Rob Mercatante's Guatemala Journal: Guatemala: Land of injustice?

April 03, 2006

Guatemala: Land of injustice?

Forced Evictions on the Rise in Guatemala

campesino hands Berger Administration Discriminates Against Indigenous and Poor, Plays to Wealthy Landowners, Amnesty International Charges

There has been a marked increase in the number of forced -- and often violent -- evictions of poor and indigenous people involved in rural land disputes since Guatemala's President Oscar Berger took office in January 2004, said Amnesty International (AI) in a report released today. As the United States government provides aid designated to implement Guatemala's 1996 Peace Accords, including the resolution of land disputes, it should help ensure that the land dispute aspects of the Accords are upheld, the human rights organization said.

The Peace Accords of 1996 -- which ended 36 years of violent internal armed conflict -- provide a framework for resolving agrarian disputes, including: enforcement of labor laws in rural areas; increasing land ownership for campesinos (rural farm workers); establishing judicial and non-judicial mechanisms for the resolution of land disputes; providing free legal assistance to rural workers and their organizations; improving access to justice for campesinos (including language translation for indigenous peoples); and promoting a legal framework that recognizes customary indigenous law.

So far, none of those measures has been put in place.

"Guatemala's poor, rural and indigenous peoples still suffer shocking discrimination and violence," said Dr. William F. Schulz, executive director of Amnesty International USA (AIUSA). "It is shameful that President Berger, who has had ample opportunity to break from this horrifying legacy, has turned a blind eye in the name of pandering to big business. The United States should think twice about economic endeavors with Guatemala until there is hard proof that the aid we give is used to implement the Peace Accords."

According to government figures, 1052 cases of agrarian disputes remained unresolved in December 2005 -- up from 911 cases in October 2004. In three missions to Guatemala between 2004 and 2006, Amnesty International noted widespread discrimination and human rights violations related to land disputes, including intimidation and threats against campesinos, house demolitions and the burning of personal belongings, and beatings, shootings and sexual abuse.

Land disputes emerge when peasants occupy land to demand their rights or when questions arise regarding the ownership of land. Agrarian disputes often are complex; a UN-sponsored study listed 20 types of land disputes. The number of disputes over labor entitlements has risen in recent years in large part due to declining coffee prices and the loss of some 108,000 jobs, leaving many campesinos that had been given small plots of farmland homeless and without livelihoods.

A typical farm in Guatemala is worked mainly by Mayan campesinos whose wages include cash and a small plot of land for both housing and crops. They are vulnerable to the financial health of the farm, changes in labor requirements and changes in ownership. The campesinos have nowhere to go when their contracts are terminated, as they have lived on the farm for years, if not all their lives.

Rarely is there an effort to clarify facts, the respective rights of the parties and the specific violations preceeding an eviction. The wealth, influence and legal access of the land or farm owners is in sharp contrast with the campesino communities' poverty, marginalization and lack of access or understanding of the legal processes associated with land ownership or enforcement of labor rights.

Police authorities at all levels confirmed to AI that it was common practice for farm owners to provide food and water to police officers during evictions. Farm owners and local police authorities confirmed to AI that paying for trucks and gas was also common, although national police authorities denied this. Such practices highlight the lack of impartiality of the police.

The cases in the Amnesty International report include:

* The small rural community of Santa Inés, which is currently facing a possible third eviction by an individual who claims ownership to the land. Despite several government agencies confirming that the community has a legitimate claim to the land, an eviction order has been authorized. At least 20 homes were destroyed during the previous two evictions. While police say these homes were dismantled, families say they were burned. Santa Inés community leaders have also received death threats. Neither the threats nor the allegations of property destruction have been investigated.

* In 2004, 90 indigenous Q'eqchi families of Trece Aguas farm refused to leave farmland that they considered just compensation for severance pay. On May 19, the families allege, they were told that the farm owner would meet them; instead, between 500 and 700 police officers and around 50 private security guards arrived to evict them. The campesinos allege that seven people were wounded, including 85-year-old Marcos Choc Choc, who later died from a head injury. The campesinos allege that the police and farm employees using chainsaws cut down their houses and then, as these fell, set fire to them. Their belongings, including reserves of maize, were burned. Their crops of chiles, pumpkin and cardamom were destroyed.

According to Javier Zuñiga, Director of the Americas Program at Amnesty International:

"While washing their hands of responsibility for the rights of rural workers and indigenous peoples, the authorities are quick to respond forcefully when it comes to the demands of the wealthy landowners."

"Since coming to office in 2004, President Berger has accelerated evictions and ignored the consequent human right abuses. Destruction of homes, violations of due process, even killings, have been carried out with impunity."

"By ignoring the commitments made in the Peace Accords, the Guatemalan authorities are missing a key opportunity to secure a long lasting solution to the land crisis."

Amnesty International urged the Guatemalan authorities to stop evictions of rural communities until the present legislation and practices, which are fundamentally unfair, biased and flawed, are overhauled.