New Gerardi report termed
inadequate
By PAUL JEFFREY
Special to the National Catholic Reporter
After months of delays, Guatemalan President Alfonso Portillo
finally released a report on Oct. 14 detailing what he knows about who killed
Bishop Juan Gerardi Conedera in 1998. Like many of the developments in this
murder turned soap opera, it was one step forward, two steps back.
Portillo had said in his inaugural speech in January, and
reaffirmed several times since, that he knew something about who was
responsible for the assassination of Gerardi, the auxiliary bishop of Guatemala
City. Gerardi had led a Historic Memory project that documented
atrocities committed primarily by the military against civilians. Human rights
advocates believe his murder was retribution for that work.
Portillo said he would share twhat he knew with prosecutors. Yet
the report, a scant two pages, states that the government knew nothing, and
claims the military didnt even investigate the case.
In relation to the ordered investigation, the minister of
National Defense has manifested that the armed forces does not possess reports
about the case of the assassination of Monseñor Gerardi because the
matter does not correspond to its mandate, the document stated. Church
officials and human rights activists called foul.
The report has nothing. It clearly demonstrates that there
is no political will to cooperate with the investigation. The government just
did it to comply with the requirement that it do so, Nery Rodenas,
director of the Archdiocesan Human Rights Office, told NCR. This
action by the government only benefits impunity.
(At press time NCR learned that -- apparently because of
public outcry against the flimsy report -- Portillo scheduled a meeting with
Leopoldo Zeissig, the head prosecutor on the case. According to reports,
Portillos secretary for strategic analysis, Edgar Gutierrez, a former
associate of Gerardi and coordinator of the Historic Memory Project, said he
had found information that could help.
(In the meantime, the trial was officially suspended while the
courts consider a motion by the lawyer for the military personnel indicted.
Some say this latest legal maneuver could delay the trial into next year.)
Marco Antonio Aguilar, an assistant government human rights
prosecutor, said he wasnt surprised at Portillos report. No
one investigates themselves. If there are no results, its because the
state refuses to blame its own agents, and they know that those responsible for
the crime are in the military, he said.
Karen Fischer, coordinator of the Alliance Against Impunity, also
railed against Estrada. Theres sufficient evidence demonstrating
that Monseñor Gerardi was killed for political reasons, she said.
Yet each time a political crime is committed in this country, they try to
blame it on common delinquents.
The governments statement about the murder comes as Portillo
passes through a major crisis in his young presidency. His political godfather,
Congress President Efraín Rios Montt, is under fire for allegedly
lowering the percentage of tax to be paid by beverage makers in a legislative
bill already approved by Congress. Opinion polls show a vast majority of
Guatemalans want Rios Montt to stand trial. Hardliners in the military are
upset by the former dictators problems, and Portillo has been navigating
through coup rumors for several weeks. Had Portillo released a report on the
Gerardi case that pushed the generals even further, he could have paid a heavy
political price. Many believe Portillo knows more, yet if he wants to keep his
job hes got to keep his mouth shut.
In April, Judge Flor de Maria Garcia determined that sufficient
grounds existed for charging Mario Orantes, a priest who lived in
Gerardis house, as well as the bishops housekeeper, Margarita
López. In May, the judge ordered three military officers -- Col. Disrael
Lima Estrada, Capt. Byron Lima Oliva, and Sgt. José Villanueva -- to
stand trial along with Orantes and López. The priest and the three
officers are charged with murder. López is charged with covering up
evidence of a crime. All five claim they are innocent.
In July, judicial authorities named Eduardo Cojulun to head the
three-judge panel. Cojulun has a reputation as a fair and efficient judge, yet
hes been busy handling a high-profile trial of several people who
kidnapped and killed a university student in 1996. Hes almost finished
with that case, but his two associate judges have vacations scheduled between
mid-November and mid-January. This would probably put off the beginning of the
trial of the five until early next year.
The delays seem typical to many. They kill someone as
important as Monseñor Gerardi and they cant clear it up. So what
can we hope for from the infinite number of cases in our communities?
said Juana Vasquez, coordinator of Uk Ux Mayab, an organization
dedicated to the rescue of Maya culture.
While Guatemalans await the trial, if it comes, its clear to
many observers that the killing of Gerardi achieved one of its probable
objectives: to lessen the impact of the churchs political advocacy within
Guatemala. Despite its involvement in the investigation of who killed Gerardi,
the rights office that Gerardi founded has assumed a much lower profile today
than in years past.
The tactic of killing Gerardi worked, Dennis Smith, a
Presbyterian missionary from the United States, told NCR. It did a
lot to neutralize the Catholic church in Guatemala as a force for social change
and battling impunity.
The rights office is now under the supervision of Auxiliary Bishop
Mario Rios Montt, the brother of Efraín. The bishop has lessened the
influence of lay people within the archdiocese in favor of returning control of
church affairs to priests. Bishop Rios Montt is busy managing much of the
archdioceses pastoral programs. Archbishop Próspero Penados,
scheduled to retire next year, has shown less and less interest in the daily
life of his episcopal area.
To succeed Penados, many observers expect the Vatican to appoint
an outspoken conservative who, in contrast to Penados who spoke out often on a
variety of social issues, will reassert traditional church doctrine in the face
of stiff challenges from aggressive evangelical Christians and Mayan
fundamentalists.
National Catholic Reporter, November 3,
2000
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