break-in

Guatemala: Break-in at the home of human rights defender Ms Erenia Vanegas and threats against Ms Claudia Samayoa and members of SEDEM

Posted on 2010/03/10

The home of human rights defender Ms Erenia Vanegas was broken into on 5 March 2010 and the car of Ms Claudia Samayoa was tampered with in an attempt to cause an accident on 2 February 2010.

Guatemala

Serbia: Break-in at the home of State Secretary for human rights, Mr Marko Karadzic

Posted on 2010/01/25

On 8 January 2010, the apartment of human rights defender Mr Marko Karadzic was broken into. Marko Karadzic is the State Secretary at the Ministry for Human and Minority Rights.

Serbia

Upsurge of violence against human rights organizations in Guatemala

Posted on 2007/05/24

On 20 May 2007 intruders broke into the office of ActionAid in Zone 13 of Guatemala City and stole computer hard-drives containing files on ActionAids work in Guatemala. No other items of value were taken. ActionAid is the fifth member of the International Forum of NGOs to be attacked in the last month.

Guatemala

Guatemalan human rights organisations offices attacked

Posted on 2007/02/07

The office of the National Movement for Human Rights (MNDH) in Guatemala City was physically attacked and ransacked during the weekend of the 3-5 February 2007. The office is also shared with the Human Rights Defenders Unit and the Association for Communication of Art and Peace.

Reportedly the doors of the premises were forced open, and in some cases, holes were made in the walls between office rooms. Thirteen computers containing information on human rights violations and on mining issues, including encrypted information on financial and operational details of the member organisations of the MNDH were stolen.

A number of paper files relating to mining from MNDH and the Association for Communication of Art and Peace Asociacíon (COMUNICARTE) were also taken. The master tapes of COMUNICARTE’s entire documentary collection, cameras, projectors, and money were also taken from the office. Those responsible for the break-in left human faeces and gloves behind them. While staff waited for the police to arrive outside the building, a red car drove by. An individual in the car leaned out of the window of the car and proceeded to film the staff and the building.

Guatemala

Death threats against Guatemalan human rights organisation

Posted on 2006/03/29

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

Guatemala

Front Line Mission report on the case of Pascal Kabungulu

Posted on 2006/02/05

6 February 2006

Pascal Kabungulu - findings & recommendations of Front Line/Amnesty International mission in DRC: 1 – 11 November 2005

People interviewed:

Lt. Col. Majaliwa Mulindwa (Auditeur Supérieur or Military Prosecutor): Président de la Commission d’Enquête [phone interview]

Meli Meli Idumbo (Avocat Général): Vice-Président de la Commission d’Enquête

Anicet Muhimuzi Rutebuka (Major P2): Membre de la Commission d’Enquête

Didace Kaningini, Gouverneur (p.i.) de la Province du Sud-Kivu

Lt-Col Thierry Ilunga (Commandant de la 105e Brigade)

Maître Bisimwa (lawyer for the wife of Pascal Kabungulu)

Maurice Bahati, Chargé de l’Administration & Finances, Héitiers de la Justice

Maître Roger Muchuba (Héritiers de la Justice)

Roger Anderson (“petit frère” de Pascal Kabungulu)

Facts relating to the case:

· Pascal Kabungulu’s house is located about halfway down a hill (approximately 50 metres) & is accessed by a steep muddy footpath from the upper road. The track continues down to a lower road. · There are a number of other private houses in the same area. None is protected by a fence or other barrier.

Democratic Republic of Congo

DR Congo: Prominent Human Rights Defender Assassinated

Posted on 2005/09/12

1 August DR Congo: Prominent Human Rights Defender Assassinated Transitional Government Must Investigate, Bring Killers to Justice

(London -- August 1, 2005) -- The Congolese government must immediately start thorough and independent investigations into yesterday’s assassination of human rights activist Pascal Kabungulu Kibembi, Human Rights Watch, Amnesty International and Front Line said today.

Pascal Kabungulu was the Secretary-General of Héritiers de la Justice (Heirs of Justice), a leading human rights organization in the Democratic Republic of Congo. He was also the Vice-President of the regional umbrella Ligue des Droits de l’Homme dans la Région des Grands Lacs (LDGL).

Pascal Kabungulu was assassinated in his home in Bukavu, eastern Congo, in the early hours of July 31. Three armed men in uniform broke into his house, dragged him out of his bedroom and shot him in front of his family. Family members reported that just before his execution the attackers said, “We were looking for you and today is the day of your death.” The men stole Mr. Kabungulu’s laptop, a TV and a tape recorder.

Democratic Republic of Congo

Destruction of Kazan Center for Human Rights' Office, May 2004

Posted on 2004/08/10

Front Line is alarmed by reports it has received from the Kazan Center for Human Rights. On the 27th of May 2004 the Center was broken into and badly vandalized. Reportedly, two men concealing their identity with masks broke into the offices and destroyed computers and other office equipment. One staff member of the Center was present during the attack.

The Kazan Human Rights Center (in the autonomous republic of Tatarstan, Russia), is a human rights organization providing legal support for victims of human rights violations from the side of law enforcement bodies. From April 2003 to May 2004 human rights activists received more than 140 complaints on illegal activity of Tatarstan law enforcement bodies. All of them were checked. As a result the Center’s lawyers managed to initiate 11 official investigations on tortures and corruption against 11 militia officers. The court found four militiamen guilty; six others are waiting for trials.

Russia

Intimidation of members of Centre for Human Rights Legal Action (CALDH) in Guatemala

Posted on 2004/07/20

Front Line is seriously concerned for the safety of members of the Centre for Human Rights Legal Action (CALDH), a non-governmental organisation which campaigns for truth and justice on behalf of victims of genocide in Guatemala.

In April 2004 it brought the case of the massacre on 18 July 1982 of 268 inhabitants of the community of Plan de Sanchez by the Guatemalan armed forces before the Inter American Court on Human Rights, which subsequently condemned the Guatemalan Government for the massacre. CALDH is also a member of the coalition promoting the creation of the Commission for the Investigation of Illegal bodies and Clandestine Security Operations (CICIACS). Christina Laur, a member of CALDH, attended the Front Line Second Dublin Platform for Human Rights Defenders in September 2003.

According to reports received by Front Line, on 14 and 15 July 2004 the home of the director of CALDH, Edda Gaviola, was broken into. Nothing was stolen but intimidating messages were left and her personal documents had been searched.

Guatemala

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