[Congressional Record Volume 148, Number 105 (Monday, July 29, 2002)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1423]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                          HUMAN RIGHTS ISSUES

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                       HON. CONSTANCE A. MORELLA

                              of maryland

                    in the house of representatives

                         Friday, July 26, 2002

  Mrs. MORELLA. Mr. Speaker, while our nation recovers from the tragedy 
of September 11 and turns its focus toward hemispheric defense, we 
should also realize that crucial human rights issues are in jeopardy in 
our own backyard. Unbeknownst to many in this country, the situation in 
Guatemala is worsening by the day. During the Cold War, a 36-year civil 
war raged in this Central American nation, resulting in an estimated 
200,000 civilian deaths. Now, the infamous architect of Guatemala's 
most intense period of genocide against the Maya indigenous population, 
ex-director General Efrain Rios Montt, has staged a political 
renaissance thanks to a climate of intimidation and violence produced 
by the military's death squads.
  Andrew Blandford, Research Associate at the Washington-based Council 
on Hemispheric Affairs (COHA), has recently authored a press memorandum 
entitled ``Rios Montt's Political Resurgence in Guatemala Coincides 
with Increase in Violence with Impunity.'' This important analysis, 
which was released on July 26, will shortly appear in a revised form in 
the upcoming issue of that organization's estimable biweekly 
publication, The Washington Report on the Hemisphere. Blandford's 
research findings spotlight the developing Guatemalan human rights 
tragedy and examine the role played by that nation's government and 
military in violently covering up its sanguinary past.
  The inauguration of a second cycle of death squad activity in 
Guatemala was brought to the world's attention in 1998 when Bishop Juan 
Gerardi was bludgeoned to death in his garage just two days after 
delivering his report itemizing the army's responsibility for thousands 
of massacres during the 1980s. This year, human rights activist 
Guillermo Ovalle de Leon was shot at least 25 times while eating lunch 
at a restaurant in Guatemala City, and a June 7 fax signed by Los 
Guatemaltecos de Verdad labeled 11 prominent Guatemalan human rights 
activists as doomed enemies of the state because of their cooperation 
with UN Special Representative Hina Jilani during her May visit. 
Clearly, Mr. Speaker, Guatemala's militant regime is willing to commit 
whatever atrocity is necessary to shield its murderous past from the 
eyes of the international community.
  COHA researcher Blandford calls for the renewal of the 12-year U.S. 
ban on International Military Education and Training (IMET) to 
Guatemala. This resolution would illustrate the desire of the United 
States to attain peace and justice, as well as security, in Central 
America. By denying funds to the Guatemalan military, the U.S. would 
inherently be guarding civilians from political intimidation and 
violence. Consequently, the article is of great relevance since the 
need to constructively engage Guatemala is likely to grow in intensity 
in the coming months, given the nation's mushrooming trend of death 
squad killings.

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