For Immediate Release Contact: Suzanne Trimel, 212/633-4150
Monday, April 16, 2007
AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL ACTIVISTS SET FOR U.S. RALLIES ON APRIL 20 TO PRESS CASE AGAINST RIOS MONTT IN GUATEMALA
(New York) – In 18 cities across the United States on Friday, April 20, Amnesty International USA activists will hold rallies and other protests to press the Guatemalan government to bring former General Efraín Ríos Montt to trial on genocide, torture and other human rights abuses or extradite him to Spain to face the charges.
Thousands of activists are expected to turn out for rallies outside Guatemala's consulates in Miami, Chicago, Houston, Denver, Los Angeles, San Francisco and New York City. Delegations of AIUSA leaders and volunteers will meet officially with Guatemalan diplomats at the embassy in Washington, D.C., and at the consulate in New York City to press their call for action in the Rios Montt case.
The National Day of Action for Guatemala is part of an international campaign to bring Ríos Montt and his co-defendants to justice. The campaign emerged in support of the efforts of a group of survivors from Guatemala, led by Nobel laureate and current presidential candidate Rigoberta Menchú, to file a suit against Ríos Montt in Spain.
In July 2006, Spain's National Court issued international warrants for the arrest of Ríos Montt and several other former senior officials, charging them with genocide, torture, terrorism and illegal detention.
According to Vienna Colucci, Director of AIUSA's Program for International Justice and Accountability, "As Guatemala's courts review Spain's request for Ríos Montt's extradition, the complainants, lawyers, judges, witnesses and local human rights organizations involved in bringing the suit are coming under mounting pressure and intimidation. The U.S. rallies are aimed at demonstrating that the world is watching what is unfolding in Guatemala."
From 1982 to 1983, Ríos Montt headed the Guatemalan military government, which carried out a scorched earth campaign of murders, torture and other human rights abuses that were the most extensive in Guatemala's 36-year internal armed conflict. Ríos Montt remains a powerful force in Guatemalan politics today. In January, he announced his plan to run for Congress, asserting that a Congressional seat would provide him with parliamentary immunity from prosecution.
Film screenings, talks and discussions by Guatemalan survivors and other events will take place in Milwaukee and Stevens Point, WI; Detroit; St. Louis; Albuquerque, NM; Portland, OR; Seattle; Minneapolis; Oklahoma City; and Lexington, KY.
WHO: Hundreds of activists and supporters of Amnesty International USA
WHAT: National Day of Action for Guatemala, demanding legal action in the case of former Gen. Ríos Montt
WHERE: Rallies and other protests at seven Guatemalan consulates and the embassy in Washington, DC
WHEN: Friday, April 20, 2007
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Monday, April 16, 2007
AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL ACTIVISTS SET FOR U.S. RALLIES ON APRIL 20 TO PRESS CASE AGAINST RIOS MONTT IN GUATEMALA
(New York) – In 18 cities across the United States on Friday, April 20, Amnesty International USA activists will hold rallies and other protests to press the Guatemalan government to bring former General Efraín Ríos Montt to trial on genocide, torture and other human rights abuses or extradite him to Spain to face the charges.
Thousands of activists are expected to turn out for rallies outside Guatemala's consulates in Miami, Chicago, Houston, Denver, Los Angeles, San Francisco and New York City. Delegations of AIUSA leaders and volunteers will meet officially with Guatemalan diplomats at the embassy in Washington, D.C., and at the consulate in New York City to press their call for action in the Rios Montt case.
The National Day of Action for Guatemala is part of an international campaign to bring Ríos Montt and his co-defendants to justice. The campaign emerged in support of the efforts of a group of survivors from Guatemala, led by Nobel laureate and current presidential candidate Rigoberta Menchú, to file a suit against Ríos Montt in Spain.
In July 2006, Spain's National Court issued international warrants for the arrest of Ríos Montt and several other former senior officials, charging them with genocide, torture, terrorism and illegal detention.
According to Vienna Colucci, Director of AIUSA's Program for International Justice and Accountability, "As Guatemala's courts review Spain's request for Ríos Montt's extradition, the complainants, lawyers, judges, witnesses and local human rights organizations involved in bringing the suit are coming under mounting pressure and intimidation. The U.S. rallies are aimed at demonstrating that the world is watching what is unfolding in Guatemala."
From 1982 to 1983, Ríos Montt headed the Guatemalan military government, which carried out a scorched earth campaign of murders, torture and other human rights abuses that were the most extensive in Guatemala's 36-year internal armed conflict. Ríos Montt remains a powerful force in Guatemalan politics today. In January, he announced his plan to run for Congress, asserting that a Congressional seat would provide him with parliamentary immunity from prosecution.
Film screenings, talks and discussions by Guatemalan survivors and other events will take place in Milwaukee and Stevens Point, WI; Detroit; St. Louis; Albuquerque, NM; Portland, OR; Seattle; Minneapolis; Oklahoma City; and Lexington, KY.
WHO: Hundreds of activists and supporters of Amnesty International USA
WHAT: National Day of Action for Guatemala, demanding legal action in the case of former Gen. Ríos Montt
WHERE: Rallies and other protests at seven Guatemalan consulates and the embassy in Washington, DC
WHEN: Friday, April 20, 2007
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