Police and BDF cleared in death of Guatemalan men

The Commission of Inquiry charged with the task of investigating whether or not Belizean security forces were criminally liable in the deaths of three Guatemalans have completed their report…in favour of the Belizeans. According to a government press release, today the three-member team submitted their report to Prime Minister Said Musa in Belmopan. The report is quoted as saying that not only did the police officer and eight Belize Defence Force members act in self-defence, they performed extremely well under the circumstances. The circumstances being that on November twenty-second 2001, three members of the Ramirez family: Jesus and his two sons, Jesus Jr. and Virgilio, were shot and killed by the Belizean patrol near the village of San Vicente in the Toledo District. The men had been armed with machetes and according to the Belizean recount of the incident, had attacked the patrol. As part of their inquiry, the commissioners: Chief Magistrate Herbert Lord, Ombudsman Paul Rodriguez and Head of the Human Rights Commission of Belize, Maria Gamero, had heard medical testimony from Guatemalan officials that indicated that none of the victims had been shot in the back as had been previously alleged. While it appears the Belizeans are off the hook, in late December, an independent investigation conducted by O.A.S. representative Sergio Caramagna had concluded that the Belizeans used excessive force. Caramagna made several recommendations, including a request for ex gratia payments to the surviving family dependents and judicial proceedings for the officers involved. When we contacted officials in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in December, they had indicated a willingness to act on all the recommendations, but in light of the conclusions of the Belizean commission of inquiry, it is uncertain whether any monies will be given to the families of the deceased. However, it is believed that the practices of joint military patrols in the adjacency zone and the presence of an observer during acts of law enforcement, other recommendations of the O.A.S., will continue.