Step against impunity: assassins of Guatemalan peasant leader sentenced
On June 22, 2009, Jacobo Salguero Salguero was convicted as the perpetrator of the assassination of peasant leader Israel Carías and his two sons, Ronald Aroldo and Ledwin Anilson, to 25 years in prison for each one of his victims. Mr. Manfredo Ramirez was condemned as an accomplice to the acts and to 16 years in prison for each one of the victims. In addition, the Court ordered that an investigation be initiated on the farmers whose names appeared during the trial as persons that have threatened Israel Carías.
On February 6, 2007, the peasant leader, Israel Carías Ortiz (see photo on the left) and his sons, Ronald Aroldo Ramirez, 11 years, and Ledwin Alexis Ramirez, 9 years, were murdered. Israel Carías Ortiz was the local leader of the Committee of the Peasant Union (CUC) and the Peasant Association of Los Achiotes (ACIDEA). Israel Carías had been threatened and assassinated to stop his activity as a defender of human rights.
For many years, the 80 families that make up the Peasant Association of Los Achiotes, have demanded, through the Attorney General, that the government of Guatemala return to them the 988 hectares of land that, since 1951, has belonged to the state. The Attorney General declared that the Potrero de Aceituna estate was state land, for which measures have been carried out to recover the land in favor of the state. In this context, tensions between the cattle raisers and the community have increased. In particular, the local leaders of the Association were threatened, among them, Israel Carías and the regional leader of the CUC, Abelardo Roldán.
FIAN has been familiar with Israel Carías and this case since 2001. After the assassination of Israel Carías, FIAN launched an Urgent Action, asking the state of Guatemala to clarify the assassinations of Israel Caría and his sons, and to order the criminal persecution of the perpetrators. These demands were presented by FIAN to the Guatemalan authorities on various occasions, in particular at a meeting with the Vice-President of the Republic, Eduardo Stein, in March 2007.
FIAN recognizes that the sentence by the Court of Zacapa breaks with the prevailing impunity in the country, in particular in relation to the crimes and attacks committed against social activists and human rights defenders.
FIAN supports the request of the Human Rights Defenders Unit of Guatemala (UDEFEGUA) that the public prosecutor and the authorities of the Ministry of the Interior protect the physical integrity of both the joint plaintiff and the community; that they initiate the pending investigation to determine the mastermind of the assassination of Israel Carías and his sons; and that they proceed to effectively resolve the conflict of the respective land.