Document #1007847
IRB – Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada (Author)
Information on the penalties prescribed by
law for desertion from the armed forces could not be found among
the sources currently available to the DIRB.
Please find attached two articles that
contain the only recent (1989-1993) references to armed forces
deserters that could be found among the available sources.
The attached report from This Week
refers to a soldier who was allegedly kidnapped by guerrillas, and
upon his release received protection from the Roman Catholic
Church. The armed forces reportedly regarded him as a deserter and
demanded that he be handed over for prosecution.
The attached article from Central
America Report refers to a man who was killed one month after
deserting from the air force. Although the mother of the victim
reportedly stated that one of the killers claimed to have been sent
by the authorities, the article does not provide conclusive
information on who authored the killing or what their motives might
be.
Additional and/or corroborating information
could not be found among the sources currently available to the
DIRB.
Central America Report
[Guatemala]. 16 June 1989. "Violence Common...How Much is
Political?," pp. 180-181.
This Week: Central America and
Panama [Guatemala]. 14 August 1989. "Serving the Fatherland,"
p. 243.