View source for Civil Defense Patrols

{{Orphan|date=March 2016}}

{{Infobox war faction
| name = Civil Defense Patrols
| native_name = Patrullas de Autodefensa Civil
| native_name_lang = es
| war = [[Guatemalan Civil War]]
| image =
| caption =
| active = 1 August 1982–29 December 1996
| ideology =
| leaders =
| clans =
| headquarters = 
| area = [[Guatemala]]
| strength = 1,000,000
| partof =
| previous =
| next =
| allies = {{Flag|Guatemala}}
| split =
| opponents = {{Flagicon image|Flag of the Guatemalan National Revolutionary Unity.svg}} [[URNG]]
| battles =
| url =
}}

The '''Civil Defense Patrols''' ({{lang-es|Patrullas de Autodefensa Civil}})('''PAC''')<ref name=Refworld>{{Cite web|url=http://www.refworld.org/docid/3f51f5eb4.html|title=Guatemala: Information on the re-emergence of civil patrols in post-war Guatemala|author=Resource Information Center|date=16 January 2013|website=Refworld|publisher=United States Bureau of Citizenship and Immigration Services|accessdate=2016-02-09}}</ref><ref name=Refworld1>{{Cite web|url=http://www.refworld.org/pdfid/3d99cd394.pdf|title=Guatemala: The Civil Defense Patrols Re-emerge|date=4 September 2002|website=Refworld|publisher=Amnesty International|accessdate=2016-02-09}}</ref> were local [[militia]]s created by the government of [[Guatemala]] during the [[Guatemalan Civil War]].<ref name=Refworld/><ref name=Refworld1/><ref name=sowi.uni-mannheim.de>{{Cite web|url=http://www.sowi.uni-mannheim.de/militias-public/data/pgag/299/|title=Civilian Defense Patrols (Guatemala)|website=sowi.uni-mannheim.de|publisher=Sabine Carey and Neil Mitchell|accessdate=2015-11-03}}</ref><ref name=crimesofwar.org>{{Cite web|url=http://www.crimesofwar.org/a-z-guide/civil-patrol/|title=Civil Patrol|last=Allison|first=Ewen|last2=Goldman|first2=Robert|website=Crimes of War|publisher=Crimes of War Project|accessdate=2015-11-03}}</ref><ref name=culturalsurvival.org>{{Cite web|url=http://www.culturalsurvival.org/publications/cultural-survival-quarterly/guatemala/military-rule-threatens-guatemalas-highland-maya-|title=Military Rule Threatens Guatemala's Highland Maya Indians|website=Cultural Survival|publisher=Cultural Survival, Inc.|accessdate=2015-11-03}}</ref><ref name=sowi.uni-mannheim.de1>{{Cite web|url=http://www.sowi.uni-mannheim.de/militias-public/data/pgag/299/evidence/|title=Documentation for Civilian Defense Patrols|website=sowi.uni-mannheim.de|publisher=Sabine Carey and Neil Mitchell|accessdate=2015-11-03}}</ref><ref name=NYTimes>{{Cite web|url=http://www.nytimes.com/1983/11/18/world/guatemala-mobilizes-700000-civilians-in-local-patrols.html|title=GUATEMALA MOBILIZES 700,000 CIVILIANS IN LOCAL PATROLS|last=Chavez|first=Lydia|date=November 18, 1983|website=The New York Times|publisher=The New York Times Company|accessdate=2016-01-26}}</ref><ref name=csmonitor>{{Cite web|url=http://www.csmonitor.com/1991/0513/oguat.html|title=
Guatemala's Civil Defense Patrol Under Fire for Rights Violations|last=Emling|first=Shelley|date=May 13, 1991|website=The Christian Science Monitor|publisher=The Christian Science Monitor|accessdate=2016-01-26}}</ref><ref name=nvdatabase>{{Cite web|url=http://nvdatabase.swarthmore.edu/content/guatemalans-refuse-serve-civil-patrols-1988-1993|title=Guatemalans refuse to serve in civil patrols, 1988-1993|website=Global Nonviolent Action Database|publisher=Swarthmore College|accessdate=2016-01-27}}</ref> They were created by decree of General [[Ríos Montt]] on 1 August 1982, though they began before that under President [[Fernando Romeo Lucas García]].<ref name=Refworld1/><ref name=sowi.uni-mannheim.de/><ref name=culturalsurvival.org/><ref name=sowi.uni-mannheim.de1/><ref name=csmonitor/><ref name=nvdatabase/> Officially, participation was voluntary, but many were forced to join.<ref name=Refworld1/><ref name=sowi.uni-mannheim.de/><ref name=crimesofwar.org/><ref name=culturalsurvival.org/><ref name=sowi.uni-mannheim.de1/><ref name=NYTimes/><ref name=csmonitor/> The patrols officially stopped 29 December 1996 per the peace treaty that ended the war,<ref name=Refworld/><ref name=Refworld1/><ref name=sowi.uni-mannheim.de/><ref name=sowi.uni-mannheim.de1/> though some of the network remained and was used by former members demanding compensation for their involvement.<ref name=Refworld/><ref name=sowi.uni-mannheim.de/> Estimates vary, but statistics generally state that around 1,000,000 people were members of the patrols at the height of the war in 1983.<ref name=Refworld/><ref name=sowi.uni-mannheim.de/><ref name=sowi.uni-mannheim.de1/><ref name=csmonitor/> The members [[torture]]d and killed other villagers, sometimes at the threat of being killed themselves.<ref name=Refworld/><ref name=Refworld1/><ref name=crimesofwar.org/><ref name=culturalsurvival.org/><ref name=sowi.uni-mannheim.de1/><ref name=NYTimes/><ref name=csmonitor/><ref name=nvdatabase/>

==Creation==
Most indigenous [[Maya peoples|Mayans]], who formed 60% of the population and the bulk of the insurgents, lived in areas known as the highlands. Between 1980 and 1981, the highlands were a war zone, as villages had organized in order to defend themselves and demand basic [[civil rights]]. To counter this, the government drew up a [[counterinsurgency]] plan. The first phase, called the pacification phase by the military, was created mainly by General Benedicto Lucas García, the brother of [[Fernando Romeo Lucas García]]. It called for the complete destruction of villages considered supportive of the insurgents and for the creation of local civil defense patrols.<ref name=culturalsurvival.org/> This phase began to take affect under the rule of Fernando Romeo Lucas García and was implemented the rest of the way by General [[Ríos Montt]].<ref name=Refworld1/><ref name=culturalsurvival.org/><ref name=NYTimes/>

The second phase of the [[counterinsurgency]] plan had a goal of reorganizing the social and cultural life of those affected by the war. These were the people living in the highlands. An article published in the magazine Revista Militar, which was based on intelligence gathered by the [[Guatemala]]n Army in 1981, suggested that the Ixil Indians, who were the first to organize and rebel, be subjected to a process of ladinoization. This process would, by suppressing characteristics that distinguished the Ixil from other cultures, destroy their culture. It would do this by, among other things, expanding the Civil Defense Patrols.<ref name=culturalsurvival.org/>

==Structure and function==
Every village in [[Guatemala]] had a patrol post at the entrance, and all members were required to report for duty. They usually served two 24-hour shifts a week, though this varied by the size of the village.<ref name=culturalsurvival.org/> Each unit consisted of 20 men who were armed with weapons varying from [[whip]]s to old [[M1 carbine|M1 rifles]].<ref name=culturalsurvival.org/><ref name=NYTimes/><ref name=csmonitor/> This left their practical use as military units at not much, though they did have a strong affect on morale. One army colonel explained "Before, [the Indian] was Juan Pedro from a certain village. Now, in the civil patrol, he feels part of Guatemala. Every civil patrol post has its little Guatemalan flag, whether it's of paper, plastic or whatever, and he is beginning to identify with it." The civil defense patrols were also responsible for keeping track of every able-bodied man in the community and for regulating traffic into and out of the community. They were very effective at this.<ref name=culturalsurvival.org/>

==War crimes==
The Civil Defense Patrols were both responsible for and the victims of [[war crime]]s.<ref name=Refworld/><ref name=Refworld1/><ref name=sowi.uni-mannheim.de/><ref name=crimesofwar.org/><ref name=culturalsurvival.org/><ref name=sowi.uni-mannheim.de1/> Males as young as eight years old were forced to serve in the Patrols. In addition to typical military work, members were forced to serve as laborers. Those who refused were forced to find a replacement, or they could be fined, imprisoned, beaten or even executed, all without trial.<ref name=Refworld1/><ref name=crimesofwar.org/><ref name=sowi.uni-mannheim.de1/><ref name=nvdatabase/> They would also be labelled as rebel sympathizers and could become the victims of paramilitary groups such as the Patrols themselves.<ref name=crimesofwar.org/><ref name=culturalsurvival.org/><ref name=sowi.uni-mannheim.de1/><ref name=NYTimes/><ref name=csmonitor/><ref name=nvdatabase/> Members of the patrols were sometimes ordered by the local commanders to torture and murder other villagers.<ref name=culturalsurvival.org/><ref name=NYTimes/><ref name=nvdatabase/> One commission found that 90% of the 700 [[massacre]]s and 100,000 disappearances had been committed by either the army or the patrols.<ref name=Refworld1/><ref name=sowi.uni-mannheim.de/><ref name=csmonitor/> During a particularly violent period between March 1982 and August 1983, tens of thousands of indigenous people were [[torture]]d, [[rape]]d and killed, and the Patrols are suspected to have participated in some of these.<ref name=Refworld1/> Sometimes, the army forced them to carry out these actions, but other times they chose to by themselves.<ref name=Refworld1/><ref name=crimesofwar.org/><ref name=NYTimes/><ref name=csmonitor/>

The patrols also severely disrupted normal life. In an attempt to destroy the [[Maya peoples|Mayans]]' unique culture, the patrols held rallies during traditional feasts. Indians were forced to wear traditional dress that was supposed to be used only for ceremonies. They were also taught various behaviors not traditional to them, and woman were forced to join various beauty contests.<ref name=culturalsurvival.org/> They also ruined the economy, as people weren't able to leave the village without permission from the local commander.<ref name=culturalsurvival.org/> This meant that many weren't able to work on plantations, causing them to go unharvested,<ref name=culturalsurvival.org/><ref name=nvdatabase/> and people were forced to take up jobs as servants locally.<ref name=culturalsurvival.org/>

==Resurgence==
The Civil Defense Patrols were disbanded on 29 December 1996 by the Peace Accords.<ref name=Refworld/><ref name=Refworld1/><ref name=sowi.uni-mannheim.de/> However, [[Amnesty International]] reported that they patrols maintained close ties with the military and, along with the [[United Nations Verification Mission in Guatemala]], reported that various [[human rights]] violations, most notably [[lynching]]s, continued to occur.<ref name=Refworld/><ref name=Refworld1/> The [[United Nations|UN]] mission observed that most of these occurred areas in where the Patrols had been powerful. In 1999, the [[Guatemala Human Rights Commission]] reported that the postwar equivalent of the Patrols, the Community Security Committees, were threatening members who didn't want to join them. Residents of [[Chinanton]] and [[Agua Hedionda Spa|Agua Hedionda]] reported that former Patrols from [[San Andrés Sajcabaja]] were firing guns near people's homes and threatened to kill those who interfered with them. It also the GHRC also reported that members of the Campesino Unity Committee in [[El Quiché]] were threatened by members of Local Security Boards, who were mostly former patrollers organized by the National Civil Police. Residents of [[Zacualpa]] received threats from the boards after being labelled as [[guerrilla]]s for organizing.<ref name=Refworld/>

In 2000, the [[United Nations Verification Mission in Guatemala]] and the Guatemalan Human Rights Ombudsman's Office began investigating the Patrol's resurgence. The [[United Nations|UN]] mission focused on a particular group of Patrols called "The Chain", which operated [[Xecopol]], [[Sacabal]], [[Xalbaquiej]] and [[Chichicastenango]]. The Human Rights Ombudsman's Office looked into Patrol operations in [[El Quiché]], [[Huehuetenango]], [[Jutiapa]], [[Chiquimula]] and [[Petén Department|Petén]]. In [[Rabinal]], Vice Mayor Lucas Tecú attempted to pass a referendum to reinstate the Patrols, despite the fact that doing so would violate the Peace Accords. The coordinator for the Center for Legal Action in Human Rights in Rabinal, María Dolares Itzep, stated that the Patrols had returned because of the execution of three patrolmen in 1998 for a state-directed massacre in 1982. She said, "The ex-members here are scared and angry because of that. That is the reason activity has begun here."<ref name=Refworld/>

In June 2001, the [[Guatemala Human Rights Commission]] reported more attacks by the Patrols. A peasant leader named [[Carlos Morales (activist)|Carlos Morales]] had been assaulted in [[Baja Verapaz]]. Around that time, [[Amnesty International]] reported that, "approximately 30 heavily armed men believed to be former civil patrollers attacked the community of [[Los Cimientos Chiul]], in [[Chajul]], [[El Quiché]]. The assailants reportedly [[rape]]d three women, and destroyed 86 houses, forcing 90 families to flee. The patrollers also kidnapped seven children, but released them the next day. Several of the displaced families sought refuge in nearby aldea/area of [[San Marcos, Guatemala|San Marcos]]." They also reported that a judge in [[Senahu]] has possibly been [[lynching|lynched]] by the Patrols.<ref name=Refworld/>

In September 2002, [[Amnesty International]] reported that Manuel García de la Cruz of the National Coordination of Guatemalan Widows has been founded [[torture]]d and [[decapitate]]d after he had left his home to buy corn in [[Joyabaj]]. García had participated in training and [[exhumation]]s, and Amnesty International reported that, "in the context of an escalation of threats and intimidation directed at human rights defenders in Guatemala, and the public resurgence of the civil patrols, forensic experts involved in exhumations of mass graves were targeted."<ref name=Refworld/>

==Compensation==
In June 2002, former patrollers began demanding financial compensation for their service in the Patrols.<ref name=Refworld/><ref name=Refworld1/> By August 2002, up to 20,000 former patrolmen from [[Mazatenango]], [[Alta Verapaz]], [[Quetzaltenango]], [[Sololá]], [[San Marcos, Guatemala|San Marcos]], [[El Quiché]], [[Chimaltenango]], [[Jutiapa]] and [[Huehuetenango]] were involved. They were supposedly organized by the Association of Guatemalan Military Veterans.<ref name=Refworld1/> In August 2002, under pressure from the movement, President [[Alfonso Portillo]] stated that he supported recompensation. Opponents of renumerations came from both the [[conservative]] and [[liberalism|liberal]] groups in [[Guatemala]], and included the Guatemalan Chamber of Commerce, Coordinating Committee of Commercial, Agricultural, Industrial and Financial Organizations, [[Guatemalan National Revolutionary Unity]], Party of National Advancement, and various [[embassies]] and [[human rights]] groups.<ref name=Refworld/><ref name=Refworld1/> Payments were delayed multiple times, and in August and September 2002, former patrollers from [[Ixil, El Quiché]] began blaming the [[United Nations Verification Mission in Guatemala]], Guatemalan Human Rights Ombudsman's Office and Rigoberta Menchú Foundation for the delays. On 26 January 2003, the governor of El Quiché reported that the funds for compensation were available but had been delayed by the Center for Legal Action in Human Rights, Guatemalan Human Rights Ombudsman's Office and Movement of Displaced Peoples of the North of Quiché.<ref name=Refworld/>

==References==
{{Reflist}}

{{Guatemala topics}}

[[Category:Civil defense]]
[[Category:Emergency management]]