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RESOLUTION 1325
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Threats against human rights defenders
women in CONAVIGUA
Amnesty International Appeal, 1997
The National Coordination of Widows of Guatemala, Coordinadora Nacional
de Viudas de Guatemala (CONAVIGUA), is a women's organization campaigning
to establish the fate of "disappeared" relatives, to raise awareness
of conscientious objection, to promote education and to support people displaced
as a consequence of the internal armed conflict. Since the organization
was formed almost a decade ago, its members have been the target of repeated
death threats, intimidation and physical attacks.
Government officials and members of the security forces frequently attempt
to discredit human rights defenders, such as those working with CONAVIGUA,
thus making them appear to be legitimate targets for attack, by accusing
them of being "guerrillas" or by claiming that their activities
are subversive.
For instance, in July 1994, Guatemalan army spokesman Colonel Morris de
León publicly accused indigenous leader, Rosalina Tuyuc, then president
of CONAVIGUA, to be known by the alias of "Julia" in the insurgency
movement, and stated that her brothers were "guerrillas" specialising
in demolishing bridges and collecting "war taxes".
One of the most recent incident in this series of threats and intimidation
was an attack on María Tuyuc Velásquez, Rosalina Tuyuc's sister,
on 19 May 1996 outside the offices of CONAVIGUA, in Guatemala City. María
Tuyuc was grabbed by a man in plain clothes who repeatedly beat her and
sexually assaulted her, before he fled saying he would find her again. Several
days earlier, two unidentified men driving a car with tinted windows attempted
to kidnap Josefa Ventura and Sebastiana Hernández, also members of
CONAVIGUA. The men insulted the two women before they managed to escape
to safety. CONAVIGUA believed these attacks and threats were related to
a public march organized as part of their campaign for conscientious objection.
CONAVIGUA members in rural areas have been subject to similar attacks suffered
by their colleagues in the capital. On 9 April 1995, in Nebaj, El Quiché,
a member of CONAVIGUA, María de León Santiago, was seriously
wounded in the head with a stone and beaten by a member of the Comité
Voluntario de Defensa Civil (CVDC), Voluntary Civil Defence Committee who
accused her of being a "guerrilla" and of sheltering members of
theComunidades de Población en Resistencia (CPRs), Communities of
Population in Resistance(13). No progress has been made in the investigations
into this attack.
Clause 7.2 of the Global Human Rights Accord states: "the Guatemalan
Government will take special measures to protect all persons and organizations
working in the field of human rights, and is obliged to carry out exhaustive
investigations into all reports of threats or attacks against them...".
In the Accord, the Guatemalan Government reiterated its promise to protect
human rights defenders and guaranteed their freedom to continue their work.
It has persistently failed to meet that commitment [14].
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