Alert: HR office break-in

Rights Action office broken into, robbed in Guatemala City.

February 1, 2005

Rights Action is a non-governmental organization based in the United States and Canada, with a regional office in Guatemala. Rights Action funds and supports community-based organizations in southern Mexico, Central America, Haiti and Peru that plan and carry out their own community development projects, that promote and defend political, economic, social and cultural rights, and that provide emergency relief in crisis situations.

On the morning of Monday, January 31, 2005, personnel in the office of Rights Action in Guatemala found that the office had been broken into and robbed. Based on an assessment of the conditions of the break-in, Rights Action concludes that the motive for the break in was not economic, but rather to steal information.

Upon entering the building the burglar entered only the main office where all the information from the organization is stored, breaking a window to gain access to that office. A laptop containing a large amount of information was stolen. In the same office, the CPU for the local area network server computer was taken from the desk, disconnecting all the cables, and left in the middle of the floor, as if in preparation to steal it.

Also from the administrative office, a file box that contains petty cash was removed and taken to the hall. The box had been forced open, and though it obviously contained the equivalent of approximately US$500, no money was taken. The burglar left a partially consumed juice can beside the box as if to draw attention to the fact that they had reviewed the contents.

Though the burglar left the cash and six computers distributed in the 3 offices, they stole a few items without value, including a keyboard, a cheap tape player, a box of keys and a box of candles and dried fruit produced by Rights Action counterparts.

It is notable that there was no sign of forced entrance to the building, though a window was broken to gain access the office where the server computer was located. The burglar apparently left over the roof since a key they had taken from the building was found on the roof terrace, as well as a footprint on the roofing.

Rights Action fears the office may have been subject to vigilance since the burglar chose the only evening in several months in which no one was in the office. The burglars left a Guatemalan identification card in the office, as though it had been dropped accidentally.

The break-in was reported the Public Prosecutors office, and the Special Prosecutor for Human Rights examined the crime scene the morning the break in was discovered. Representatives of the Human Rights Ombudsman's office also visited the scene. Rights Action expresses our gratitude to CALDH, SEDEM and the Unidad de Proteccion del Movimiento de Derechos Humanos for promptly accompanying Rights Action during the investigation. We express our solidarity with the organizations HIJOS and COMAPAG that both suffered burglaries during January 2005. Both are active in protesting the neo-liberal economic agenda and combating impunity.

www.rightsaction.org