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On August 2 two masked men swerved in
front of Amilcar Pop's car, forcing him to a violent stop. The men drew
guns and beat on the windows of the Guatemalan lawyer's car shouting that
they would kill him. Despite injuries from the accident, Pop was able to
reverse his car and escape.
As President of the Guatemalan Association
of Mayan Lawyers, Amilcar Pop works in defense of human rights and
against discrimination and racism. The attempt on his life is the latest
incident in a series of threats and harassment, including baseless
prosecutions and anonymous letters and phone calls.
On the night ,
as he drove through the capital, Guatemala City, Amilcar Pop was followed
by a white pick-up truck without license plates. The pick-up truck
accelerated, pulled out in front of Amilcar Pop’s car and forced him to
make an emergency stop, injuring himself in the process. Two masked men
armed with pistols got out of the pick-up truck and tried to force open
Amilcar Pop’s car doors, shouting “you don’t learn” (vos no aprendés).
The men also shouted “We’re going to kill you, you’re dead already. It’s
no trouble for us to put a couple of bullets in you and send you to the
next life” (te vamos a matar, ya estás muerto. No nos cuesta nada darte
un poco de balazos y mandarte al otro mundo). Amilcar Pop managed to
accelerate away, and was pursued by the pick-up truck for over 30
minutes. When he believed he was no longer being followed, he went to a
local hospital where he sought treatment for the injuries he sustained
while stopping his car. Upon entering the hospital, he looked out the
window and saw that the white pick-up truck had continued to follow him
and had parked behind his car. When he left the hospital in the early
morning of 2 August, the pick-up truck had gone.
Threatening
phone calls have previously been made to Amilcar Pop’s home. In May 2007,
his wife answered one of these calls and was told “you’re getting
yourselves mixed up in stupid things, take care, we’re going to kill your
husband” (se están metiendo en babosadas, tengan cuidado, le vamos a
matar a su esposo) Amilcar Pop passed the phone number of the caller to
the authorities and made a formal complaint. The Public Prosecutor’s
Office opened an investigation, but there has been no progress to date.
Amilcar Pop
believes this incident is related to his work with Indigenous peoples in
the municipality of San Juan Sacatepéquez, close to Guatemala City. In
the past few years, the Mayan Lawyers’ Association has helped communities
in San Juan Sacatepéquez, who are asserting their right to be consulted
about the construction of a cement plant in the area. In June, following
a killing believed to be related to the dispute over the cement plant,
the President of Guatemala ordered a State of Emergency to be declared in
the area of San Juan Sacatepéquez.
Following
previous threats against them, in November 2007 the members of the Mayan
Lawyers’ Association and leaders of the community in San Juan
Sacatepéquez asked the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights to order
the Guatemalan government authorities to ensure their safety.
RECOMMENDED
ACTION: Please send appeals to arrive as quickly as possible, in Spanish
or your own language:
- expressing
concern for the safety of Amilcar Pop, for his family and for other
members of the Mayan Lawyers’ Association;
- urging the
President and the Minister of the Interior to ensure that immediate
measures are taken to guarantee the safety of Amilcar Pop in strict
accordance with his wishes;
- calling for
the Attorney General to order an immediate, thorough and swift
investigation into this incident, with the results made public and those
responsible brought to justice;
- reminding
the authorities of the right of human rights defenders to carry out their
activities without any restrictions or fear of reprisals, as set out in
the United Nations Declaration on the Rights and Responsibilities of
Individuals, Groups and Institutions to Promote and Protect Universally
Recognised Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms.
Please
take action for the safety of
Amilcar Pop.
Copy the enclosed letter and send it to the
address provided.
Target adresses:
APPEALS
TO:
President
of Guatemala
Lic. Álvaro Colom
Casa Presidencial, 6ª Avenida, 4-18, Zona 1.
Ciudad de Guatemala,
Guatemala
Fax + 502 2221 4423
+ 502 2238 3579
Salutation: Dear President / Estimado Sr. Presidente
Attorney
General and Head of the Public Prosecutor’s Office
Lic. José Amílcar Velásquez Zárate
Fiscal General de la República y Jefe del Ministerio Público
8ª Avenida 10-67, Zona 1,
Antiguo Edificio del Banco de los Trabajadores,
Ciudad de Guatemala,
GUATEMALA
Fax: +502 2411 9124/
+502 2411 9326
Salutation: Dear Attorney General / Estimado Sr. Fiscal General
Minister
of the Interior
Francisco José Jiménez Irungaray
Ministro de Gobernación
6ª Avenida 13-71, Zona 1,
Ciudad de Guatemala,
GUATEMALA
Fax: +502 2413 8658
Salutation: Dear Minister/Estimado Sr. Ministro
Letter:
Your Excellency,
I am writing to express my concern
about the recent attack against Amilcar de Jesus Pop Ac. Just after 12:00
a.m. on August 2, 2008, Pop was driving home from the Roosvelt area in
zone 11 of Guatemala City when he noticed he was being followed by three
men in a white dual-cabin pick up truck, with tinted windows and no
number plates. The vehicle swerved in front of Pop, forcing him to break
suddenly and causing him to collide with the steering wheel which
produced various injuries including lacerations to his tongue. Two masked
men approached Pop on either side of his car. With guns drawn they beat
on the windows of Pop's car, tried to open the doors, and shouted that
they would kill him. Pop escaped by quickly reversing, and then driving
for 45 minutes at high speeds to escape the perpetrators, who continued
to follow him for most of that time.
After evading his pursuers, and given
considerable bleeding from his tongue, he went to Sanatoria Cedros de
Libano hospital in Guatemala City where he received treatment for his
wounds and stitches to his tongue. While waiting for treatment at the
hospital he noticed that the white pick-up truck was parked behind his
car on the second level of the car park. When he was discharged at 6:00
a.m. the white truck had disappeared.
Pop is a renowned indigenous lawyer
and President of the Association of Mayan Lawyers and Notaries. The
Association is a non-government organization that rejects all forms of
violence. Since 2006 Pop and the Association have represented the largely
indigenous communities of San Juan Sacatepequez in their opposition to a
cement factory. They have also represented more than 20 community members
accused of various offences in connection to their opposition of the
factory. They also represent approximately 40 people detained in June
2008 in San Juan Sacatepequez around the time that martial law was
declared.
I fear that the recent attack against
Pop is part of a pattern of intimidation intended to deter him from his
advocacy. In the final week of May 2008 he received threatening phone
calls at his house. Between October 2007 and January 2008 the Association
received telephone threats and between May 2007 and January 2008 the
Association also received anonymous letters and pamphlets with death
threats.[1] These various communications had a common message: stop
providing legal representation to indigenous communities opposing the
cement factory. Finally, despite a lack of evidence, local authorities
have accused Pop of threatening local community members and others have
falsely accused him of being the intellectual author of the June 2008
murder of Francisco Tepeu Piri in San Juan Sacatepequez.
Article 16 of the U.N. Basic
Principles on Lawyers state that "governments shall ensure that
lawyers... are able to perform all of their professional functions
without intimidation, hindrance, harassment or improper
interference." Article 17 continues that "where the[ir]
security ... is threatened as a result of discharging their functions,
they shall be adequately safeguarded by the authorities."
In light of the various threats and
the very serious attempt on Pop's life, and in line with the Basic
Principles, I ask that you re-evaluate and promptly upgrade his
protection, and that of his family and colleagues at the Mayan Lawyers
Association. Given the gravity of the attack against him, he should immediately
be provided with police or bodyguard protection especially at his
residence. I also ask that you ensure the police promptly and impartially
investigate the attack and cooperate with the Attorney-General's office
in prosecuting those responsible.
Thank you for your attention to this
urgent matter.
Yours
sincerely,
COPIES
TO:
Mayan
Lawyers’ Association
Asociación de Abogados Mayas
10 avenida 10-58 zona 1
Ciudad de Guatemala,
GUATEMALA
TAKE ACTION NOW
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