United Nations Verification Mission in Guatemala

“ In order for the peace process, justice and reconciliation to advance, stronger actions are needed to protect human rights defenders, justice officials, witnesses, journalists, union leaders and clergy. An important first step for combating the fear generated by threats and aggressions would be to carry out serious investigations into the most emblematic of the cases and punish those responsible.
68. The Government should fulfil its commitments to combat impunity and strengthen the institutions that protect human rights and battle corruption. ”

“ The increase in the number of police, judges and prosecutors nationwide has not produced tangible improvement and this has fed public tolerance for lynchings and “social cleansing” operations. The spread of courts and police into rural areas has not been accompanied by effective actions to attack poverty, discrimination and other structural causes of crime.
7. Contrary to the spirit of the peace agreements, there was an expansion in the role of the Army in public security and other spheres of government action. ”

“ A new Human Rights Counsel and Public Prosecutor were elected during the period under review, following participatory processes with broad input from civil society, which considered the ethics and professional qualifications of the candidates. The challenge for the new Public Prosecutor is to increase the efficiency and autonomy of the Public Ministry, the poor performance of which has contributed to impunity. The new Human Rights Counsel has created high expectations about overcoming the weaknesses of his office. ”

“ Former police officers and soldiers have also become owners or employees of private security firms whose ranks greatly outnumber those of PNC, and who act largely outside State control. There are indications that some former members of the counter-insurgency forces are now members of illegal groups and clandestine structures dedicated to organized crime.
6. High crime since the end of the armed conflict has made citizen security one of the public’s main concerns. Studies show that Guatemala has the second highest crime rate in Central America, after El Salvador. ”

“ It was in this context that the Special Representative of the Secretary-General of the United Nations on Human Rights Defenders, Hina Jilani, visited the country between 26 May and 2 June 2002. Her presence underscored the international community’s concern for the safety of human rights defenders and the need for stronger Government measures to protect them. ”

“ Many former CVDC members and former Military Commissioners have preserved leadership roles in municipal governments, development councils, local security councils, or as auxiliary mayors in the communities where they committed serious crimes during the conflict. They often exercise leadership in authoritarian ways, using intimidation to resolve disputes in their favour, and preying on fears that they could resort to violence, as in the past. ”

“ The right to justice remains precarious in Guatemala. Advances seen in high-impact cases, such as the assassination of anthropologist Myrna Mack and Monsignor Juan José Gerardi have come at an enormous risk to the civilians and officials participating in the trials. ”

“ The death penalty violates the American Convention on Human Rights, to which Guatemala is a party.
Right to integrity of person 20. Verified cases of cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment by the police increased by 128 per cent during the period under review. The Mission received complaints of 551 alleged violations, of which it corroborated 270, the majority of them committed by members of PNC. Confirmed cases of torture declined during the same period by 57 per cent. ”

“ Judicial processes are permanently delayed by dilatory appeals. An example is in the case of Xamán, in which soldiers killed 11 members of a returned refugee community in October 1995, and wounded 30 others. The Army, through interventions by lawyers with no formal connection to the military, has systematically obstructed justice.
Commitment IV. Commitment that there are no illegal security forces and clandestine structures; regulation of the bearing of arms 51. Central actors from the armed conflict have undergone transformations since the signing of the peace agreements. ”

“ Although threats and other acts of intimidation had a negative impact, the Mission is encouraged by an organizing initiative resulting in the creation of a new coalition of non-governmental organizations, the Human Rights Movement, as well as the decision to form a National Council of Indigenous Peoples. ”

“ Labour leaders continue to be threatened and intimidated. For example, Juan Fidel Pacheco Coc, Secretary-General of the Immigration Workers’ union, reported receiving death threats. The Labour Union of Guatemalan Workers (Unión Sindical de Trabajadores de Guatemala) labour federation complained of telephone threats, as well as surveillance of its headquarters and some members. ”

“ Notwithstanding advances in this regard by the Office of Professional Responsibility of PNC, its investigations are often given little weight within the judiciary. Weak training courses are also partly to blame for the ongoing pattern of abuse.
22. More than 70 per cent of the admitted complaints of torture and cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment occurred in the departments of Petén, Guatemala and Cobán. In one case, Luis Méndez, a construction worker from Belize, was severely beaten on four occasions by police in Petén. ”