US embassy cable - 03GUATEMALA2793

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 GUATEMALA 002793 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SENSITIVE 
 
DEPARTMENT FOR WHA/CEN 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PHUM, PGOV, PREL, AORC, GT 
SUBJECT: HUMAN RIGHTS UPDATE: JOURNALISTS RELEASED, EMP 
DISBANDED, CICIACS REACTION 
 
REF: GUATEMALA 2563 
 
1.  (SBU) Summary:  Protesting ex-PACs have released four 
journalists in Huehuetenango, President Portillo presided 
over a ceremony marking the dissolution of the Presidential 
Guard (EMP), and the GOG formed a working group to analyze 
the UN's revised proposal for a Commission to Investigate 
Clandestine Groups (CICIACS).  Our previous report (Ref) on 
the Ovalle killing was mistaken; his killers have not yet 
been tried.  End Summary. 
 
Ex-PACs Release Hostages 
------------------------ 
 
2.  (U) On October 28 protesting former civil self defense 
patrollers (ex-PAC) in Huehuetenango province released four 
journalists after a tense stand-off that lasted 51 hours. 
The release came after a GOG negotiating team led by Peace 
Secretary Catalina Soberanis agreed to process and pay 
 
SIPDIS 
(within six days) qualified ex-PAC applicants for their 
national service during the internal conflict, according to 
MINUGUA Chief Tom Koenigs and press reporting.  (Comment:  By 
insisting that only qualified ex-PAC will be paid, the GOG 
hopes the incident will not be repeated by unqualified 
agitators who aspire to GOG compensation.  The international 
community and electoral observers are alert to the 
possibility of further incidents which could endanger 
observers.  End Comment.) 
 
EMP Dissolved 
------------- 
 
3.  (U) On October 29 President Portillo marked the 
dissolution of the Presidential Military Guard (EMP) and its 
replacement with a civilian Secretariat for Administrative 
Support (SAAS) with a major public address.  In his address, 
Portillo praised the EMP for maintaining a clean record 
during his tenure, lambasted the economic elite who had 
manipulated previous governments and the Army in their own 
private interests, and took a jab at the international 
community for pressuring the GOG to "run when it is learning 
to crawl."  Speaking without a prepared text, he accused 
Guatemala's critics in the international community of 
starting more wars and killing far more people than the 
Guatemalan Army had.  The Ambassador atttended this event, 
but could not bring himself to applaud the President's 
remarks and left after the President spoke.  Human rights 
leaders and MINUGUA chief Koenigs publicly praised the EMP 
dissolution, and pledged to monitor the exit (expected 
January 13) from the SAAS of a team of 30 military security 
agents guarding Portillo.  (Comment:  Despite Portillo's 
disappointing, unpresidential venting, the GOG deserves 
credit for finally completing a key Peace Accords commitment. 
 While some administrative staff from the EMP remain in the 
SAAS, and Portillo will retain his inner security team until 
he leaves office, the bulk of the EMP staff have been 
replaced by civilians.  End Comment.) 
 
Reaction to UN CICIACS Proposal 
------------------------------- 
 
4.  (SBU) Representatives of the MFA, the Human Rights 
Ombudsman's office, and some human rights leaders met on 
October 29 to create a working group to discuss the UN's 
revised CICIACS proposal.  While local press emphasized 
constitutional hurdles to the muscular UN proposal, Helen 
Mack and Frank La Rue both told the Ambassador and PolOff 
that they believe the UN proposal is "legally viable," with 
some clarification, but NGOs will resist any GOG attempt at 
"half-measures."  According to Mario Rene Cifuentes, the 
MFA's security advisor, FM Gutierrez favors an alternative 
proposal of creating a national commission as a precursor to 
an internationally-run CICIACS.  The first meeting of the 
working group will be on November 3, and the MFA will invite 
the UN to send a representative to that meeting, according to 
Cifuentes. 
 
Correction: Ovalle Case Update 
------------------------------ 
 
5.  (U) RefTel reported that Ever Lopez Gomez and Billy Rene 
Barrios were found guilty for the April 29, 2003 murder of 
Guillermo Ovalle, accountant of the Rigoberta Menchu 
Foundation, and sentenced to life imprisonment by the first 
instance court for the crime.  That information was 
incorrect, and derived from an unconfirmed report from a U.S. 
NGO.  The office of the Special Prosecutor for Crimes Against 
Human Rights Workers told us on October 14 that in fact the 
court had ruled in September only that the two suspects be 
tried for homicide.  No date has been announced for the trial 
while judges rule on a request from the Menchu Foundation to 
become a joint complainant in the case. 
HAMILTON