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death threats
8 de septiembre de 2006
Un periodista de radio recibió disparos en boca y mano en lo que parece ser un acto de venganza contra su trabajo de informar sobre la corrupción en las grandes empresas. Vinicio Aguilar recibió tiros y fue dejado por muerto por dos asaltantes desconocidos que se le acercaron en motocicleta cuando corría en un barrio de la ciudad de Guatemala a primera hora de la mañana del 23 de agosto.
Aguilar (45), que permanece hospitalizado en estado estable, presenta un popular programa radiofónico diario con llamadas en la emisora independiente «Radio diez». Su programa trata regularmente de temas como el crimen organizado, la evasión de impuestos y la corrupción.
La emisora de radio había recibido amenazas en varias ocasiones por informar sobre un juicio por evasión de impuestos que implicaba a Avícola Villalobos, uno de los conglomerados agrícolas más importantes de América central. 
Un grupo de hombres armados mataron al conductor de un automóvil en el que viajaban tres miembros de la NUSOJ (National Union of Somali Journalists, unión nacional de periodistas somalíes) de la ciudad de Baidoa, al sur, a Mogadiscio el pasado 4 de agosto.
Los tres hombres mataron a Madey Garas en una emboscada cuando llevaba al secretario general de la NUSOJ, Omar Faruk Osman, otros dos directivos de la organización y sus dos guardaespaldas, a la capital somalí.
Los defensores de los derechos humanos se encontraron con un puesto de control en el que había tres hombres armados, aproximadamente a 45 km de Baidoa, la sede del débil gobierno provisional de Somalia. Según los pasajeros, no hay ninguna autoridad reconocida en la región, de modo que no detuvieron el automóvil. Al pasar por el puesto de control, los guardaespaldas sacaron sus pistolas y los tres hombres armados abrieron fuego sobre el automóvil, lo cual resultó en la muerte inmediata del conductor.
Un editor de un periódico independiente de Rwanda ha recibido llamadas telefónicas anónimas, donde una voz lo amenaza con golpearlo hasta producirle la muerte. Bosco Gasasira también ha estado bajo supervisión militar desde el día 10 de agosto. Se cree que se ha convertido en un objetivo de las autoridades de Rwanda por negarse a dar a conocer el paradero del editor de otro de los periódicos independientes de ese país.
Para más información visite el sito de Reporteros sin Fronteras (http://www.rsf.org/article.php3?id_article=18505.htp)
27 July 2006
One year ago, on 31 July 2005, hugely respected human rights defender Pascal Kabungulu was shot dead in front of his family at his home in Bukavu, Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) by three armed men.
Pascal was the Executive Secretary of human rights organisation Heritiers de la Justice. He is survived by his wife Kitumani Kasiba and their six children, who were forced to go into exile shortly after his murder.
Front Line is extremely concerned with the lack of progress of the legal investigations into his death. There have been two separate investigations; the first was a commission of enquiry established by the acting governor, Didace Kaningini. The members of this commission concluded that they could not act on the case as the commission had lost credibility when the governor was accused of fabricating evidence to incriminate members of Heritiers de la Justice.
30 March 2006
A Guatemalan anthropologist and members of his family and staff have recently received death threats because of his work investigating gross human rights abuses committed during Guatemala’s 36-year civil war.
Front Line is concerned about the safety of Fredy Peccerelli, head of the Guatemala Forensic Anthropology Foundation (FAFG), his sister Bianka Peccerelli, his brother-in-law and colleague Omar Giron de Leon, his brother Giani Peccerelli, his ex wife Jeannette Peccerelli and all the staff at the FARG.
FAFG is a non-governmental organisation that investigates, documents and raises awareness of human rights violations through forensic examination. FAFG’s forensic anthropologists exhume clandestine mass graves and analyse human remains in order to enable criminal prosecutions to be brought against the perpetrators: many of whom are walking Guatemala’s streets freely. To date, FAFG have exhumed over 400 graves and examined 3000 skeletal remains
Ocho miembros del Sindicato de Trabajadores del Crédito Hipotecario Nacional (STCHN) han sido amenazados de muerte en Guatemala con dos anuncios de muerte y una corona funeraria. El STCHN es un sindicato que forma parte de la Unión Sindical de Trabajadores de Guatemala (UNISTRAGUA) y ha estado participando en campañas contra la privatización y la corrupción. El pasado 25 de julio de 2005, aparentemente se colocó una corona funeraria delante de la sede de UNISTRAGUA y dos anuncios de muerte dentro de las oficinas, que contenían amenazas de muerte contra:
• Luis Ernesto Morales Gálvez, miembro del Consejo Consultivo • Edgar Vinicio Ordóñez García, Secretario General • Luis Fernando Sirin Aroche, Secretario de Trabajo y Conflicto • Efraín López Quiché, Secretario de Comunicación, Leyes y Acuerdos • José Douglas Asencio, Secretario de Deportes • Elio Santiago Monroy López, Secretario de Finanzas • Danilo Enrique Chea Herrera , Secretario de Organización y Publicidad • Manuel Francisco Arias Virula, Secretario de Bienestar Social
Defending Women, Defending Rights International Campaign on Women Human Rights Defenders
Mahboobeh Abbasgholizadeh, a woman activist in Iran and editor of Farzaneh (the first women’s studies journal in Iran) is in prison upon the order of Tehran’s General Prosecutor. For more than two weeks now, Mahboobeh has been held without any formal charges, and she has been denied access to legal counsel or any visitors. Her only apparent offense is her activism and strong linkages with international women’s rights movement. Fereshteh Ghazi, another woman journalist writing on women’s issues for a daily newspaper in Iran, was also arrested.
Irene Fernandez, a Malaysian woman activist who has been fighting for women workers’ rights, has been prosecuted and convicted by the Malaysian government in a case, which has been dragged on for eight years. She is being prosecuted for releasing comprehensive documentation of the abuses against migrant workers in detention in Malaysia. She is currently appealing her case before the court.
Front Line está enormemente preocupada por la seguridad de la defensora de los derechos humanos colombiana, Soraya Gutiérrez Arguello, la de su familia y la de los otros miembros de la Corporación Colectivo de Abogados “José Alvear Restrepo” (CCJAR) tras la confirmación de que Soraya Gutiérrez Arguello, presidenta de la organización, ha sido amenazada de muerte.
Según la información recibida, el 13 de mayo de 2005, el guardia de seguridad de la urbanización en que vive Soraya Gutiérrez Arguello le entregó a ésta un paquete sospechoso. Una compañía de mensajería lo había entregado ese mismo día. Sospechando que podía tratarse de una carta bomba, Soraya Gutiérrez Arguello se puso en contacto con la policía para abrirlo. Dentro de la caja encontraron una muñeca decapitada y cortada en trozos. Algunas partes del cuerpo de la muñeca estaban quemadas o pintadas con esmalte de uñas rojo para que pareciera ensangrentado. En el cuerpo de la muñeca habían pintado una cruz, y el paquete contenía también una nota que decía lo siguiente: “Tienes una buena familia, cuida de ella y no las sacrifiques”.
Front Line welcomes the release of the five human rights defenders on 8 April 2005, after they were abducted on 31 March 2005. Armed gunmen, identifying themselves as members of the guerrilla group Revolutionary Armed Forces of Columbia (FARC), simultaneously entered two humanitarian zones in the Jiguiamiando and Curvarado River Basins and removed the five defenders who had been working with Afro-descendent communities in these areas.
Also, in recent years these communities have been victim to repeated death threats and human rights violations committed by army-backed paramilitary forces operating in the area. The organisation itself has previously received death threats against members, including Danilo Rueda, National Co-ordinator. Danilo Rueda was forced into temporary exile in 2003 due to threats on his life.
Since the release of the five human rights defenders, Danilo Rueda and other members of the organisation have reportedly been followed and watched by armed men. Front Line remains concerned for the safety of the organisations members.
Three leading human rights defenders in the DRC have been forced to go into exile as a result of the heightened threats against their security and the safety of their families. The three defenders had been working in the troubled city of Goma and were reportedly threatened by members of the local security apparatus. The latest threats appear to be connected to reports to which a number of North Kivu human rights activists, including the above, were signatories, which denounced recent arms distributions to civilians in Goma and elsewhere in North Kivu province. One of the three defenders, the Director General of the Centre de Recherche sur l’Environnement, la Démocratie et les Droits de l’Homme (CREDDHO) fled Goma having received several anonymous phone calls issuing death threats against him. On 1st January, the Director General of CREDDHO returned to his house to find that in his absence he had been visited by a group of men, presumed to be security service agents. He decided to flee Goma the following day with his family.
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