Press briefing notes on Iraq and Guatemala

Spokesperson for the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights:  Ravina Shamdasani
Location:     Geneva
Date: 19 January 2016

(1) Iraq

A UN report released today details the severe and extensive impact on civilians of the ongoing conflict in Iraq, with at least 18,802 civilians killed and another 36,245 wounded between 1 January 2014 and 31 October 2015. Another 3.2 million people have been internally displaced since January 2014, including more than a million children of school age.
The report, compiled by the UN Assistance Mission for Iraq (UNAMI) and the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR), is based largely on testimony obtained directly from the victims, survivors or witnesses of violations of international human rights or international humanitarian law, including interviews with internally displaced people.

UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Zeid Ra’ad Al Hussein warned that the civilian death toll may be considerably higher, and called for urgent action to rein in the impunity enjoyed by the vast majority of the perpetrators of violence.
“Even the obscene casualty figures fail to accurately reflect exactly how terribly civilians are suffering in Iraq. The figures capture those who were killed or maimed by overt violence, but countless others have died from the lack of access to basic food, water or medical care,” the High Commissioner said. “This report lays bare the enduring suffering of civilians in Iraq and starkly illustrates what Iraqi refugees are attempting to escape when they flee to Europe and other regions. This is the horror they face in their homelands.”

The full press release is available in English, French and Arabic on http://www.ohchr.org and the report, in English, is available on: http://www.ohchr.org/Documents/Countries/IQ/UNAMIReport1May31October2015.pdf

(2) Guatemala

We welcome the news that 11 former military officers in Guatemala are going to be prosecuted on charges of enforced disappearances and crimes against humanity committed in the 1980s during the civil war. The decision, taken by a judge on Monday, represents an important step forward in establishing truth and ensuring justice in Guatemala for crimes committed during the 36-year-long conflict.   

The decision to try the accused follows investigations by the Guatemalan Attorney General’s Office into grave human rights violations which took place in a military camp known as CREOMPAZ in Coban, in the Department of Alta Verapaz. Mass graves were found there containing the remains of at least 500 people who had been blindfolded, gagged and bound, including women and children. Those put on trial include Manuel Benedicto Lucas Garcia, the former military Chief and the brother of the then-President of Guatemala. Three other military officers arrested in relation with the same case have been put under house arrest pending further investigations by the Attorney General.

For the first time in investigations into past abuses, a complete chain of command involved in enforced disappearances and crimes against humanity was identified, from the alleged perpetrators to the instigators of crimes.

Some of the remains were of people killed during the Pambach massacre in 1982, massacres in Rio Negro in 1980 and 1982 of Mayan indigenous who were protesting against a hydroelectric dam and the enforced disappearance of two brothers, Lázaro and Edmundo Salvador Morán.

Four other former military officials were also arrested on 6 January and charged for their involvement in the enforced disappearance of a 15 year-old Marco Molina Theissen, including Manuel Antonio Callejas Callejas, who was Director of the Army Intelligence.

ENDS

For more information or media requests, please contact Rupert Colville (+41 22 917 9767 / rcolville@ohchr.org) or Ravina Shamdasani (+41 22 917 9169 / rshamdasani@ohchr.org ) or Cécile Pouilly (+41 22 917 9310 / cpouilly@ohchr.org)

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