Patrullas de Autodefensa Civil
The Patrullas de Autodefensa Civil (1981 to 1995) were paramilitary groups in the Guatemalan civil war .
Asymmetric Warfare Strategy
The Patrullas de Autodefensa Civil (PAC) were strategically used in Asymmetric Warfare . They led to the militarization of daily life in indigenous communities in Guatemala .
The PAC were introduced by the Guatemalan government forces in late 1981. The primary goal was to involve communities more actively in counterinsurgency . The government troops had noticed that the insurgents were counting on strong support from the civilian population. With the use of the PAC, an attempt was made, on the one hand, to close the communities from the penetration of the guerrillas and, on the other hand, to determine where it was present. The PAC was set up under the Fernando Romeo Lucas García government and confirmed with the Plan Nacional de Seguridad y Desarrollo on April 1, 1982 under the junta of Efraín Ríos Montt . Under the government of Marco Vinicio Cerezo Arévalo , the name was changed to Comités Voluntarios de Defensa Civil with Decreto 19-86 of January 10, 1986 .
No official information has yet been given about the number of PAC members. Since 1982/1983 around 900,000 campesinos between the ages of 15 and 60, which corresponds to around 80% of the male population in the indigenous rural areas, have been recruited. In the reign of Vinicio Cerezo (1986-90) the number of members of the PAC fell to around 500,000 and when the PAC was officially dissolved in 1995, around 375,000 were still organized. With the PAC, the costs of a surveillance and repression system could be shifted from the defense budget to the population. There have been many cases of equipment shortages, weapons and salaries. In many places, forced labor was used, especially for maintenance tasks and the creation of infrastructure. With regard to a troop economy, the use of PAC freed up military forces for other areas of operation.
The Xococ indigenous community in Rabinal was the first to be organized in the PAC in 1981. They saw themselves as a contrast to the people of the Río Negro , who all considered them guerrillas. The involvement of the population in the war effort was based on a concept for the attainment of social or psychological control. It was carefully weighed according to military-strategic aspects. The PAC should be wanted by the population and not be instructed . Low-threshold initial successes should be shown in order to strengthen cohesion and raise morale. People who had affection should be addressed as a leader, making handing over weapons a calculable risk.
PAC human rights violations
Of the total of the testimonies collected by the REMHI project, the PAC were responsible for 12.76% of the acts and the Comisionados Militares , (military agents) for 7.44% of the acts. Approximately one in five human rights violations can be attributed to these irregular government forces. The PAC were involved in 3.4% of murders, 2% of tortures and other cruel treatments, 1.82% of desaparición forzadas, 1.8% of illegal arrests and 1.18% of threats.
The PAC and the Comisionados Militares appear to be involved in one in five deaths as a result of persecution in the Montaña (extra-urban areas), which corresponds to 1.3% of the documented human rights violations. The PAC appears to be directly responsible for almost every fifth massacre (18.12%) and the Comisionados Militares for every twentieth (5.38%). These two irregular government forces were responsible for nearly a quarter of the massacres. Massacres and serious human rights violations involving the PAC took place in Xococ ( Baja Verapaz ), Vegas de Santo Domingo, Patixlán, Chuaperol (Rabinal), Nimacabaj (Rabinal), Panacal, La Ceiba, Pinchec (Baja Verapaz), Pojom, Colotenango (Huehuetenango) and Chacalté ( El Quiché ) instead.
Introduction of the patrullas
To establish the patrullas and to encourage the participation of the people, the government troops used existing organizational structures in the communities and used them to recruit and control the population. The majority of the structures were hierarchically oriented towards functionaries or authorities, such as the Comisionados Militares . But other forms of community or production structures were also used.
In many places there were representatives who were obliged by the regular government troops to organize and monitor the functioning of the PAC , which raised the status of the PAC in the village hierarchy. The power of guns and the impunity of their actions continued for a long time afterwards. After the time of the massacres and mass murders, these commissioners fulfilled a military control function in the communities, through which the Patrullas presented their power, coerced or threatened other social or political groups.
Forced voluntariness
In order for people to participate in the PAC, pressure was exerted against family members through coercion, allegations and death threats. The social control made it very difficult not to attend the PAC . The motives for participation included fear of punishment, hopelessness and learned helplessness . In the course of time, collective attempts by municipalities to refuse to participate in the PAC's security system became less and less common, especially as it provided security to strategically subordinate areas. Despite popular resistance to the PAC , the PAC system worked in many places until the end of the civil war. Many communities were forced to organize in PAC , otherwise the government troops threatened to assassinate them. In other cases, the patrols were a way of holding their own against army pursuits. Engagement in the army meant non-cooperation with the guerrillas. The PAC system forced civilians to take part in the civil war on the side of government forces. Those who did not participate in the PAC were accused of being guerrillas. The government troops used citizens' initiatives and forms of social organization to convey the PAC system. The political education offers were used as a source of information about the skills and opportunities of the population. The instructions were tailored to the receptivity of the population.
Structure of the patrullas
The PAC had a military hierarchical structure. There were pelotones de Patrulleros and a Jefe de Patrulla each , which in turn was subordinate to a commander of the regular government troops. In some municipalities in which the government troops did not fear a change of sides, they had the Jefe de Patrulla elected by the Pelotones de Patrulleros , which promoted acceptance of the PAC system. In most cases, the Jefe de Patrulla was appointed by the government forces.
Military training of the patrullajes
To increase the military effectiveness, the PAC were trained and drilled into discipline. Many of the patrullajes did not have basic military service . Training should include civics and military training. These physical training and military instruction activities were preferably developed in locations where the General Staff of the Government Forces suspected the presence or proximity of guerrillas. In many places, such exercise days turned into joint emergency exercises for the entire population. The training was given by veterans . Everyone from 15 year olds to old men was harassed. Half the week there were civic classes. Depending on the location, women and men had to participate.
The confidence that government troops had in the PAC could be seen in the armament of the PAC. This was often in short supply and consisted of private, self-made weapons, hunting weapons, clubs and machetes. Armament was in part a cause of conflict within a village's PAC. It was a common occurrence that patrols were used as locals and participated in massacres with government forces. There have also been cases in which patrols behaved in a hostile manner towards neighboring communities. In rare cases, the PAC acted alone. The members of the PAC roamed the countryside to find guerrillas . They were also used as local guides and as a shield against attacks by the guerrillas. The regular government troops stipulated in the marching order that the members of the PAC would precede and thus encounter ambushes or trigger mines.
Arrests
In the rural areas, particularly in the Ixil and Alta Verapaz , the PAC and regular government troops searched for suspected collaborators of the guerrillas whose names were on lists. But these arrests were not only directed against suspected collaborators, but also developed a separate dimension of the reign of terror. Cases have been reported of arrests and murder of people who were not wanted but whose names were similar or who allegedly resisted the control. In many communities, the PAC appeared with denouncing neighbors, often with hoods over their heads, and in some cases traces of brutal torture could be observed on them.
Massacres and murders
The PAC committed numerous murders in its own communities. Most of these acts were unprecedented, according to witnesses, and they linked the victims to guerrilla military action. It is possible that some of them were members of the guerrilla infrastructure, but the executions were indiscriminate and carried out against all sorts of suspects. In the midst of this uncontrolled use of violence, the victims were often completely helpless in front of their families. The PAC looted and devastated the communities in massacres and military attacks. They stole clothes, food, animals. Sometimes the population had already fled the places when they were looted. In other cases, looting took place before or after the mass murder.
“On November 1st, at 6 am, a PAC surprised them, they left, they started walking. When they were exhausted from running ... the PAC caught up with them. On the spot they were beaten to pieces with machetes. The eldest daughter was tortured and raped and murdered at noon. "
monitoring
One of the functions of the PAC was the control of parishioners, who could no longer move freely around the community or leave to go to work, exchange their products, visit their family members or friends. In order to be able to do this, it was necessary that the Comisionado or the commander of the Patrulla allowed the exit and issued a pass, which had to be presented to the military authorities at the destination.
Solidarity and resistance
Despite the consequences the PAC has had on communities and their involvement in many serious human rights violations, there have been some cases of mutual support and resistance among PAC members to avoid the negative consequences of prosecution or to jointly undo the duty to patrol together. For example, absences from a patrol shift in the event of illness were covered up. These measures became possible in places where the patrol did not adopt the counterinsurgency ideology and the patrols were conducted out of cohesion to avoid prosecution of the community. Some patrulleros helped families of victims find the victims and tried to protect them from their position. There have been cases in which Patrulleros confronted the soldiers in defense of people from the community or stood up for the freedom of the community members. From 1986 onwards, some of these solidary forms of resistance against the PAC were the origin of a newly emerging social movement, the Consejo Étnico de Comunidades Runujel Junam (CERJ). This turned against the PAC at the beginning of the 1990s, from which it emerged.
Individual evidence
- ↑ Case 7463, Chichupac, Rabinal, Baja Verapaz, 1982-83
- ^ Oficina de Derechos Humanos del Arzobispado de Guatemala , en: Historical Clarification Commission , CAPITULO SEGUNDO