Guatemalan experts receive death threats after testifying at 1982 massacre trial

[News_Editor]

Guatemalan experts receive death threats after testifying at 1982 massacre trial

2011-08-14 04:35:04 GMT+7 (ICT)

LONDON (BNO NEWS) -- Four staff members of a forensic anthropology team have received death threats after testifying at a high-profile trial over a massacre that left at least 201 villagers dead during Guatemala's civil war, rights group Amnesty International reported on Saturday.

The rights group said Freddy Peccerelli, the founder of the Guatemalan Forensic Anthropology Foundation (FAFG), on Monday received a hand-written death threat. The note also mentioned his colleagues José Samuel Suasnavar, Leonel Estuardo Paiz and Omar Bertoni, all of whom gave testimony at the trial.

According to Spanish News Agency EFE, Peccerelli stated in a press conference on Thursday that he had also been chased while driving his car in Guatemala City last week. According to him, unknown men approached his vehicle and cut one of the tires while waiting for the red traffic light.

Both incidents came just over a week after four former soldiers were sentenced to 6,060 years in prison for the 1982 massacre of 201 people in the village of Dos Erres in the northern Petén department of Guatemala.

Guatemala's Public Prosecutor's office had called on the forensic experts to testify at the trial based on their work to exhume and analyze the victims of the massacre.

"It is unacceptable for expert witnesses to be intimidated like this, and Guatemalan authorities must order an independent, thorough and impartial investigation into these threats and bring those responsible to justice," said Sebastian Elgueta, Amnesty International's Central America Researcher.

"Guatemalans have waited nearly three decades for justice in the case of the Dos Erres massacre and hundreds of other grave human rights violations, and the failure to stop such death threats would cast a pall over the judicial process," Elgueta added.

The hand-written note received by Peccerelli read: "Sons of a bitch. You will pay us slowly for each of the 6,050 years. Because of you, our people are going to suffer; now we won't simply watch you, we will leave you battered like the rest."

The note continued saying: "when you least expect it, you will die. Your families will pay, you will follow."

"Guatemala has an appalling track record of impunity, and allowing these latest threats to go unpunished will simply entrench that further," said Elgueta. "The authorities should consult with staff members of the Guatemalan Forensic Anthropology Foundation to ensure that full and appropriate protection is provided for them and their families, and must ensure that expert witnesses are not put at risk in future."

-- © BNO News All rights reserved 2011-08-14