To: Members of the Casa Alianza/Covenant House URGENT ACTION Network
Firstly, thank you for agreeing to participate in this rapid response
mechanism in an effort to influence and change the attitudes and
actions of government's who insist on abusing the human rights of
street children.
Our first action is in relation to the government of Guatemala,
regarding the TORTURE OF STREET CHILDREN.
During the past five years, Casa Alianza's Legal Aid Office for Street
Children in Guatemala has been documenting the torture and violence
against the street children. It has been horrendous to say the least.
The first case was 13 year old Nahaman Carmona Lopez, a frail street
boy who was kicked to death in the middle of Guatemala City by four
uniformed National Policemen on March 4th, 1990. Then four street
youth, Julio Caal (15), Jovito Jose Juarez (17), Federico Figueroa
(20) and Henry Giovani Contreras (18) were kidnapped by at least two
members of the 5th precinct of the National Police. Their bodies were
found ten days later - their eyes had been gouged out, their ears and
tongues cut off and then - and only then - they were shot through the
head.....
In February 1990, the UN Convention Against Torture and Cruel and
Inhumane Treatment came into effect in Guatemala. According to the
Convention, the Guatemalan government should have made a formal report
to the UN Committee Against Torture (in charge of monitoring the
implementation of the Convention Against Torture), but to date, some
five years later, the government has not done so - until today.
Casa Alianza has put together a 100 page illustrated report,
graphically documenting 5 years of torture of Guatemalan street
children by the uniformed authorities in Guatemala, which has been
sent to the UN Committee Against Torture who today, Thursday, November
16th, 1995, are hearing the Guatemalan government's report against
torture in their country. The Guatemalan government, represented by
Lic. Vicente Aranz, the President of COPREDEH, the government's human
rights office, had originally travelled to Geneva in April of this
year to make a report saying that "torture does not exist in
Guatemala". The day before they were going to make their report, they
caught wind that Casa Alianza had presented a preliminary report to
the UN Committee and so the Guatemalans requested six months to revise
their report. To date, they have not shared their "revised" report
with us.
ACTION TO TAKE
Please send an e-mail message TODAY to Lic. Vicente Aranz, President
of COPREDEH at <copredeh@nicarao.apc.org> urging the Guatemalan
government to come clean and recognise the use of torture in Guatemala
and to guarantee that the perpetrators of the torture and murder will
be prosecuted - uniformed or no. Please do NOT just forward this
message to COPREDEH, and please send a copy of your message to Casa
Alianza at <casalnza@sol.racsa.co.cr> so that we can measure the
response.
You can cite some of the following cases of torture and cruel
treatment of street children - just a selection of those in the Casa
Alianza report:
- Moises Diaz (13) and Williams Chalin (14); severely beaten by two
National Policemen on October 12th, 1990 - Carlos Rodriguez (13),
Felipe Gonzalez (15), Antonio Franco (14); viciously kicked and beaten
by a member of the National Police and the Treasury Police whilst
sleeping, on November 8th, 1990. The children required medical
treatment. - Sandra Hernandez (16) - Beaten over the head with a night
stick by two National Policemen on March 14th, 1991. Sandra's head had
to be stitched up by a doctor. - Julio Cesar Reyes (15) - Burnt 19
times with cigarettes on his left arm by two men who threatened to
arrest the boy, on March 14th, 1993. - Juan Humberto Ramos Cifuentes
(19) and Cecilio Jax (16) - shot, kidnapped and murdered by two males,
seemingly private policemen, working under the co-ordination of the
Ministry of the Interior. Their bodies were thrown into the rubbish
dump in Zone 3 of Guatemala City on July 20th, 1994. - Daniel Rosales
(10) and Ruben Garcia (14) - both shot to death at close range in the
back by two uniformed private policemen working under the authority of
the Ministry of the Interior, on September 24th, 1995. - Oscar Rene
Marroquin; shot twice by a private policeman, who then paid two
members of the National Police to take the wounded boy away. Oscar was
found dead the next morning dumped behind a football stadium, on
January 6th, 1995.
If you would like a copy of the 100 page, illustrated report
(available in both English and Spanish), please send a US dollar
cheque for ten dollars (includes postage), made out to Casa Alianza,
to the following address:
Casa Alianza
SJO 1039
PO Box 025216
Miami FL 33102-5216 USA
Thank you very much for your support. This is a way that you really
CAN make a difference. Warmest regards,
Bruce Harris
Executive Director
Latin American Programmes