Guatemala: some headlines in news here this week

The International Federation of Human Rights is demanding that Guatemalan authorities detain and extradite the military leaders responsible for genocide during Guatemala's years of armed internal conflict, or judge them here. "With the motive of a meeting against impunity which is celebrated this week in Guatemala, and which will bring together numerous human rights groups from Latin America, the FIDH and other groups take the 'historic opportunity' presented.'"

Specifically, they're asking for generals Benedicto Lucas García, Efraín Ríos Montt y Humberto Mejía Víctores, who are among those named in a suit brought forward in the Spanish courts by Nobel peace prize winner Rigoberta Menchu. Link.

And in a related story about that case in Spain, the Vice President of Guatemala, Eduardo Stein, said: "There exists a general principal that there should be justice here in Guatemala for the cases of human rights violations committed against Guatemalans." Link.

Children of the disappeared marched this week in the capital to demand the capture of Mejía Víctores (image above, Victorino Tejaxún, courtesy of Prensa Libre newspaper). The government issued a warrant for his arrest a few weeks ago, but his lawyers soon managed to get that revoked. Link.

The human rights ombudsman's office has issued a report documenting alleged abuses by the National Police in the course of an anti-drug operation at a techno rave. There are billboards all over the country that say "Demand a strong hand against crime/drugs/gangs," with a raised fist. The crime stats here are extremely high, and the current wave of police action comes with concomitant abuses.

Quick translation, with my limited abilities: "The human rights ombudsman stated that state security agents committed aggressions, mistreated physically and verbally, robbed personal items, and illegally detained people during an operation during a rave." Link.

And from the town of Santa Cruz del Quiché, in the Quiché departamento (like a state): "A book titled 'A Global Vision for a Mayan Justice System' was presented last Friday by a group called 'Indigenous Defense Wajxaqib' no'j.' Spokesperson Lucas Argueta said, 'This Mayan system is an inheritance based on the knowledge and world vision of our ancestors.'"

The book contains interviews, investigations, and recommendations from authors who are indigenous leaders, elders, and specialists in human rights for indigenous people. Link.

And among the numerous murders this week in Guatemala, an attorney named Ericka Eugenia Cajas Juárez de Pineda. The 33-year old had complained to authorities this past January of receiving death threats. Her body was found on the side of a highway last weekend, naked and with marks on her neck which indicated death by strangulation. The voluntary ambulance squad in the area received a phone call from an anonymous male which led them to the specific site where her corpse was found.

Snip from report (translated as best I can with my crude Spanish):

Her corpse was found at 6AM last Saturday, according to testimony from witnesses interviewed by the police. The night before, they heard of 4 individuals who arrived in a white taxi.

Link to news account.

Nearly 600 women have been murdered in Guatemala in the past year.