March 16, 2005

Dear Friends and Colleagues:

More than a month has passed since our last update and we wanted to bring you up to date on our computer and general security situations.

First, a heartfelt thank-you for your amazing expressions of solidarity. Dozens of you have written to the Guatemalan authorities expressing your concern about our case; others have given generously to help us replace lost equipment; others have donated used computers. You have supported us in prayer. We are very conscious of being part of a caring family; we are not alone.

Here’s a summary of what has happened:

1. We have jumped through all the appropriate hoops with the Guatemalan authorities. To the best of our knowledge, no steps have been taken by the attorney general’s office to identify the perpetrators. Such is life in Guatemala. As mentioned in our previous message, we cannot discount the possibility of political motives so your many faxes and emails to the Guatemalan authorities have made it very clear that we are supported by a large international community of concerned people and institutions. (As an example, at the end of this letter please find a copy of an editorial run by Tom Roberts, editor of National Catholic Reporter in February).
2. We have begun to upgrade security at our offices. In addition to new security procedures and appropriate modifications to the building, we are working closely with our neighbors to implement a long-term security program for our whole neighborhood. While that comes on line, we are also building a guardhouse at the entrance to our block that will provide added security to our office and neighboring homes. We will be using part of your gifts for these security upgrades and will provide a full report to those who are interested once everything is in place.
3. Several of you have donated used computers. This has been a lifesaver and has permitted us to return to near normal activities. Working in such conditions always takes a toll; we are thankful for a staff that has been able to deal with the frustration of too much to do and not enough tools to do the job.
4. With your support we will be purchasing refurbished, brand-name computers that will have the technical requirements we need to do our job well. We can get excellent quality, recent technology for about $400 per computer.
5. We are beefing up our Web site. We have not been able to devote adequate staff time to maintaining this important communication tool for almost two years. We still have a lot to do and you’ll still find some very dated material, but you’ll also find many new resources through the link at the bottom of the Cipaz page. Within the next two weeks the page will be easier to navigate. Give us a visit, send along your comments and suggestions and please advise us of broken links. www.cedepca.org

Under the Mercy,

Judith Castañeda
General Coordinator
jcastaneda@cedepca.org

Dennis Smith
Coordinator, PasCom
dsmith@cedepca.org

National Catholic Reporter

February 18, 2005

Information thievery in Guatemala

For most of us, the world of human rights activities and human rights workers is largely an abstraction that occasionally becomes concrete in the flash of horrible abuse revealed or in an act of incredible courage. Most of the time, however, the world and work of human rights activists is tedious and incremental and hidden from the headlines. Sometimes that tedium can take incrementally frightening turns that, too, remain hidden from the headlines.

So it goes, apparently, these days in Guatemala, where human rights workers are reporting an increase in what for most of the rest of the world would appear second-rate break-ins and petty thievery.

Guatemala, however, is one of those places where everything comes coated in layers of meaning and the potential for danger.

Dennis Smith, a lay Presbyterian missioner who is coordinator of publications and communication training for a group called Cedepca, distributed an e-mail bulletin Feb. 7 telling of a break-in at his agency’s offices. It was the second one in a little more than two months. On Dec. 3, thieves broke in and stole 10 computers and about $150 in cash.

In the most recent theft, five computers were taken.

It is notable, said Smith, who has lived and worked in Guatemala for about 30 years, that other expensive equipment, including computer monitors, speakers, printers and a photocopier were left behind and that detached wires were left neatly arranged on desks.

“We need to consider three possible scenarios: one, that this is the work of common criminals. Many details related to the break-ins don’t coincide with this option. Another possibility is that paramilitary forces are investigating Cedepca, perhaps because of our social justice ministries. A third option would be that highly sophisticated local mafias are behind the break-in; they sell the stolen information and equipment to interested parties, including paramilitary forces.”

Cedepca is a broadly ecumenical training center based in Guatemala City that works with the leadership of mainline Protestant as well as evangelical and Pentecostal communities.

If the scenarios outlined sound paranoid, one must consider the context. Guatemala has a long and disturbing history of brutalizing human rights workers. In past decades, much of the brutality was done by troops trained by the United States and with the knowledge of the U.S. diplomatic structure.

In a place where people were routinely “disappeared” or where leaders in civic and religious communities who questioned the government were often tortured and then eliminated, information is a valuable commodity.

What makes the recent wave of break-ins particularly frightening is that the same kind of computer theft has occurred at other human rights organizations.

On the morning of Jan. 31, for instance, the office of Rights Action in Guatemala was broken into. “Based on an assessment of the conditions of the break-in, Rights Action concludes that the motive for the break-in was not economic, but rather to steal information,” according to a release from the group that describes itself as a nongovernmental organization that funds and supports community-based organizations.

Two other organizations, HIJOS and COMAPAG, described as “active in protesting the neoliberal economic agenda and combating impunity,” were similarly burglarized during January.

For front-line human rights workers in places like Guatemala, attempting a difficult recovery from decades of terror and rule by brutal dictators, freedom and liberty are tender and vulnerable realities. They come in small, daily doses, sometimes hour by hour. And no one knows if or when the supply will cease.

The least we can do is shine a light on their efforts and expose the attempts at intimidation.