Río Negro massacres

In 1978, in the face of civil war, the Guatemalan government proceeded with its economic development program, including the construction of the Chixoy hydroelectric dam. Financed in large part by the World Bank and Inter-American Development Bank, the Chixoy Dam was built in Rabinal, a region of the department of Baja Verapaz historically populated by the Maya Achi. To complete construction, the government completed voluntary and forcible relocations of dam-affected communities from the fertile agricultural valleys to the much harsher surrounding highlands. When hundreds of residents refused to relocate, or returned after finding the conditions of resettlement villages were not what the government had promised, these men, women, and children were kidnapped, raped, and massacred by paramilitary and military officials. More than 440 Maya Achi were killed in the village of Río Negro alone, and the string of extrajudicial killings that claimed up to 5,000 lives between 1980 and 1982 became known as the Río Negro massacres. The government officially declared the acts to be counterinsurgency activities - although local church workers, journalists and the survivors of Rio Negro deny that the town ever saw any organized guerrilla activity.

In 2005, a petition was filed to the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights on the Rio Negro Massacre, and it is in the admissibility stage. Meanwhile, the government has sought to deal with the petitioners and victims of over 100 complaints filed against Guatemala in the IACHR, in some cases negotiating resettlement and compensation agreements. These, however, have often been conducted under the threat of violence or massacre and have largely been aborted, halted, or reneged after agreement had been reached. Even when “paid” on paper, remediation has often failed to reach the intended recipients. Entitlements such as the provision of free electricity have vanished, and since they were usually made by verbal promise alone, no documentation exists by which to defend the rights. Inadequate farm and household land provided through resettlement has contributed significantly to the severe poverty and malnutrition of the region (Center for Political Ecology, Chixoy Dam Legacy Issues Study, 2005). Some of the cases, though, have been resolved, and financial compensation has been paid to the families of a number of individuals who disappeared or suffered summary execution. In a comparable case in 2000, families who survived the 1982 Las Dos Erres Massacre were awarded a total of 1.82 million US$ in compensation (Summary record of the 1940th meeting: Guatemala. 10/08/2001. CCPR/C/SR.1940.) along with a formal excuse from President Alfonso Portillo on behalf of the state.

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