Nightslantern Suppressed News // September 24, 2018 // #Mexico #Guatemala #NewYorkCity

6.10.18

Gerald and Maas 2018 Suppressed News http://www.nightslantern.ca/2018bulletin.htm#sept24

September 24, 2018    Mexico     Guatemala     New York City

      Mexico: this note in pursuit of justice is also in tribute to the Mexican poet Octavio Paz who honoured the world's traditions of poetry by resigning from Mexico's diplomatic service in protest against his government's mass murder and alleged genocide of students at Mexico City's Three Cultures Square Tlatelolco massacre, October 2, 1968, by military and security forces. Diaz Ordaz was President, Luis Echeverria the Secretary of the Interior. Official history has suppressed and tried to ignore the massacre since evidence implicated the U.S. embassy and ambassador. The case was dismissed in 1998 due to expired time limits of application. Luis Echeverria became a President of Mexico and was subsequently accused of other crimes against humanity. In 2004 an investigation charged Echeverria with genocide for a paramilitary attack on students in 1971, referred to as the "Corpus Christi massacre," but the judge refused to provide a warrant. In June 2005 the Supreme Court ruled that Echeverria could be prosecuted on charges of genocide for the 1971 student murders. Then in July 2005 the judge ruled that Echeverria's indictment on charges of genocide didn't apply to the 1971 massacre. The prosecutor layed further charges against Echeverria for the 1968 Tlateloco massacre in September 2005 but in July of 2005 Echeverria was released from charges on grounds that the statute of limitations had expired. However, Mexico is bound to the U.N. Convention on Genocide which doesn't allow a statute of limitations for genocide. The judiciary's inability to protect the rights of those who aren't in the military or police, furthers the impunity by government organizations. Echeverria was arrested again in November 2006. In March 2009 he was cleared of genocide charges rising from the Tlateloco massacre and granted "absolute freedom." Nevertheless a group called Committee 68 concerned with the Tlateloco masscre has recently appealed to the Supreme Court to reopen the cases against Echeverria; there is an unconfirmed report that two arrest warrants for the 96 year old Echeverria have been issued, one for the 1968 student massacre, another for his government's subsequent crimes during Mexico's "dirty war." Background.     Partial sources online: "Mexico: Genocide Case Against Former President 'To Be Reopened': Luis Echeverria is accused of masterminding the Tlatelolco (1968) and Corpus Christi (1971) massacres,'" Sept. 22, 2018, Telesur; "Mexico Judge Dismisses '71 Genocide Case," Richard Boudreaux, July 27, 2005 Los Angeles Times; "Capitulo ll - Genocidio, Artículo 149-Bis," Código Penal Federal, current, Justia México; "A 50 años del movimiento del ’68, la PGR podría reabrir investigaciones contra Luis Echeverría," Sept. 20, 2018, televisa.NEWS.

      Guatemala: found guilty May 10, 2013 of genocide among other crimes against the Mayan Ixil people, Efraín Ríos Montt's conviction was quiickly nullified by the Guatemalan Constitutional Court; his death by heart attack April 1, 2018, allowed the former dictator to escape legal justice and without punishment or rejection by his country's military and bourgeois elites. By comparison in May 2011 four "kaibilles" soldiers and their commanding officer were sentenced to 6000 years in prison for terrible atrocities. Corporate greed and the impunity of Guatemala's privileged can be blamed for the country's ongoing genocide of native people. On September 21, 2018, Juana Ramirez Santiago, a Mayan Ixil midwife and known human rights defender, was murdered on the street as she took dinner to her husband at his work. 13 human rights defenders have been murdered in Guatemala in less than six months. The government of President Jimmy Morales has banned Iván Velázquez, (see previous), head of the International Commission Against Impunity in Guatemala (CICIG) who and which were largely responsible for the functioning of legal mechanisms which brought Ríos Montt to trial and whose anti-graft efforts ended the government of Otto Perez and implicated the brother and son of current President Morales in cases of corruption. While a court ruling requires the government allow Velázquez to enter the country again, the government argues his tenure as commissioner has expired. The U.N. is considering a replacement. Velázquez and the former head of Guatemala's Supreme Court (and former Attorney General), Thelma Aldana, have just been awarded the alternative Nobel prize (Sweden's 2018 Rights Livelihood Prize) for fighting the impunity of Guatemala's corruption and abuse of power.     Partial sources online: "Guatemala: a brave judiciary," J. B. Gerald, March 19, 2013, nightslantern.ca; "Masks of Investment: a Trial in Guatemala," J. B. Gerald, April 5, 2012, nightslantern.ca; "Good vs. Evil in Guatemala," J.B.Gerald, April 21, 2012, nightslantern.ca; "Genocide Denial in Guatemala," J.B. Gerald, May 21, 2013,nightslantern.ca; "Updates: coping with oppression in Canada, Guatemala, Ethiopia," J. B. Gerald, Jan. 16, 2016, nightslantern.ca; "Guatemala: Indigenous Mayan Ixil Midwife and Activist Murdered," Sept. 22, 2018, Telesur; "Guatemalan Court Ruling Favors CICIG But Chief Remains Banned," Sept. 20, 1018, TeleSur; "U.N. to send deputy to Guatemala as anti-graft leader remains banned," Sophia Menchu, Michelle Nichols, Sept. 19, 2018, Reuters; "Guatemala anti-corruption duo wins Swedish rights prize," Sept. 24, 2018, France24.

      New York City: the Center for Constitutional Rights has joined 25 human rights organizations to urge the chief prosecutor of the International Criminal Court to investigate crimes which have occurred in occupied Palestine. Among other signers of the letter of Sept 17th to "Dear Madame Prosecutor," Al=Haq, Adameer, Jerusalem Legal Aid and Human Rights Center, Lawyers for Palestinian Human Rights, the International Federation for Human Rights, protest a history of unarmed Palestinians killed by Israeli forces, the ongoing destruction of Palestinian property, the destruction of communities and displacement of peoples. The letter points out that there are no remedies in local courts and the impunity of apparent oppression remains unchecked. The CCR's fidelity to international law is praiseworthy given the Trump administration's threats to penalize all those cooperating with the International Criminal Court. Previous.     Partial sources online: "The ICC must end impunity and open an investigation into crimes committed in occupied Palestine," Sept. 24, 2018, Center for Constitutional Rights email; " End Impunity and Open Investigation on Palestine," Sept. 17, 2018, alhaq.org [access:< http://alhaq.org/advocacy/targets/international-criminal-court-icc/1299--qq-/ >].