Document #1143482
IRB – Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada (Author)
A precise assessment of areas of Guatemala
where the Unidad Revolucionaria Nacional Guatemalteca (URNG) could
or could not be active or pose a threat to individuals could not be
found among the sources consulted by the DIRB. However, Response to
Information Request GTM21694.E of 11 September 1995 provides
information on the areas of the country where guerrilla activities
have been reported.
In addition to the information provided in
GTM21694.E, the most recent report of URNG activities available to
the DIRB is provided in the 30 November 1995 issue of Latin
American Weekly Report. The source states that on 17 November
a military base was attacked by the URNG in Petén, thus
resuming hostilities that had been interrupted on 1 November "to
allow the presidential elections to take place unhindered"
(552).
Brief references to areas of guerrilla
activity can also be found in the DIRB Indexed Media Review (IMR),
available at your Regional Documentation Centre. However, some
reports offer contradictory information. For example, a 22
September 1995 article from Central America Report on the
demobilization of military commissioners included in the IMR states
that the largest number of commissioners was found in the
department of Jutiapa, "where no guerrilla threat exists," adding
that Quiché is "the region most affected by the war" (5).
But a 10 August 1995 article from Latin American Weekly
Report states that a URNG unit "partially destroyed the
installations of a radio station in the eastern department of
Jutiapa" (360).
A June 1994 publication of the United
States Department of State's Office of Asylum Affairs (OAA)
entitled Guatemala - Profile of Asylum Claims & Country
Conditions, available at your Regional Documentation Centre
and through the UNHCR database (HCRViews), provides an overview of
the extent of the guerrilla threat and activities. The publication
states the following:
The limited guerrilla strength tends to be concentrated in remote
areas with large indigenous populations, not easily accessible to
government control. The relatively small numbers and limited reach
of the guerrillas has not lessened the types of activities they
employ, such as sabotage, robbery, extortion, and forced
recruitment of combatants and labourers. Objects of their threats
and violence include government and security personnel, civil
servants, businessmen and traders, persons with special skills, and
peasants sought as combatant or support personnel. In conflictive
areas, the scope and random nature of most violence place all local
residents at risk regardless of their political opinion (OAA June
1994/HCRViews).
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.
References
Central America Report
[Guatemala City]. 22 September 1995. "Guatemala: 22,286 Military
Commissioners Demobilized."
Latin American Weekly Report
[London]. 30 November 1995. "Hostilities."
_____. 10 August 1995. "Guerrilla
Raids."
Office of Asylum Affairs (OAA), Bureau
of Democracy, Human Rights and Labor. June 1994. Guatemala:
Profile of Asylum Claims and Country Conditions. Washington,
DC: United States Department of State (HCRViews).