Delegation to seek justice for Guatemalan trade unionist

Pedro Zamora had just collected two of his children from a clinic in the docklands area of Puerto Quetzal, southern Guatemala, and was driving home when the gunmen opened fire, spraying more than 100 bullets into his pick-up truck. As he crashed into a wall, he threw himself over the children to try to protect them. While he lay bleeding, one of the five gunmen walked up to him and fired a final bullet into his head at point blank range. His three-year-old son, Angel, was wounded.

The killing of Zamora, 36, the general secretary of the Guatemalan dockers' union, STEPQ, on January 15 this year, was the latest act of intimidation faced by trade unionists in that country. The four remaining members of the union's executive have all since received death threats.

Today a delegation of trade unionists and human rights activists from Europe, the US and Latin America is due in Guatemala to urge the government to bring Zamora's killers to justice. Zamora and his union had been in dispute last year with the state-owned port authorities over plans to privatise the port.

His death has highlighted the dangers faced by union activists in Latin America who try to preserve their rights in the face of increasing deregulation and privatisation.

The International Transport Workers Federation (ITF) which represents around five million transport workers in 148 countries, says Zamora's death should be properly investigated. ITF general secretary, David Cockroft said: "This was an execution-style killing and the perpetrators and the person who ordered it are still free to go about their murderous business. We don't think that's good enough."

Sam Dawson of ITF, which has its headquarters in London, said that Guatemala and Colombia were the two most dangerous countries in Latin America for trade unionists. The delegation will visit Zamora's family and meet senior government ministers and human rights groups.

Amnesty International is also calling for action to ensure the safety of Zamora's colleagues, saying that their lives "are in serious and imminent danger". A spokesperson said they believed there was a "lack of political will [in Guatemala] to deal with the longstanding issues of impunity, a weak judicial system, clandestine groups and hostility to human rights".

A spokesman for the Guatemalan embassy in London said an investigation into the murder was under way and they were hopeful the killers would be brought to justice. He said that one of the problems was that there were so many other cases to be investigated.

"When my nine-month-old baby daughter came from Central America to live with us in south London, I, like many new mothers, was keen to introduce her to the world. So I took her to meet the local shopkeepers: 7 Star Cleaners, where the Turkish Cypriot proprietors live, eat and alter clothes around a big family table, behind a forest of Cellophane-wrapped hangers, within waving distance of the counter. One of the women beckoned us through, and at her summons husbands, uncles, nephews and aunts swiftly materialised.

They all complimented Rosie on her rose-tinted honey-brown skin - different in tone from their own olivey skin - and gorgeous black hair. I had known this woman for years, was acquainted with her husband before he died of a heart attack, and in spite of her less than fluent English we have a bond: she too knew my husband, two boys and five-year-old daughter Angelica, who had died of meningitis four years earlier. On the day of Angelica's funeral, her family had brought yellow roses to the porch of the church." [More]

Guatemala: Congress must ratify UN-backed commission against impunity

The Guatemalan Congress must urgently ratify the new International Commission Against Impunity (CICIG) if the country is to tackle clandestine criminal groups, said Amnesty International today.

Once approved by Congress, the UN-sponsored CICIG will act in support of the Public Prosecutor's Office, suggesting methods of investigation and presenting evidence. The Public Prosecutor's Office will have ultimate responsibility for deciding whether or not to pursue an investigation.

"The existence and operations of clandestine groups severely undermines respect for the rule of law and human rights" said Sebastian Elgueta, Amnesty International's researcher for Guatemala. "The CICIG could become a valuable contributor in the fight against clandestine criminal groups and the impunity they enjoy."

The CICIG is an extremely important step in the fight against impunity and clandestine groups operating in Guatemala. There is grave concern that if the ratification of CICIG is not made a priority by all political parties, it will fail to advance.

"It is now over three years since initial proposals were discussed to establish an international commission to investigate clandestine criminal groups. The longer discussions and agreements are delayed, the more entrenched criminal networks become in state institutions and the more difficult it becomes to purge the system."

Amnesty International welcomes the international support that the CICIG initiative has received. The organization calls on the Congress of Guatemala to maintain the engagement of the international community and to show a real commitment to the protection of human rights by approving the CICIG without delay.