Submitted by crinadmin on
In the past few months, Casa Alianza has been denouncing the “social cleansing” for which the State of Guatemala must be held responsible for its tacit complicity, as no action has been taken, despite the fact that day after day, children and teenagers are murdered, and their bodies appear with obvious evidence of the torture they have suffered. Street children are constantly threatened and intimidated by members of the police. Many of them live in permanent fear of being murdered by police or by contracted killers.
Last week, a group of children who stay on the streets of the central zone of Guatemala City, told Casa Alianza outreach workers that a group of soldiers parked close to them in two cars and then attacked them. Children identified the car licence plate numbers as 007GDH and 010GDH. The children talked about this situation with outreach workers from Casa Alianza, and indicated that similar incidents had occurred in recent weeks. They said that on some occasions, soldiers have taken children away for no apparent reason. These events were officially reported to the Public Ministry of Guatemala, and put forward for investigation (Oral Report No. MP001-2006-38029). Casa Alianza is concerned about the lack of safe-guards to protect street children in Guatemala, and demands a full investigation of the recent events. Casa Alianza considers the excessive use of force and abuse by police and military powers to be responsible and demands an immediate response. Also, the Committee asked the State of Guatemala to provide information of measures adopted to implement recommendations regarding reports of “social cleansing” of children and adolescents, especially the murders of street children and children from marginalised areas, who often appear with clear evidence of torture and ill-treatment.
On May 4th and 5th the United Nations Committee Against Torture (CAT) held its 36th session in Geneva, and examined the report on the State of Guatemala and its compliance with the UN Convention against Torture. Recommendations suggested a need “To repeal every law which authorises the Army of Guatemala to participate in police activities to prevent common criminality”.
During the past few years, the State of Guatemala has failed to respond to most of the UN and NGOs’ concerns with regards to the impunity of perpetrators and the lack of reparation provided to victims of torture and ill-treatment in the country. Casa Alianza demands that the State of Guatemala implement a plan to combat this violence.