Dokument #1275951
IRB – Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada (Autor)
Two November 1995 reports state that eight
to nine members of the Association of Law Students (AED)
participated in a hunger strike outside the Guatemalan Supreme
Court to call for the prosecution of those responsible for the
November 1994 murder of law student Mario Alioto López
Sánchez and the wounding of several others during a student
protest (Cerigua 16 Nov. 1995; Guatemala Human Rights
Update 17 Nov. 1995). The students ended their eight-day
hunger strike when they received assurances from the authorities
that new charges would be laid against former minister of the
interior, Danillo Parrinello Blanco, former vice minister of the
interior, Colonel Mario Alfredo Mérida, and former National
Police director, Salvador Figueroa (ibid.). The Guatemala Human
Rights Update report adds that AED President Gustavo Peralta,
while not a participant in the strike but a supporter, received
several death threats by telephone during the hunger strike (17
Nov. 1995).
Several reports state that the November
1994 student protests at the University of San Carlos (USAC) were
the consequence of a significant increase in urban bus fares
(Central America Report 18 Nov. 1994; Guatemala Human
Rights Update 9 Dec. 1994; IPS 15 Nov. 1994). For additional
information on this student protest, as well as the death of law
student Mario Alioto López Sánchez, please consult
the 9 December 1994 and the 17 November 1995 Guatemala Human
Rights Update reports attached to Response to Information
Request GTM25405.F of 21 November 1996.
An 11 February 1990 Reuters report states
that USAC law student Armando Piedrasanta Garcia was kidnapped by
armed men outside of his home. Another Reuters report states that
Garcia was held in captivity for several hours on 6 February before
being released (19 Feb. 1990). The same report adds that Garcia
left Guatemala unharmed on 14 February 1990.
For general information on the political
activities of the University Students Association at USAC,
including abuses suffered by its members in 1992 and 1993, please
consult Response to Information Request GTM17355.E of 17 May 1994,
which refers to a 10 April 1993 IPS report stating that the body of
a law student was found several days after he was kidnapped.
This Response was prepared after
researching publicly accessible information currently available to
the Research Directorate within time constraints. This Response is
not, and does not purport to be, conclusive as to the merit of any
particular claim to refugee status or asylum. Please find below the
list of additional sources consulted in researching this
Information Request.
References
Central America Report
[Guatemala City]. 18 November 1994. "Security Forces Violently
Repress Student Protest."
Cerigua [Guatemala City]. 16
November 1995. "Students End Hunger Strike." (Central America
NewsPak [Austin, Tex.], 13 Nov.-26 Nov. 1995, Vol. 10, No. 21,
p. 5)
Guatemala Human Rights Update
[Washington, DC]. 17 November 1995. "Students Win Action on Alioto
Case With Week-Long Hunger Strike."
_____. 9 December 1994. "Students
Killed, Others Injured in Police Attack."
InterPress Service (IPS). 15 November
1994. "Clash Leaves Dozens of Students Wounded." (Central
America NewsPak [Austin, Tex.], 14 Nov.-27 Nov. 1994, Vol. 9,
No. 21, p. 6)
Reuters. 19 February 1990. "Prominent
Guatemalan Doctor Released, Flees to United States." (NEXIS)
_____. 11 February 1990. "Medical
Professor Kidnapped by Four Armed Men." (NEXIS)
Additional Sources Consulted
Amnesty International Report.
1995-1997.
Country Reports on Human Rights
Practices. 1994-1996.
Central America Report
[Guatemala City]. 1994-1997.
Human Rights Watch World
Report. 1995-1997.
Latinamerica Press [Lima].
1994-1997.
Latin American Regional Reports:
Caribbean & Central America Report [London].
1994-1997.
Electronic sources: IRB Databases,
Global News Bank, Internet, REFWORLD (UNHCR database), World News
Connection (WNC).