HIGH COMMISSIONER FOR HUMAN RIGHTS AND GUATEMALA SIGN ACCORD TO OPEN RIGHTS OFFICE IN COUNTRY

10 January 2005



The United Nations Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) is set to establish an expanded presence in Guatemala later this year, according to the terms of an agreement signed today in New York with the Government of the Central American nation.

The agreement will come into force following its ratification by the Guatemalan congress, possibly this spring. Under the accord, OHCHR will open an office in Guatemala to monitor how human rights are promoted and protected in the country and advise the Government on how best to do this. High Commissioner Louise Arbour and Guatemalan Foreign Minister Jorge Briz Abularach signed the accord at United Nations headquarters today during a brief ceremony.

Specifically, and among other activities, the future OHCHR Guatemala office will:

· Advise the executive branch on the overall definition and implementation of human rights policies, in particular the Presidential Commission Coordinating the Executive's Policy on Human Rights Matters (COPREDEH);

· Advise representatives of civil society and individuals on all matters related to the promotion and protection of human rights, including the use of national and international protection mechanisms;

· Advise current and future national institutions for the promotion and protection of human rights, in particular the Human Rights Procurator, the General Attorney and the State Procurator, with a view to strengthening their activities;

· Advise State and non-governmental entities on citizens' education programmes and training programmes for law enforcement officers, attorneys, law faculties, the Public Prosecutor's Office and the judiciary;

· Ensure that the recommendations and decisions of the human rights bodies of the United Nations and other international organizations are taken into account by those government entities which have authority and responsibilities in that area, and advise them on the adoption of specific measures for their implementation, and

· Inform the competent authorities on human rights violations and other abuses in cases where it believes that domestic legal procedures applied by the competent national authorities are not consistent with those set forth in international instruments, and formulate recommendations with a view to possible preventive or remedial action by national authorities where the Office deems that the circumstances so require.

The agreement provides for the High Commissioner to report to the United Nations Commission on Human Rights on the activities of the future office.