URGENT ACTION

Fear for safety of evicted communities

Two indigenous rural communities have been forcibly evicted from their homes in Panzós municipality, Guatemala. Their homes were burnt down by the police and many of their belongings destroyed. The authorities have not provided alternative shelter for the communities.

Around 80 members of the Indigenous Mayan Q’eqchi neighbouring communities of Bella Flor and 8 de Agosto, in a rural area of the municipality of Panzós, Department of Alta Verapaz, were forcibly evicted on 2 September. Some of the Bella Flor community have taken refuge in vacant houses in a nearby community. The 8 de Agosto community were evicted and lived in the open without shelter by the side of a road for nearly three weeks, when they reoccupied the land they had been evicted from.

On 2 September the police, supported by army personnel, evicted the 27 families of Bella Flor. Members of the community reported that police officers gave them 15 minutes to gather what they could and leave their homes. The police officers then burnt down the houses of the Bella Flor community. Along with the loss of many household possessions the community has also claimed that their crops were destroyed. The police also evicted the 11 families of the neighbouring community, 8 de Agosto. The community has stated that police gave them 20 minutes to pack their possessions before being evicted. The police proceeded to destroy their homes (some knocked down using machetes, others burnt) and then burnt the remaining possessions. Members of the community have alleged that three police officers attempted to rape a 15 year old girl. The community were moved to the side of a road by the police and remained there until 21 September when they returned to the site they were evicted from.

Both communities had been living in the area since 2007. There have been previous efforts to resolve the issue of ownership of the land which have been unsuccessful. The land on which the 8 de Agosto community had built their homes is allegedly owned by the State. The land from which the Bella Flor community was evicted is allegedly owned by a private owner. The Bella Flor community has been requesting that the authorities give them permission to return to the land so that they can harvest their crops. Members of the 8 de Agosto community are at risk of being forcibly evicted for a second time now they have returned.

PLEASE WRITE IMMEDIATELY in Spanish or your own language:

• urging the authorities to allow the Bella Flor community access to the land from where they were evicted so that they can harvest their crops and collect their foodstuffs; in addition, to provide the evicted families of Bella Flor with suitable and safe shelter until such time as their dispute with the alleged owners of the land is resolved and to ensure the relevant authorities investigate the reported abuses and destruction of property on 2 September;

• urging the authorities to ensure the 8 de Agosto community are afforded all the protection of due process including providing the community with effective legal representation, and that forced eviction is used only as a last resort. If a forced eviction is carried out, that it comply with international human rights standards, including the provision of suitable alternative shelter for the evicted community.

PLEASE SEND APPEALS BEFORE 06 November 2009 TO:

Secretary of Agrarian Affairs