For information on the location of Chuj Indians in Guatemalan territory, please consult the attached maps, which provide an estimate of the Chuj population in the 1980s and indicate their location in north west Guatemala, on the border with Mexico.

Please note that the Cultural Survival Quarterly map estimates the Chuj population during the 1980s to be approximately 26,000. The population figures cover a range of about five years for the early 1980s (Cultural Survival Quarterly, 1989, 37). However, the Encyclopedia of the Third World puts at 10,000 the number of speakers of the Chuj language (1992, 706). The attached excerpts from Inside Guatemala and Harvest of Violence provide the location of Chuj speaking people.

No information could be found among the sources consulted by the DIRB on the treatment of the Chuj Indians by the army. However, please consult the attached Idaho Falls Post Register article which mentions the massacre by the army of 302 Chuj Indians in July 1982 at the hight of the counter-insurgency by then president and general Ríos Montt.

For information on the general situation of indigenous people in Guatemala from 1993 to 1995, please consult Response to Information Request GTM19612.F of 2 February 1995 and its attachments.

This Response was prepared after researching publicly accessible information currently available to the DIRB within time constraints. This Response is not, and does not purport to be, conclusive as to the merit of any particular claim to refugee status or asylum. Please find below the list of sources consulted by the DIRB for this Response to Information Request.

References

Cultural Survival Quarterly. Vol. 13, No. 3, 1989. William V. Davidson and Melanie A. Counce. "Mapping the distribution of Indians in Central America," pp. 38-39.

Encyclopedia of the Third World. 1992. 4th ed. Vol. 1. Edited by George Thomas Kurian. New York: Facts On File, pp. 706-707.

Harvest of Violence: The Maya Indians and the Guatemalan Crisis. 1988. Edited by Robert M. Carmack. University of Oklahoma Press, pp. 4-5, 8-9, 12-13.

Idaho Falls Post Register. 6 June 1993. Thomas W. Haines. "End of Exile, Birth of Hope." (NEXIS)

Inside Guatemala. 1992. Edited by Tom Barry. Albuquerque, N. Mex.: The Inter-Hemispheric Education Resource Center.

p. 221.

Attachments

Cultural Survival Quarterly. Vol. 13, No. 3, 1989. William V. Davidson and Melanie A. Counce. "Mapping the distribution of Indians in Central America," pp. 38-39.

Encyclopedia of the Third World. 1992. 4th ed. Vol. 1. Edited by George Thomas Kurian. New York: Facts On File, pp. 706-707.

Harvest of Violence: The Maya Indians and the Guatemalan Crisis. 1988. Edited by Robert M. Carmack. University of Oklahoma Press, pp. 4-5, 8-9, 12-13.

Idaho Falls Post Register. 6 June 1993. Thomas W. Haines. "End of Exile, Birth of Hope." (NEXIS)

Inside Guatemala. 1992. Edited by Tom Barry. Albuquerque, N. Mex.: The Inter-Hemispheric Education Resource Center. p. 221.

Additional Sources Consulted

Central America Newspak [Austin, Tx]. 1994-1995.

Central America Report [Guatemala City]. 1994-1995.

Central America Update [Toronto]. 1994.

The Europa World Year Book. 1993, 1994. London: Europa Publications Ltd.

Foreign Broadcast Information Service (FBIS) Reports. Daily.

Human Rights Watch. 1995. Human Rights Watch World Report. New York: Human Rights Watch.

Keesing's Record of World Events. 1994-1995. Edited by Roger East. London: Longman.

Inter-Church Committee on Human Rights in Latin America (ICCHRLA). 1993-1994. Annual Reports: General Concerns and Brief Country Reports.
Latin America Update [Washington]. 1993-1995.

Latinamerica Press [Lima]. 1994-1995.

Latin American Newsletters [London].

On-line searches.

Oral sources.