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Spoed-kaartenactie Guatemala
Guatemala Komitee Nederland - 31.07.2003 22:21

De Guatemalteekse oud-dictator Ríos Montt, begin jaren tachtig verantwoordelijk voor genocide en staatsterreur, wil weer president worden. Vind je ook dat hij berecht moet worden ipv. op campagne te gaan? Vraag dan de actiekaarten aan.

Persbericht, 31 juli 2003

HEVIGE ONLUSTEN ROND GUATEMALTEEKSE EX-DICTATOR

NEDERLANDSE ONTWIKKELINGSORGANISATIES: GENOCIDE MAG NIET ONBERECHT BLIJVEN

Nederlandse ontwikkelings- en mensenrechtenorganisaties nemen op korte termijn deel aan een internationale actie om aan te dringen op berechting van ex-dictator Ríos Montt, die in november een gooi wil doen naar het presidentschap. Het Guatemala Komitee Nederland coördineert de actie in Nederland die op 1 augustus begint.

Aanleiding voor de actie zijn de snel toenemende spanningen in Guatemala. Deze bereikten vorige week een voorlopig hoogtepunt toen aanhangers van Ríos Montt in het centrum van Guatemala-Stad potentiële tegenstanders van zijn presidentskandidatuur en journalisten te lijf gingen. Hierbij vielen verscheidene gewonden en een dode, en werd een spoor van vernielingen aangericht.

De kandidatuur van Ríos Montt is omstreden omdat onder het schrikbewind van de generaal begin jaren tachtig duizenden burgers zijn vermoord en verdwenen. De officiële internationale waarheidscommissie die onderzoek deed naar de misdaden die zijn begaan tijdens het gewapend conflict van 1960 tot 1996, concludeerde dat onder het bewind van Ríos Montt genocide, misdaden tegen de menselijkheid en oorlogsmisdaden zijn gepleegd. De waarheidscommissie drong aan op berechting van de oud-dictator.

Sindsdien zetten verschillende Guatemalteekse NGO’s zich in voor de berechting van Ríos Montt, waarvan sommige met steun vanuit Nederland. Ríos Montt is na de burgeroorlog echter een steeds prominentere rol gaan spelen in de Guatemalteekse politiek, hij is momenteel parlementsvoorzitter. Zijn partij, het regerende FRG (Frente Republicano Guatemalteco), heeft een flinke vinger in de pap bij benoemingen van hoge rechters en andere sleutelfiguren in de samenleving.

De ex-dictator, die destijds door een militaire staatsgreep aan de macht kwam, ambieert al jaren het presidentschap. De grondwet echter sluit coupplegers uit van deelname aan presidentsverkiezingen. Onlangs bepaalde het Constitutioneel Hof dat het betreffende grondswetsartikel in het geval van Ríos Montt niet van toepassing is, pogingen dit besluit aan te vechten zijn mislukt. Sindsdien is de situatie in Guatemala explosief.

Om de eis dat Ríos Montt wordt berecht kracht bij te zetten, hebben Guatemalteekse mensenrechtenorganisaties de internationale kaartenactie ‘Justice for Genocide’ gestart. De kaartenactie is gericht op het Guatemalteekse Hooggerechtshof, de Procureur Generaal en de Guatemalteekse organisatie van overlevenden van de genocide AJR (Asociación Justicia y Reconciliación). Ondertekenaars van de kaarten betuigen hun steun aan de burgers die aanklachten hebben ingediend, en dringen aan op berechting van Ríos Montt en andere legerleiders.

‘Justice for Genocide’ wordt in Nederland gecoördineerd door het Guatemala Komitee Nederland (GKN), gesteund door diverse mensenrechten- en ontwikkelingsorganisaties waaronder Hivos, Solidaridad en XminY. GKN levert de drie kaarten met een retourenvelop. De Nederlandse inzenders kunnen daarmee de kaarten tot 31 augustus terugsturen naar het GKN, dat de kaarten doorstuurt naar de Guatemalteekse mensenrechtenorganisatie CALDH, die de kaartencampagne coördineert.

Voor meer info:
-  http://www.justiceforgenocide.org
- Guatemala Komitee Nederland, Voorstraat 71bis, 3512 AK Utrecht, 030-232
11 12,  gkn@antenna.nl; contactpersoon: Daniël de Jongh


- E-Mail: gkn@antenna.nl Website: http://www.antenna.nl/gkn
 
supplements
de webstek doet 't weer 
Daniel - 06.08.2003 19:58

N.a.v. het vorige week verspreide persbericht over de spoedactie voor Guatemala waren verschillende mensen zo vriendelijk om ons erop te attenderen dat de website  http://www.justiceforgenocide.org uit de lucht was. Het probleem is inmiddels verholpen, dus neem vooral nog even een kijkje.

De Nederlandse actiekaarten kunnen nog steeds besteld worden bij het Guatemala Komitee, een leuk stukje erover in de media zouden wij ook bijzonder kunnen waarderen.

Oud-dictator Ríos Montt staat inmiddels definitief ingeschreven als presidentskandidaat, dus
internationale druk om hem te berechten is hard nodig! Ondertekende kaarten kunnen tot uiterlijk 31 augustus worden teruggezonden aan het Guatemala Komitee; op 1 september worden ze doorgestuurd naar Guatemala.

Website: http://www.antenna.nl/gkn
 
Presidential Bid Churns Up Old Bitterness  
willink - 07.08.2003 00:57

The presidential candidacy of former Guatemalan dictator Efraín Ríos Montt is adding fuel to the fire during the country's worst political crisis since the 36-year civil war that ended in 1996.
 http://www.ipsnews.net/interna.asp?idnews=19503
Bliksemactie Amnesty 
Daniel - 09.08.2003 13:34

"Amnesty International, Urgent Action
Fear for Safety
07 August 2003

GUATEMALA Gustavo Meoño Brenner (m), Director of the Fundación Rigoberta Menchú Tum (FRMT), Rigoberta Menchú Tum Foundation
Other staff of the FRMT
Amnesty International is seriously concerned for the safety of Gustavo Meoño Brenner, director of the human rights organization the Fundación Rigoberta Menchú Tum (FRMT), Rigoberta Menchú Tum Foundation, and for other members of staff of the FRMT in the capital, Guatemala City.

On five occasions between 26 July and 7 August, two unidentified individuals, a man and a woman, were seen observing the offices of the FRMT in Zone 1 of Guatemala City. The man was reportedly dressed in the uniform of a private security firm, wore military-issue boots and was armed with a revolver. On each occasion, the couple have been seen outside the FRMT offices at around 6.30am, at the same time that Gustavo Meoño Brenner arrives for work and is unaccompanied in the office. The couple always left before the arrival of other members of staff or until staff of the FRMT began openly to take photographs of them. However, on occasion when they were observed openly by members of the FRMT, the couple reportedly looked threateningly at the FRMT staff.

The most serious incident occurred on 6 August, when the two were among a group of unidentified individuals who were seen taking turns in watching the FRMT offices for the entire day. The group constantly communicated with each other and one person reportedly took photographs of the offices. When a FRMT staff member photographed the suspicious individuals, they moved further away, but continued to observe the offices. One person reportedly used binoculars to watch the offices. One of the unidentified individuals allegedly looked like a military intelligence agent (“con apariencia de operativo de inteligencia militar”).

On the afternoon of the 6 August, the Special Prosecutor for Human Rights Defenders, Thelma de Lam, visited the offices of the FRMT after hearing about the apparent intimidation of the staff. She arrived with agents of the Ministerio Público (MP), Public Prosecutors Office, to escort the human rights defenders out of the building and has launched an investigation into the incidents.

BACKGROUND INFORMATION
The FRMT, which works for the protection of human rights and the rights of indigenous people, was established by Nobel Peace Prize Laureate Rigoberta Menchú Tum, a Guatemalan indigenous woman, after she won the Nobel Prize for Peace in 1992. The FRMT has been working since December 1999 to prosecute a number of former Guatemalan officials for genocide and other crimes against humanity.

As a result of its human rights work, the FRMT has constantly experienced serious persecution and harassment. On 29 April 2002, Guillermo Ovalle de León, an administrative worker for the FRMT and nephew of the Executive Director, was killed by gunmen in an alleged robbery in Zone 1 of Guatemala City. However, Guatemalan human rights groups were concerned that his killing may have been an act of intimidation and not a common crime (see UA 133/02, 1 May 2002, AMR 34/031/2002).
Recently, Rigoberta Menchú Tum has been a prominent member of the recently formed Frente Cívico por la Democracia, Civic Front for Democracy, a coalition of organizations and political parties established in the wake of recent political violence to ensure that the general elections scheduled for November 2003 are transparent and free. The violence was precipitated by groups of supporters of Congressional President Ríos Montt, who were rioting after a decision to suspend temporarily his candidacy for President. The Constitutional Court has since upheld the decision for him to run as Presidential candidate."

Lid worden van Amnesty's Bliksemactie-netwerk, zodat je brieven, sms-jes etc. kunt schrijven nav. dit soort berichten? (= niet alleen voor Guatemala)
 http://www.amnesty.nl/acties/NK-CAM0004.shtml

En het blijft niet bij dreigen alleen 
Daniel - 12.08.2003 22:17

Ondanks de internationale aandacht van Amnesty International (zie hierboven) hebben de dreigementen aan het adres van medewerkers van de mensenrechtenorganisatie FRMT helaas een vervolg gekregen. Francisco Menchú, familie en medewerker v/d Nobelprijswinnares voor de Vrede Rigoberta Menchu, is ontvoerd geweest en in elkaar geslagen.

Het is maar een van de vele voorbeelden van de brutaliteit en grove intimidatie die de aanloop naar de verkiezingen nu al maandenlang domineert. Maar omdat daaraan zo weinig aandacht besteed wordt in de media plaats ik het bericht van Amnesty hieronder. Met nogmaals de dringende oproep: wordt lid van Amnesty's bliksemactie-netwerk & bestel daarnaast natuurlijk de actiekaarten tegen de straffeloosheid (zie oorspronkelijke bericht helemaal bovenaan deze pagina)!


PUBLIC AI Index: AMR 34/049/2003
11 August 2003

Further Information on UA 235/03 (AMR 34/048/2003, 07 August 2003) - Fear for Safety

GUATEMALA Gustavo Meoño Brenner (m), Director of the Fundación Rigoberta Menchú Tum (FRMT), Rigoberta Menchú Tum Foundation
Other staff of the FRMT

New Names: Rigoberta Menchú Tum (f), founder and President of the FRMT
Francisco Menchú (m), her relative

Nobel Peace Prize Laureate Rigoberta Menchú Tum and her relative, Francisco Menchú, who works for the human rights group the Fundación Rigoberta Menchú Tum (FRMT), Rigoberta Menchú Tum Foundation, have been attacked and intimidated. Amnesty International is concerned for all staff at the FRMT.

On 10 August at 9.25pm, Francisco Menchú, who works as a security guard at the FRMT, was violently apprehended by two unknown men and forced at gunpoint into a white taxi in Zone 1 of the capital, Guatemala City. The men then beat him severely and demanded that Francisco Menchú hand over his gun, though he was not carrying it. The two men continued to attack him as the taxi drove through the city. The attack lasted for 10 minutes, until the men pushed Francisco Menchú out of the vehicle close to where he was apprehended and stole his identity papers, credit cards and firearm licence. Francisco Menchú’s attackers were reportedly dressed in white shirts and black jackets, which are often worn by military intelligence agents.

Significantly, members of the FRMT were informed by different sources on 26 July that a death list targeting human rights defenders allegedly existed and that the people carrying out the actions against those on the list would be driving taxis.

After the attack, Francisco Menchú went home and telephoned the FRMT’s director, Gustavo Meoño Brenner, to inform him about the incident. Later that night, between 9.55pm and 11.00pm, Francisco Menchú received two anonymous telephone calls. In the first, he could only hear a man laughing, while in the second, the caller threatened, “dejen que estar chingando porque ya sabemos quienes son y dónde viven y pronto van a estar allí con ustedes“ (“stop causing trouble because we know who you are and where you live and soon we’re going to be there with you”).

This incident came two days after Rigoberta Menchú Tum, founder and President of the FRMT, was followed by an individual in a white pick-up truck as she drove to the FRMT’s offices. The truck was parked outside of her home when she left at 7.00am, and had been reportedly seen previously outside the offices of the FRMT. Rigoberta Menchú Tum was followed until she arrived at the FRMT offices. During the journey, her pursuant tried unsuccessfully to crash into her vehicle.

On five occasions between 26 July and 7 August, the offices of the FRMT in Zone 1 of Guatemala City were observed and staff members harassed by several individuals, one of whom wore military-issue boots and was armed with a revolver. Earlier, on 29 April 2002, Guillermo Ovalle de León, an administrative worker for the FRMT and nephew of the Executive Director, was killed by gunmen in an alleged robbery in Zone 1 of Guatemala City. However, Guatemalan human rights groups were concerned that his killing may have been an act of intimidation and not a common crime (see UA 133/02, 1 May 2002, AMR 34/031/2002).

Recently, Rigoberta Menchú Tum has been a prominent member of the recently formed Frente Cívico por la Democracia, Civic Front for Democracy, a coalition of organizations and political parties established in the wake of recent political violence to ensure that the general elections scheduled for November 2003 are transparent and free. The violence was precipitated by groups of supporters of Congressional President Ríos Montt, who were rioting after a decision to suspend temporarily his candidacy for President. The Constitutional Court has since upheld its ruling for him to run as Presidential candidate.

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