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Appendix E
STATEMENT BY MYRNA MACK FOUNDATION
MYRNA MACK TRIAL
October 4, 2002
The Conviction of Colonel Juan VaTencia Osor~o Defines the His-
toncal Magnitude of this Tnal
The sentence handed down yesterday by the Tercero Tnbunal de
Sentencia in the tnal against Tree military of ficers accused of hav-
ing planned and ordered the assassination of my sister, the anthro-
polog~st Myrna Mack, constitutes a histoncal event which reflects
the existence of advances, although minimal and fragile, In the
administration of justice in Guatemala.
am satisfied with the thirty-year prison sentence given to Colonel
Juan Valencia Osono, because he was clearly proven to be the au-
thor of an institutional cnme, a special intelligence operation,
which culminated in the murder of my sister.
am not satisfied with the acquittal of General Edgar Godoy
Gaitar~ and Colonel Juan Guillenno Oliva Carrera, for we pre-
sented sufficient evidence to confirm their participation in the
planning of this institutional cnme. We are going to analyze the
ruling In order to determine Me judicial actions to follow. That is
to say, we are working on a special appeal.
43
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44
HUMAN RIGHTS AND THE MACK CASE
Aside Tom the acquittal of Godoy and Oliva, the conviction of
Colonel Valencia and the fact that a trial was held from the third of
September to the third of October, reaffirms my conviction that is
possible to see justice done in Guatemala, even when this involves
twelve or more years of continuous smuggle.
The histoncal magnitude of this guilty verdict goes beyond the
conviction or acquittal of the accused. Fortunately for all Guate-
malans, it represents judicial proof of the ternble human suffenug
caused by the National Security Doctnne, political countennsur-
gency, the concept of the internal enemy, and He perversion of the
intelligence agencies.
From this trial, ~ gain, In the first place, the vindication of the
memory and dignity of M yma. The court e stablished the institu-
tional character of the cnme, the political nature of the crime, that
the motive for her murder was related to both her scientific work
with the displaced in the zones of greatest conflict, and the link
between her research and the claims of the Communities of Popu-
lation in Resistance (CPR).
~ .
.
. -
The court gave probatory value to testimonies, experts and another
type of evidence that establishes the former. The court also gave
validity to the thesis that my sister was executed because she was
considered an internal enemy, and a threat to the state, according to
the profile defined by the National Security Doctrine. The court
proved there was a surveillance operation that cuhninated in her
assassination, an operation which involved human and material
resources onginat~ng In the Estado Mayor Presidencial (EMP). In
the same manner they established that the Department of Presiden-
tial Secunty was the G-2 of the EMP, and that the now convicted
Valencia Osorio, also was involved in postal espionage.
In the second place, through this teal, we have uncovered the
cnminal practices promoted by the State. The tnal also revealed
i~Tefiutable evidence of the State's involvement in cases of geno-
cide, massacres, extrajudicial executions, torture, forced disappear
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APPENDIX E
45
ances, persecutions, expulsion arid exile, and many other fonns of
repression that turned us into a country of victims.
am certain the victims and families feel represented in the
achievements obtained and in s ome w ay feel vindicated, for this
trial not only judged those responsible for killing Myrna.
It also passed judgment on criminal behavior of the State and some
of its institutions. It passed judgment on the National Security
Doctrine fostered by the United States, and its application In Gua-
temala. Among its most relevant components: the concept of the
internal e nemy, c ountennsurgency t actics, t he e xploitation o f t he
intelligence services, and the extreme inhumane character that de-
fined the internal conflicts and military regimes which for decades
existed in nearly all of Latin America.
~ want to denounce the malicious attitude of the Army of ficials and
the people who defended the innocence of the accused, for they
sought to convert the floor of the Supreme Court into a new center
of conflict. ~ respect the feeling of the families of the accused, of
their friends and colleagues, but ~ was appalled by their proclivities
for violence. They tried to provoke with insults and minor physical
aggression, perhaps waiting for similar behavior on our part. T con-
veyed my concerns to the Ministry of Interior and to the Secretary
de Asbestos Ad~ninistrativos y de Seguridad de la
Presidencia.
~ want to Hank and to acknowledge the security measures provided
by the Ministry of Interior through the National Civilian Police
since August 21 In compliance web ache provisional measures or-
dered by He ~ter-Amencar~ Human Rights Court. ~ also want to
thank the Secretary de Asur~tos Administrativos y de Seguridad de
la Presidencia for the additional security measures Hey provided
us yesterday.
Helen Mach Guatemala, October 4, 2002
$
Representative terms from entire chapter:
colonel juan
