At 9am on 24 July, three armed men forced their way into Norma
Maldonado´s Guatemala City home. The intruders dragged those
present, including a member of the Board of Directors of Mama
Maquin, a rural indigenous women's rights group and a student from
the United States (US) who had been working with them, to the
building's ground floor. The men opened files on several
computers, rifled through papers, diskettes, and folders,
apparently searching for something specific. One of the raiders
repeatedly said "It´s not here," ("No esta") to which another
responded "Keep looking" ("Segui buscando"). The men broke
diskettes and threw posters with environmental justice slogans
around the building's entrance.

After over an hour, the intruders left, possibly frightened off by
the telephone's repeated ringing and arrival of a visitor. They
took two laptop computers with data on the groups´ activities and
a camera with footage of a recent meeting of Mexican and
Guatemalan environmental justice advocates opposed to the proposed
Plan Puebla Panama (PPP) treaty, held in June in Ixcan, Guatemala.
However, clearly visible money and cars with keys in them were not
taken.

Norma Maldonado works with an umbrella group Mesa Global de
Guatemala, which includes Mama Maquin, and is concerned about the
effects on local communities of the proposed Free Trade Area of
the Americas and the PPP. Following the June Ixcan meeting, openly
observed by personnel from the local military base, other
attendees reportedly received death threats, and Norma Maldonado
heard noises on her telephone which suggested it may have been
bugged.

In recent months, actions by various Guatemalan and other groups
concerned about the environmental and social effects of the PPP,
and the climate of total secrecy in which such agreements have
been negotiated, have attracted considerable international
attention. Amnesty International fears that business interests
with known ties to the Guatemalan military may be orchestrating
intimidation of the leadership of environmental groups to silence
their opposition to such treaties.

BACKGROUND INFORMATION
The raid on Norma Maldonado´s residence occurred during a wave of
politically-motivated violence in Guatemala City. On 24 July, as
many as 5,000 supporters of General Efrain Rios Montt rampaged
through the capital, purportedly protesting recent court decisions
upholding the Constitutional ban on coup participants, like the
General, from running for presidential office. Many arrived on
buses allegedly provided by the ruling Frente Republicano
Guatemalteco (FRG), Guatemalan Republican Front political party,
of which the General is a founding member. The protestors were
allegedly given food, weapons and instructions by masked men, some
of whom were recognized as FRG leaders. Under their direction, the
mob committed acts of vandalism and violence, targeting noted
opponents of the FRG, including judges who had ruled against the
General's candidacy, opponents in the business and diplomatic
communities, and journalists. One journalist died, apparently from
a heart attack, shortly after escaping the mob; another was
drenched in gasoline but was able to escape before being set
alight. Human rights groups, many of whom have been vocal in their
criticism of General Rios Montt and his party, closed their
offices and sought protection. The disturbances only concluded
when the General himself reportedly ordered the mob to disperse.
Human Rights Procurator Sergio Morales subsequently announced that
he had received word of a plan to execute a number of human rights
activists, named on a black-list.

General Rios Montt came to power in a 1982 coup and ruled the
country during one of the most repressive periods of Guatemala's
prolonged civil conflict. Since 2000, the FRG administration of
President Alfonso Portillo has brought a marked deterioration in
the human rights climate, with an alarming increase in
intimidation, harassment, surveillance, abductions, attacks, and
apparent extrajudicial executions directed against the human
rights community, including those struggling for environmental
justice. With General Rios Montt determined to run for president,
Amnesty International is gravely concerned that the current
climate of heightened tensions may lead to further acts of
violence in the lead-up to the November presidential elections.

RECOMMENDED ACTION: Please send appeals to arrive as quickly as
possible, in Spanish or your own language:
- expressing grave concern for the safety of Norma Maldonado,
members of Mama Maquin, and other environmental justice activists
who have opposed the Plan Puebla Panama (PPP) treaty;

- pressing the authorities to carry out an immediate, impartial
and exhaustive investigation into the raid on Normal Maldonado's
residence, to make the results public and bring those responsible
to justice;

- calling on the government to ensure that the civilian
population, including local environmental and human rights
activists, are protected and that the rule of law is maintained in
Guatemala, to avoid further incidents like the 24 July mob
violence;

- urging the government to collaborate fully with the work of the
proposed Comision para la Investigacion de Cuerpos Illegales y
Aparatos Clandestinos de Seguridad (CICIACS), which is to
investigate human rights abuses allegedly committed by illegal
armed groups and clandestine security
apparatus and to take immediate steps to dismantle such groups and
prosecute those involved.

APPEALS TO (Time difference = GMT - 6 hrs / BST - 7 hrs):

President
President of the Republic of Guatemala
LIc. Alfonso Portillo Cabrera
Presidente de la Republica de Guatemala
6a Avenida "A" 4-41, Zona 1, Ciudad de Guatemala, GUATEMALA
Fax: 00 502 238 3579
[Salutation: Dear Mr. President/ Excelentisimo Sr. Presidente]

Minister of the Interior
Lic. Adolfo Reyes Calderon
Ministro de Gobernacion
Ministerio de Gobernacion
6a Avenida 4-64, Zona 4, Ciudad de Guatemala, GUATEMALA
Fax: 00 502 362 0237/362 0239
[Salutation: Dear Minister/Senor Ministro]

Attorney General
Lic. Carlos David de Leon Argueta
Fiscal General de la Republica
Fiscalia General del Ministerio Publico
8a. Avenida 10-57, Tercer nivel, Zona 1
Ciudad de Guatemala, GUATEMALA
Fax: 00502 221 2718
[Salutation: Dear Attorney General/Senor Fiscal General]