In this case (7383), too, the IACHR, at its 53^rd session, approved the following resolution on June 25, 1981:

WHEREAS:

          1.          In a message dated July 2, 1980, the following was denounced to the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights:

         That at 11:00 a.m. on July 1, approximately 80 armed men came to the Guatemalan Coca Cola Bottling Plant. Among them were uniformed policemen from the Model Squad. They beat up a number of strikers and forced them to return to work. Two workers were taken away. Both are union members. One is called Marcelino Santos Chajón.

          2.          In a cable dated July 3, 1980, the Commission forwarded the pertinent parts of this denunciation to the Government of Guatemala, and requested that it provide the corresponding information.

          3.          In a note dated April 20, 1981, the Commission again addressed the Guatemalan Government and repeated its request for information, and

CONSIDERING:

          1.          That to date, the Government has not replied to the Commission's requests for information sent on July 3, 1980, and April 20, 1981.

          2.          That Article 39 of the Regulations establishes the following:

          Article 39

         1. The facts reported in the petition whose pertinent parts have been transmitted to the government of the state in reference shall be presumed to be true if, during the maximum period set by the Commission under the provisions of Article 31, paragraph 5, the government has not provided the pertinent information, as long as other evidence does not lead to a different conclusion.

          THE INTER-AMERICAN COMMISSION ON HUMAN RIGHTS,

RESOLVES:

          1.          On the grounds of Article 39 of the Regulations, to presume to be true the facts denounced in the communication of July 2, 1980, concerning the mistreatment of a number of strikers and the seizure of Marcelino Santos Chajón and another union member at the Guatemalan Coca Cola Bottling Plant.

          2.          To declare that the Government of Guatemala violated Article 7 (Right to Personal Liberty), Article 5 (Right to Humane Treatment), Article 8 (Right to a Fair Trial), Article 15 (Right to Assembly), Article 16 (Freedom of Association) and Article 25 (Right to Judicial Protection) of the American Convention on Human Rights.

          3.          To recommend to the Guatemalan Government that it investigate the facts denounced and, where appropriate, punish those responsible and advise the Commission, within a period of 60 days, of the measures taken to put this recommendation into practice.

          4.          To forward this resolution to the Government of Guatemala and to the claimants.9

          5.       Case Nº 7403: Attack against the offices of the National Labor

                    Confederation and the arrest of a number of unionists

          At its 53^rd session, on June 25, 1981, the IACHR also approved the following resolution in connection with the CNT case:

WHEREAS:

          1.          In a communication dated June 26, 1980, the following was denounced to the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights:

         On June 21, 1980, the offices of the National Labor Confederation (CNT) in Guatemala were attacked by nonuniformed policemen. Between 25 and 30 individuals were detained. Although the streets around the offices of the CNT have been closed off by the police authorities, the Government claims no knowledge of the whereabouts of those detained.

         The emergency meeting of the Executive Board of the CNT had been called to discuss the death of two labor leaders the week before. On Friday, June 30, EDGAR RENÉ ALDANA, Secretary of the Committee to Organize the Workers at the Coca Cola Bottling Plant was shot as he left work. This union leader is the sixth worker from the Coca Cola Bottling Plant to be killed. On Saturday, June 21, the body of OSCAR AMILCAR PACHUCA was discovered; it had been mutilated under torture. He had been seized on June 17 together with GUILLERMO HERNÁNDEZ, as they left their place of work at INCESA STANDARD CO. GUILLERMO HERNÁNDEZ has still not been found.

         The following are among those who were arrested at the offices of the CNT and subsequently disappeared: FLORENTINO GÓMEZ, a union member of the Coca Cola Bottling Plant; FLORENCIA XOCOP, SARA CABRERA FLORES, Acricasa; IRMA PÉREZ, Acricasa; GONZALO VÁZQUEZ, ORLANDO GARCÍA, Transportation Workers Union “TURSA”; BERNARDO MARROQUÍN, from the KERN's food processing plant union; ISMAEL VÁSQUEZ, from the Coca Cola Bottling Plant union; SONIA FURIO, LIDA CARLOTA PÉREZ, Acricasa; OSCAR SALAZAR, MANUEL SÁNCHEZ, MARIO SALQUERRE the Prensa Libre union.

         It is also denounced that on June 6, in Chajul, Quiché, Father MARIA GRAN SIERRA and his catechist were murdered by the army.

          2.          In a note dated July 8, 1980, the Commission forwarded the pertinent parts of this denunciation to the Government of Guatemala and requested that it provide the corresponding information.

          3.          In a note dated August 25, 1980, the Commission provided to the Guatemalan Government, as additional information received from the claimants, the names of the following individuals who, it was alleged, were also taken from the premises of the CNT on June 21, 1980:

                    Sonia Sara Alesio

                    Rafael Antonio Aguilar

                    Irma Barrios

                    Luis Rodolfo Bonilla

                    Mario Campos Valladares

                    Christina Yolanda Carrera

                    Crescencio Coronel Ordoñez

                    Bernabé de la Cruz

                    Alvaro Estrada

                    Selvín Arnoldo García

                    Irwin René Hernández

                    Mario Martínez

                    Señor Reyes Aldama

                    Jorge Luis Serrano

          4.          In a note dated December 8, 1980, the Commission sent to the Guatemalan Government additional information received from the claimants in this case and provided it a more complete list of the names of the individuals seized from the premises of the CNT on June 21, 1980. That list is as follows:

          5.          In notes dated December 16, 1980, and April 20, 1981, the Commission again addressed the Guatemalan Government to repeat its request for information, and

CONSIDERING:

          1.          That to date the Government has not replied to the Commission's request for information.

          2.          That Article 39 of the Regulations provides the following:

          Article 39

         1. The facts reported in the petition whose pertinent parts have been transmitted to the government of the state in reference shall be presumed to be true if, during the maximum period set by the Commission under the provisions of Article 31, paragraph 5, the government has not provided the pertinent information, as long as other evidence does not lead to a different conclusion.

          THE INTER-AMERICAN COMMISSION ON HUMAN RIGHTS,

RESOLVES:

          1.          On the grounds of Article 39 of the Regulations, to presume to be true the facts denounced in the communication of June 26, 1980 and in subsequent communications, concerning the attack perpetrated against the premises of the National Labor Confederation (CNT) and the arbitrary arrest of 25 of its members, on June 21, 1980. To declare to be true the facts concerning the violent deaths of Edgar René Aldana, Oscar Amilcar Pachuca and Father María Gran Sierra, at the hands of authorities of the Guatemalan Government.

          2.          To declare that the Government of Guatemala violated Article 7 (Right to Personal Liberty), Article 8 (Right to a Fair Trial), Article 15 (Right of Assembly), Article 25 (Right to Judicial Protection) and Article 4 (Right to Life) of the American Convention on Human Rights.

          3.          To recommend to the Guatemalan Government that it investigate the facts denounced and, when appropriate, punish those responsible and that it advise the Commission, within a period of 60 days, of the measures taken to put this recommendation into practice.

          4.          To communicate this Resolution to the Government of Guatemala and to the claimant.10

          6.       Case Nº 7490: The capture of union leaders at the “Emaus Medio

                    Monte” Ranch

          At its 53^rd session, on June 25, 1981 the IACHR approved the following resolution in connection with this case:

WHEREAS:

          1.          In a communication dated September 10, 1980, the following was denounced to the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights:

         On August 24, Government Security Forces (detectives and Army personnel), under the command of the Deputy Chief of the Detectives Division of the National Police, Alfonso Ortíz, captured 17 union leaders. The leaders were at a meeting at the “Emaús Medio Monte” ranch, the Palín Jurisdiction of the Department of Escuintla, which is the property of the Diocese of Escuintla. The license plates on two of the vehicles used in the operation were numbers P-78165 and P-78077. The numbers on the other license plates were not noted because of the element of surprise that the operation involved.

         Just as in the case of the seizure of 27 union leaders of the National Labor Confederation (CNT) at its offices, here again the Government denies any knowledge of the action and denies that it is holding the workers, against all concrete evidence to the contrary.

          2.          In a note dated September 17, 1980, the Commission forwarded the pertinent parts of this denunciation to the Government of Guatemala and requested that it provide the corresponding information.

          3.          In a note dated October 21, 1980, the Commission forwarded to the Government of Guatemala the following additional information received from the claimants in this case:

         Among the persons arrested at the “Emaús Medio Monte” ranch were the following: Gustavo Adolfo Bejarano, Juan Guerra, Guillermo Turcio, Augusto Yach Ciriaco, Edgar de la Cruz, Iliana de la Cruz, and the ranch foreman.

         Arrested by security forces under the orders of Alfonso Ortíz, second in command of Investigations of the National Police, these individuals were taken to the garages of the National Police investigations division in Zona 6 of the city, where they were tortured under the supervision of the new Chief of Investigations, Pedro Arredondo.

          4.          Through a note dated December 8, 1980, and as additional information, the Commission provided to the Government a more thorough list received from the claimants, with the names, professions or offices of the individuals taken at the Emaús Medio Monte ranch on August 24, 1980. The list is as follows:

          5.          In a note dated April 20, 1981, the Commission again addressed the Guatemalan Government to repeat its request for information, and

CONSIDERING:

          1.          That to date the Government of Guatemala has not replied to the Commission's request for information.

          2.          That Article 39 of the Regulations provides the following:

          Article 39

         1. The facts reported in the petition whose pertinent parts have been transmitted to the government of the state in reference shall be presumed to be true if, during the maximum period set by the Commission under the provisions of Article 31, paragraph 5, the government has not provided the pertinent information, as long as other evidence does not lead to a different conclusion.

          THE INTER-AMERICAN COMMISSION ON HUMAN RIGHTS,

RESOLVES:

          1.          On the grounds of Article 39 of the Regulations, to presume to be true the fact denounced in the communication of September 10, 1980, concerning the arbitrary arrest and subsequent torture of a group of union leaders who were attending a meeting at the “Emaús Medio Monte” ranch, which is the property of the Escuintla Diocese, on August 24, 1980.

          2.          To declare that the Government of Guatemala violated Article 5 (Right to Humane Treatment), Article 7 (Right to Personal Liberty), Article 8 (Right to a Fair Trial), Article 15 (Right of Assembly) and Article 25 (Right to Judicial Protection) of the American Convention on Human Rights.

          3.          To recommend to the Guatemalan Government that it investigate the facts denounced and, as appropriate, punish those responsible, and that it advise the Commission, within a period of no more than 60 days, of the decision adopted.

          4.          To communicate this resolution to the Government of Guatemala and to the claimants.11

          7.       Case Nº 7585: The murder of union leaders Rodolfo Ramírez and

                    of his wife, Andrea Rodríguez de Ramírez, and the persecution of

                    their children

          At its 53^rd session the IACHR approved the following resolution on June 25, 1981, in connection with case 7585:

WHEREAS:

          1.          In a communication dated November 17, 1980, the following was denounced to the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights:

         We hereby transmit the testimony of our witness to the murder of our parents and the persecution against us, their children.

         The murder was committed, with total impunity, by “security” forces of the Government of General Romero Lucas García.

         On April 15, 1980, our parents returned from the center of the city at approximately 10:15 p.m., in the company of our small brother. Our brother opened the fence that served as a gate, so that they could put the car they were driving inside. At that moment a brown Toyota appeared, license plate P-31209. A man got out of the Toyota; from his clothing, he seemed to be from the eastern part of the country. He came toward our parents' car, firing a number of shots. The first shots struck our father's head and the cheeks. The man fired his weapon back and forth between the two bodies, at their chests, necks and faces, at close range. Our father tried to get out of the car and shouted to our mother. “Now Andrea, now,” but he was unable to do anything because he was unarmed.

         Our father died almost instantaneously. Our mother was able to open her eyes and tried to say something, but her effort was cut short by the mortal shots to her chest, neck and face. The 45 caliber bullets, fired at close range, caused so much loss of blood that it was necessary to “prepare them or compose them” before putting them in their coffins.

         The brother who had opened the gate was saved, but was threatened by the murderers. They intimidated him and warned him: “Don't say anything...” and showed him the weapon.

         Just minutes after the event, two vehicles with armed men inside stationed themselves at a distance of some 150 meters from the house.

         Momentarily, because of the impact of the brutal and inhumane act perpetrated against our parents, we were dazed, almost paralyzed. Only later, when we had recovered somewhat, were we able to call the volunteer firemen, who appeared some 30 minutes after our call, without siren and without the emergency light. Fifteen minutes later a National Police tank, known by the people as “Swat,” arrived. The policemen laughed unabashedly at the condition of our parents' bodies. One of the brothers asked them to leave. The policemen replied with aggressive threats and it was only when a number of individuals intervened that they left.

         Our mother was a worker in the clothing industry. When she married, she became a housewife. Our father was Secretary General of the Guatemalan Bricklayers Union, a member of the Executive Board of the Autonomous Union Federation of Guatemala (FASCUA); a member of the Executive Committee of the Union Unity Committee of Guatemala (CNUS); a representative of the Guatemalan construction workers to the Latin American Building, Wood and Construction Federation (FLEMACON), to the Union Unity Committee of Central America and Panama (CUSCA), to the Permanent Latin American Labor Congress (CPUSTAL), and to the World Federation of Trade Unions (WFTU).

         He had been in the union movement for more than 20 years. In 1977 and in 1978 he had been warned by the Verapaz leaders and by a rancher by the name of Champán that he would be shot if he entered the region. The Ministers of Government and of Labor had threatened the Executive Committee of FASGUA. The headquarters of the Federation, in Escuintla, has been machine gunned.

         At 8:00 p.m. that evening, our parents and one of our small brothers had gone downtown. When they did, they saw a man at the corner who, when he realized he had been seen, got inside the Toyota with several other individuals. They followed our parents for a number of blocks and then disappeared. As they left the neighborhood, our parents also noticed two cars with armed men inside, one a Toyota and the other a Volkswagen. The Toyota was nowhere to be seen when they returned, nor was the radio patrol car that guarded the chief of the Radio Patrol Section of the National Police, who lives in the same neighborhood.

         After the murder, a number of individuals collected shells and said that they were 45-caliber bullets; these are the bullets used officially by the army. The others were “confiscated” by the police, which said nothing about the caliber of the weapon. An official communique was released and published as a report of the incident in the newspaper El Gráfico, on April 17. The report stated that there was no account of the incident nor any witness to the murder; it also said that the caliber of the weapon used was not known. The caliber was not mentioned in the autopsy report either.

         Not satisfied with having taken the lives of our parents, they began to persecute the family. The persecution first manifested itself in the amphitheater as we were awaiting the results of the autopsy. Accompanied by family friends, we were on our way to a cafe, to make the wait less difficult. At that moment, two “guards” on a motorcycle parked for a few minutes and scrutinized us carefully.

         The headquarters of FASGUA, where the wake for our parents was held, was under heavy surveillance. There were a number of phone calls asking for the children of the individuals murdered; when the calls were taken, there was no one on the line. They asked for the son who had witnessed the murder.

         “On orders from above,” the firemen refused to provide information on what had happened; the journalists who asked them were told that it was the family that provided them with the corresponding data. During the burial, we were hounded by heavy police guard, even elements from the antiriot squad.

         The telephone, which was our contact with the outside, was taped. A number of individuals linked to the central government emphasized to us that the only way to guarantee our lives was to leave the country, in view of the “scandal” that the murder of our parents had created and because of the possible actions that might be taken as a result.

         When our presence in the country became unbearable because of the anxiety caused by the many threats we received, we were compelled to go to the diplomatic mission of Venezuela, to request the protection of that diplomatic mission so as to guarantee our safe departure.

          2.          In a note dated September 19, 1980, the Commission forwarded the pertinent parts of this denunciation to the Government of Guatemala and requested that it provide the corresponding information.

          3.          In a note dated April 20, 1981, the Commission again addressed the Government of Guatemala and repeated its request for information, and

CONSIDERING:

          1.          That to date the Government has not replied to the Commission's requests for information.

          2.          That Article 39 of the Regulations provides the following:

          Article 39

         1. The facts reported in the petition whose pertinent parts have been transmitted to the government of the state in reference shall be presumed to be true if, during the maximum period set by the Commission under the provisions of Article 31, paragraph 5, the government has not provided the pertinent information, as long as other evidence does not lead to a different conclusion.

          THE INTER-AMERICAN COMMISSION ON HUMAN RIGHTS,

RESOLVES:

          1.          On the grounds of Article 39 of the Regulations, to presume to be true the facts denounced in the communication of November 17, 1980, concerning the murder of Rodolfo Ramírez and his wife Andrea Rodríguez de Ramírez and the intimidation and threats against their children.

          2.          To declare that the Government of Guatemala violated Article 4 (Right to Life) of the American Convention on Human Rights.

          3.          To recommend to the Guatemalan Government that it investigate the facts denounced and, as appropriate, punish those responsible, and that it advise the Commission, within a period of no more than 60 days, of the decision adopted.

          4.          To forward this resolution to the Government of Guatemala and to the claimants.12

          8.          In themselves the cases listed demonstrate that the atmosphere of violence prevailing in the country, which has led to the murder of union leaders, makes it impossible for unions and associations and meetings in general to function normally.