RSF, Guatemalan ex-dictator's backers attack reporters

Guatemala, July 25 --- Reporters Without Borders today voiced deep shock at the death of Hector Ramírez of Radio Sonora and the violence against other journalists yesterday by supporters of General Efraín Ríos Montt, who blame the press for a court decision that is threatening his bid to be presidential candidate for the ruling Guatemala Republican Front (FRG) in the next elections.

"The violent attacks by demonstrators against the press are extremely serious and must not remain unpunished," Reporters Without Borders secretary-general Robert Ménard said in a letter to President Alfonso Portillo. "It is your duty to ensure that those responsible are identified and punished, and we caution you against any laxity because the assailants came from within the ranks of your own party," he continued.

The letter stressed that Reporters Without Borders was very concerned by yesterday's violence because it followed threats and attacks against some 10 journalists in recent weeks. "Halting this spiral of violent is a matter of great urgency," Ménard concluded.

Ramírez, 61, died of a heart attack as he was being chased by FRG supporters through the streets of Guatemala City. He worked for the news program "Notisiete" on the Canal 7 television station as well as for Radio Sonora.

Several other journalists came under attack when they tried to approach buildings that had been sealed off by Ríos Montt supporters. Some of the demonstrators wore masks and carried guns or knives. They insulted the journalists, chased them and threatened to beat them.

Those attacked included Juan Carlos Torres, a photographer with the daily elPeriodico, and Hector Estrada, a cameraman with the TV station Guatevision, who managed to escape after demonstrators doused them with petrol in order to burn them alive. Torres, whose camera equipment was destroyed, was hospitalized.

The daily Prensa Libre reported that Donald González, a journalist with a local radio station, saw his motorcycle being smashed up and that a photographer with the newspaper Siglo XXI was badly beaten by demonstrators who tried to rob his equipment.

The organization Periodistas Frente a la Corrupción (Journalists Against Corruption) for its part reported that Edgar Valle, another journalist with "Notisiete," and his cameraman were attacked by Ríos Montt supporters outside the Supreme Court.

Agence France- Presse reported that later in the day that the offices of three daily newspapers, Prensa Libre, elPeriodico and Nuestro Diario, had to be partially evacuated after calls were received warning they could be the target of attacks. Only the journalists stayed behind. A member of the elPeriódico said that 300 demonstrators gathered outside the newspaper.

Ríos Montt's supporters want him to be able to stand in the 9 November presidential elections and appear to hold the press responsible for a decision by the Supreme Court on 20 July that has temporarily suspended his candidacy. Bussed into the center of the city at the start of the day, they blocked access for several hours to various public institutions and a private office block with several hundred persons inside. Ríos Montt, who is currently the congressional president, has denied that the FRG was behind the protest.

The Supreme Court's decision was taken in response to an appeal by two opposition parties against the constitutional court's decision to approve Ríos Montt's candidacy. The opposition maintains that since Ríos Montt took power briefly in a 1982 military coup, his candidacy violates a provision of the 1985 constitution barring anyone who overthrew a constitutional government from being president. The armed forces committed extensive human rights violations during the 18 months that Ríos Montt's de facto government lasted.

Reporters Without Borders (RSF, by its French initials) defends imprisoned journalists and press freedom throughout the world, as well as the right to inform the public and to be informed, in accordance with Article 19 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Reporters Without borders has nine national sections (in Austria, Belgium, France, Germany, Italy, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, and the United Kingdom), representatives in Abidjan, Bangkok, Buenos Aires, Istanbul, Montreal, Moscow, New York, Tokyo and Washington and more than a hundred correspondents worldwide.

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opinion

Guatemala: One journalist dead, five others attacked, newspaper offices evacuated in violent demonstrations by Ríos Montt supporters