Guatemalans report police torture

Before the now famous incident in Arenal near the Guatemalan border in which a Guatemalan was killed by a BDF soldier back in June, two businessmen from Guatemala reported being tortured by members of the Police and Dragon Unit. The brothers claimed they crossed the border on April 26 with a temporary permit to do business in San Ignacio but were taken into custody at a police checkpoint in Calla Creek and taken to Belmopan where they were brutally beaten and then tortured by three soldiers. They say although they were taken into custody on a Monday, they not released until Saturday and were never told why they were being arrested although they were repeatedly questioned about various crimes in Belize including the kidnapping of Menno Penner of Belmopan. Hector Balcarcel says he was tortured repeatedly by members of the Dragon Unit who tied up his private parts and burned them with a cigarette lighter and rubbed with habanero pepper. A police medical report verifies the injuries. The report and denunciation of the incident which if true violates the International Convention Against Torture and Chapter 2 section 7 of the Belize Constitution was made in April to the Human Rights Commission. It was forwarded to the Minister of National Security Jorge Espat at the end of June. The HRCB told News Five today that so far they have not received any response from Minister Espat and were unaware of how the media obtained the copies of their letter. Today unmarked envelopes containing copies of the HRCB letter to the Minister, denunciation and police medical report on the victims were delivered to media houses, presumably by someone who had been sent copies by a source in the ministry. News Five was unable to reach Minister Espat for comment. HRCB says they periodically receive reports of torture at the hands of police but only forward them to the Ministry of National Security if the victim continues to pursue the matter and they can gather enough evidence to support the claim.