URGENT: Government Repression of the Mayan Ixil People of Nebaj, Guatemala

[Catherina]

5. Imminent threat of militarization/violence. riot police on their way to depose elected mayor

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

NEBAJ, GUATEMALA (Site of Genocide against the Ixil Maya now under trial in Guatemalan National Court)
2 May, 2013, 2:55 AM

IMMANENT THREAT OF MILITARIZATION AND VIOLENCE: More than 100 residents of Nebaj, Guatemala are peacefully demonstrating outside of city hall. They are under threat of violence at the hands of riot police on their way to depose democratically-elected mayor Pedro Raymundo Cobo. Demonstrators are expressing their disapproval of an arbitrary court decision that unjustly deposes mayor Cobo, who was democratically-elected in September, 2011. The action of the court and the military response puts the lives of many Nebajenses in jeopardy as they peacefully demonstrate to protect their electoral rights.

Call to Human Rights Organizations, Indigenous peoples' organizations, solidarity networks, independent media, and people working in solidarity for peace and justice. Urgent Request for: human rights observers and reporters.

Help to prevent a possible bloodshed caused by the government of President Otto Perez-Molina in order to justify the militarization of the region. The violent repression also silences the voices and the desires for justice of the Ixil Maya who are bringing to trial, in the Guatemalan National Court, former military dictator Efrain Rios-Montt and members of his top command, all charged with genocide and crimes against humanity. Another possible purpose for the government's intimidation tactic is to silence the Ixil through fear and distraction, so that the entry of national and transnational corporations poised to install hydroelectric plants and extract non-renewable natural resources can be met with little or no resistance.

THE CONTEXT:
The Supreme Electoral Tribunal (TSE) annulled the elections held on September 11, 2011 in Santa Maria Nebaj, Quiche, which brought to power Pedro Raymundo Cobo, of the UNE-GANA Coalition with more than 12,000 votes. The decision of the TSE seeks to restore to power the former mayor, Virgilio Bernal of the Partido Patriota, until new elections are conducted to choose a local mayor. Bernal, who only received about 9,000 votes, is a member of the Partido Patriota, the same political party as President Otto Perez-Molina, who was a Major stationed in Nebaj during the couter-insurgency war and who has been implicated in war crimes during testimony against former General Rios-Montt.

The elections of September 2011 were duly certified by the Regional Electoral Board of El Quiché, when Pedro Raymundo Cobo, was declared mayor-elect of Nebaj. The decision of the TSE (case #2815-2011) rescinds the accreditation of the Regional Electoral Board, and restores to power the previous municipal leadership, headed by Virgilio Bernal, who has already held the mayorship for two terms in a row.

The TSE made this decision after the Supreme Court of Justice ruled that there was an unfair "disadvantage” since the Patriot Party candidate's name did not appear on the ballot. However, it is the responsibility of each party to submit the names of candidates for the elections in a timely manner; it is not incumbent upon the voters of Nebaj to pay for institutional errors or the Patriot Party's own negligence.

THIS TSP RULING, WHICH IS ARBITRARY AND LACKING IN ETHICAL OR LEGAL BASIS, TRAMPLES ON the VOTES OF MORE THAN 12,000 PEOPLE, MAKING A MOCKERY OF DEMOCRACY AND THE IXIL-MAYA's RIGHT TO VOTE.

These events are taking place during the trial against former dictator Efrain Rios-Montt, who is accused of committing acts against humanity and genocide against the Ixil people during Guatemala's Counterinsurgency war. During the judicial process, President Otto Pérez Molina, member of the same political party as Virgilio Bernal, has been implicated in war crimes.

An agreement allowing the multinational corporation "ENEL" to start operations on a hydroelectric plant in the region, was signed in late March of this year by Pres. Perez-Molina, by the Mayor of Cotzal (who is also a member of the Partido Patriota) and representatives of ENEL. This agreement violates the Ixil-Maya's right to prior consultation on development projects in their territories established by the International Labor Organization's (ILO) Convention 169, and it ignores promises previously established with the Q'esal Tenam (indigenous mayors) of Cotzal as representatives of the Ixil community who are opposed to the hydroelectric project due to economic and ecological concerns, as well as the lack of transparency and community consultation mechanisms.

It is possible that the TSE's unjust ruling, made in the midst of a historical juncture for Guatemala, is a strategic move on the part of the Perez-Molina government to divide and exhaust the Ixil people, distracting them from the genocide trial and the conflicts over land and development. This also destabilizes the region in order to justify a new militarization to protect transnational and national corporate interests against local opposition.

FOR MORE INFORMATION OR TO ARRANGE TO SEND HUMAN RIGHTS OBSERVERS AND REPORTERS.
[e-mail]

THANKS TO ALL THE ORGANIZATIONS AND FRIENDS
WHO HAVE EXPRESSED their SOLIDARITY BY STATING
"WE ARE ALL IXIL!"

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