Human Rights Watch condemned the raid today on the home of a human rights defender in Guatemala. Three armed men searched the home of Ronalth Ochaeta, director of the Human Rights Office of the Archbishop of Guatemala, according to information received by Human Rights Watch. The men reportedly hit a domestic servant and left a box containing two rocks.
We are shocked and outraged to learn of this terrible threat. The government should be ashamed that nearly one year after the assassination of Bishop Gerardi, his murder remains unsolved and his staff face such serious threats.
José Miguel Vivanco
Executive director of the Americas Division of Human Rights Watch
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The rocks may have been intended as a reminder of the weapon used on April 26, 1998, to assassinate Bishop Juan José Gerardi, the founder of the human rights office, in a crime still unsolved by the authorities. Gerardi was slain only days after publicly releasing a four-volume study of human rights atrocities committed by all parties to Guatemala's three-decade armed conflict.
"We are shocked and outraged to learn of this terrible threat," stated José Miguel Vivanco, executive director of the Americas Division of Human Rights Watch. "The government should be ashamed that nearly one year after the assassination of Bishop Gerardi, his murder remains unsolved and his staff face such serious threats."
Vivanco urged the government to undertake an urgent investigation into today's raid and to prosecute and punish those found responsible. He also urged the authorities to view the first anniversary of Bishop Gerardi's murder as an occasion to redouble efforts to solve that terrible crime.
