subscribe to Weekly Briefs by sending check or money order to: ANIPO 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.