54. Following the chilling final statement made by Captain Lima Oliva in the courtroom earlier that morning (see notes on Gerardi Trial below), one of the lawyers from ODHAG, Mario Domingo, had suffered a severe anxiety attack. We re-scheduled our meeting with Leopoldo Liu as the ODHAG staff felt that it was best to be close to Mario and the other ODHAG lawyers while we all waited for the verdict.   After Court at approximately 9:00 am Mike, Marta, Mario, Mike’s wife Sylvia and myself, left together in an ODHAG vehicle.  Mario was sweating profusely and described symptoms of heart palpitations and a general feeling of anxiety.  There was some discussion of taking him to the hospital, however he protested and felt that just going somewhere to relax and unwind would be the best thing. It was clear that the years and months spent working on the Gerardi case and the incredible pressures had taken their toll.  This combined with the disturbingly personal message that the Captain had directed toward the Prosecutors that morning had brought Mario close to a state nervous exhaustion.

55.  After taking Mario to his house, the staff from ODHAG stopped by the offices of NISGUA (Network In Solidarity with the People of Guatemala) an NGO comprised from what I could tell mostly of foreigners, who were working on various accompaniment programs in Guatemala. At NISGUA we located two volunteers who were willing to act as translators for my upcoming meetings that day.

56. Mario suggested going somewhere to swim and relax and I suggested to the ODHAG staff that the lawyers from ODHAG go to a Hotel where there would be a lot of people and which would also have a swimming pool and I further offered, on behalf of LRWC to pick up the cost of renting a room for the day so that the lawyers could rest and recover prior to the verdict later that evening. The ODHAG staff agreed with the idea and following my meeting with the Public Ministry Fiscales a group of ODHAG supporters met at the Hotel Camino Real to have lunch together and to spend the afternoon hanging out in the hot tub and swimming.  In the end they felt that renting a room would not be necessary, but LRWC still picked up the tab for lunch and for use of the pool etc. Some of the people who joined us for lunch included Francisco Goldman the writer of the New Yorker article on the Gerardi case and a well-known writer on Latin American affairs, as well as Arturo Rodas and Rodrigo

Salvado two of the famous “Intocables” (untouchables) who had been key investigators for ODHAG in the Gerardi case. 

57. I returned to the Camino Real following my meeting with the Colegio and met with the lawyers from ODHAG in the coffee shop. Again I gave a brief overview of LRWC and the IDC.  I also thanked ODHAG for having hosted me while I was in Guatemala City and for helping to arrange my schedule.  I noted that the help of Mike Flynn and Marta Julia in particular had been invaluable in conducting my meetings. 

58. Mario Domingo said that from ODHAG’s point-of-view they were extremely pleased that LRWC had made a decision to attend, in particular because it is an organisation that is specifically targeted at supporting lawyers.  He said that because they had been working so hard and because the work on the Gerardi case was all consuming, they had not really developed any specific strategies with regard to what was going to happen after the verdict.  He said their current needs included personal security and trying to find the physical conditions necessary to recover from the effort that they had put into the case, noting that the stress has been quite incredible. The stress involved in the case was very obvious to me having been present during Mario’s anxiety attack earlier in the day.  He said that they have devoted an incredible amount of ODHAG’s resources to pursuing justice for Bishop Gerardi, and the financial cost has been high. 

59. Mario stressed that regardless of the verdict the case was not going to end that day and will continue through both the appeal process and through further investigations into other people’s involvement. He noted that Canada in particular has been instrumental in helping with witness protection and in helping certain individuals who have been involved in the case flee the country.

60. Nerys Rodenas, Executive Director, said that ODHAG would not have been able to reach the point that it had without the support of groups like the LRWC.  He knew that there had been several pronouncements from Canada supporting the work of judges and lawyers in Guatemala and in particular on the Gerardi case. 

61. Rodenas further noted that very few of Param Cumaraswamy’s recommendations from his report on Judicial Independence have actually been implemented and continued vigilance from the international community will be necessary. 

62. Mynor Melgar also noted that the Gerardi case was still at a very early stage and that there was still much more to come. He also said that ODHAG would be involved in other cases, making reference to such cases as the genocide action which is being brought by CALDH against Rios Montt.  He noted that continued public pressure on the Guatemalan Government was going to be necessary for the Gerardi case to continue.

63. Mynor also talked about the idea of ODHAG opening a branch which would be directed at co-ordinating campaigns which would centre on the independence of lawyers and judges, an area where the potential exists for IDC involvement.  At this point ODHAG has three departments: i) the legal department; ii) the truth and reconciliation department; and iii) the “culture of peace” department which is focused on education around peace and peace issues.

64. The lawyers from ODHAG were apologetic that they had not had more time to spend with me and that I had not been given a proper tour of the office and an overview of all of ODHAG’s activities.  I protested saying that there was no need to apologize and that I had been overwhelmed by the effort ODHAG had made in organizing my visit during an incredibly busy time for them. 

June 8, 2001  8:30 am with the Canadian Ambassador, Alan Culham and Political Consul, Peter B. Taylor at the Canadian Embassy

65. Considering that I had not been to bed the night before (due to the timing of the verdict in the Gerardi case, see notes below), my energy level was helped by the keen interest and enthusiasm of the Ambassador and Peter Taylor when questioning me with regard to the outcome of the trial and my account of the previous evening, in particular the small drama which involved the American Ambassador Prudence Bushnell (see Gerardi notes below). Ambassador Culham had said that he had considered attending the verdict, but in the end had decided not to.

66. The Ambassador and Peter Taylor also gave me an overview with regard to current Canadian Activity in Guatemala as follows:

67. In 1998, CIDA approved a project providing about Cdn $700,000 in funding for the activities of MINUGUA in providing "soft costs" (training, translation into indigenous languages, cross-cultural education and mediation) for the establishment and operation of a rural Justice Administration Centre (CAJ) in the town/village of Santa Eulalia in northern Huehuetenango Department.

68. This was a cooperative project involving the Guatemalan judicial authorities courts (Organismo Judicial), public prosecutors (Ministerio Publico), police (PNC), public defenders and Ministry of the Interior (Gobernación), as well as MINUGUA and USAID.  The basic rationale is that, in order to make progress on problems such as impunity, lynchings, etc., Guatemala needs to provide as full a range of possible of justice services to under-served rural, mainly indigenous populations outside the departmental capitals.  The

project concluded at the end of 2000 and an evaluation is now planned in order to draw out lessons learned that could be applied in other locations.

69. Democratic Development Fund administered by CECI (Centre d'Études et Coopération Internationale) -- this is now entering its Phase III. It is CIDA's principal instrument for providing support to human rights and democratic development including especially political participation by marginalized groups and the development of consensus in Guatemalan society on common goals and processes related to the Peace Accords/Process.  It mostly funds Guatemalan civil society groups.