Civil Defense Patrols

The Civil Defense Patrols were local militias created by the government of Guatemala during the Guatemalan Civil War. They were created by decree of General Ríos Montt on 1 August 1982, though they began before that under President Romeo Lucas García. Officially, participation was voluntary, but many were forced to join. The patrols officially stopped 29 December 1996 per the peace treaty that ended the war, though some of the network remains and is used by former members demanding compensation for their involvement. Estimates vary, but consensus is that around 1,000,000 people were members of the patrols at the height of the war in 1983. The members were often forced to torture and kill other villagers, at the threat of being killed themselves.

Creation

Most indigenous 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 President García. It called for the complete destruction of villages considered supportive of the insurgents and for the creation of local civil defense patrols. This phase began to take affect under the rule of President García and was implemented the rest of the way by General Ríos Montt.

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 Guatemalan 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.

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. Each unit consisted of 20 men who were armed with weapons varying from whips to old M1 rifles. 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.

War Crimes

The Civil Defense Patrols were both responsible for and the victims of war crimes. 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. They would also be labelled as rebel sympathizers and could become the victims of paramilitary groups such as the Patrols themselves. Members of the patrols were sometimes ordered by the local commanders to torture and murder other villagers. One commission found that most of the 700 massacres and 100,000 disappearances had been committed by either the army or the patrols.

The patrols also severely disrupted normal life. In an attempt to destroy the Mayans' unique culture, the patrols held rallies during traditional feasts. Indians were forced to where 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. They also ruined the economy, as people weren't able to leave the village without permission from the local commander. This meant that many weren't able to work on plantations, causing them to go unharvested, and people were forced to take up jobs as servants locally.