My friend Peter asked me about this. So since the news is well out in international media by now, it would probably be fair to mention that these past couple of weeks the political situation in Guatemala has been more than a little precarious.

The Economist article: An indictment from the grave explains and puts the situation into a bit of context.

In brief, key members of the government have come under suspicion of murder, as foretold by the now deceased lawyer Rodrigo Rosenberg. In a video released onto the internet in the days following his death, he accused president Álvaro Colom of the murder of Rosenberg’s client, anticipating that he himself would be the next to die. A serious allegation to be sure, that’s now being investigated by the UN independent comittee CICIG and an FBI agent (one) the US embassy flew in last week. There has been a bunch of manifestations in support of Colom and a great deal more demanding his resignation these past weeks, marking the deepest political crisis of the Colom administration.

Also, demonstrations against the mining operations sprung up in the capital yesterday, among other places at the Canadian embassy. And also yesterday Goldcorp, the company responsible for the Marlin mine in San Marcos, held its annual shareholder meeting in Vancouver, Canada. Indigenous community members from Sipacapa and San Miguel Ixtahuacán in the Guatemalan highlands, as well as Nak’azdli First Nation representatives of British Colombia came to Vancouver to confront Goldcorp with its environmental and human rights resposibilities. I’m excited to hear how it went.

Please join the petition at NISGUA.

Dear President Àlvaro Colóm,

I write to ask you to fulfill your promise to combat entrenched impunity in Guatemala. It is unjustifiable that the vast majority of the victims of the armed conflict, as well as victims of current human rights attacks, have yet to see justice for the crimes committed against them.

Although certain cases advanced in 2008, I am concerned that 99% of the atrocities committed during the internal armed conflict remain in impunity due to the failure of the Guatemalan State to effectively investigate and prosecute these crimes. The unit of the human rights prosecutor’s office in charge of crimes of the past has not prosecuted one suspect since it opened in 2005.

Instead, these cases are often stalled in ineffective investigations and legal motions. Judges often take months to issue rulings, and injunctions filed by defense lawyers (amparos) can take years to resolve before the cases even reach the prosecutorial stage.  This process only serves to delay – or completely deny – justice for the survivors.

In the national genocide case filed against Efraín Ríos Montt and his high command, a series of legal motions has delayed the declassification of military documents that could serve as key evidence towards prosecution.  Although a judge ordered their declassification in March of 2007, over one year later the Ministry of the Defense has yet to deliver the military documents to the Attorney General’s Office and the association of survivors.

On February 25, 2008, you publicly stated that military archives should be declassified and handed over to the Human Rights Ombudsman’s Office. To date, however, the documents remain classified information in the hands of the military.

Impunity rates for current human rights violations are inextricably linked to the failure to bring the crimes of the past to justice. In 2006 and 2007, the Unit for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders in Guatemala (UDEFEGUA) registered 466 attacks on human rights defenders, many of whom risked their lives by demanding accountability for crimes of the past. Nonetheless, the human rights prosecutor’s office did not prosecute any suspects in the 49 cases investigated during this period, while only three human rights defenders’ cases were resolved by other offices.  The prosecutors have not only failed to resolve individual cases, but they have also failed to investigate these attacks as part of a systematic pattern and practice designed to impede human rights work.

In the face of alarmingly high levels of impunity and violence, I ask you to fulfill your promise to prioritize the issue. I implore you to support the survivors’ right to truth and justice by ensuring that the military documents be declassified and promptly handed over to the public institutions as ordered. I ask you to advocate for changes to the Injunction Law that would halt the current practice of using legal motions to stall judicial processes. I further urge you to prioritize ongoing evaluations of the Attorney General and the Public Prosecutor’s Office to ensure that the institution be purged of employees linked to organized crime and to guarantee that the effectiveness of the institution significantly improve. Furthermore, I call on you to ensure that the government takes the necessary steps to guarantee the safety of human rights defenders.

Twelve years after the signing of the Peace Accords, the victims of the war deserve justice, just as human rights defenders today deserve to carry out their work without fear of reprisal. Now is the time to take a stand and prove your commitment to ending impunity and strengthening the rule of law in Guatemala and to encourage others in your administration to do the same.

Thank you in advance for your attention to the matter.

Sincerely,

Thomas Elsted

update:
I feel I should clarify that this letter was composed entirely by NISGUA, with a few minor correction by me. If you like, you can sign it here and email it to the presidential office in Guatemala.

En español:
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