HUMAN RIGHTS COMMITTEE STARTS CONSIDERATION OF REPORT OF GUATEMALA ON CIVIL AND POLITICAL RIGHTS IN THE COUNTRY

Human Rights Committee
72nd session
17 July 2001
Afternoon



Experts Note Problems of Impunity and Lack of Justice



The Human Rights Committee this afternoon started its consideration of a second periodic report of Guatemala, with its Experts noting that the problem of impunity in the country had not improved but had actually worsened. The Committee members said that the situation in the country was precarious because of continued threats perpetrated against judges, trade unions and political figures; farmers were chased out of their properties; and crimes were being committed on a daily basis.

The Committee was examining the situation in Guatemala in line with that country's obligations under the provisions of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights.

Introducing the report, Ricardo Alvarado Ortigoza, President of the Presidential Commission for Human Rights of Guatemala, said his Government attached great importance to the implementation and promotion of the recommendations of the United Nations special rapporteurs and committees and to their visits to the country; the Government was also continuing its collaboration with the United Nations Verification Mission to Guatemala (MINUGUA), whose mandate had been extended to 2003.

Over the course of the discussion, the delegation said that the Government of Guatemala could not deny the existence of extrajudicial acts committed by some armed groups outside the framework of its armed forces. In the cases checked by MINUGUA, there were cases in which some elements of the police had been involved and recommendations had been made for investigations and judicial acts.

The delegation said that the Government had awarded compensation to survivors and families of victims and had made a large sum of money available to them. In addition, it had erected monuments for non-combatant victims who had lost their lives in the hands of the paramilitary forces during the conflict, to restore their dignities.

In addition to Mr. Ortigoza, the Guatemalan delegation was composed of Antonio Arenales Forno, Ambassador and Permanent Representative of Guatemala to the United Nations Office at Geneva; and Carla Rodriguez Mancia, Minster-Counsellor at the Permanent Mission of Guatemala.

As one of the 148 States parties to the Covenant, Guatemala is obligated to file periodic summaries of its efforts to implement the provisions of the treaty.

The Committee will continue its consideration of the Guatemalan report when it reconvenes at 10 a.m. on Wednesday, 18 July.

Summary of Guatemalan Report

The second periodic report (document CCPR/C/GTM/99/2) enumerates the progress made in the achievement of human rights protection and promotion since the peace agreement was signed on 29 December 1996. It also gives an account of the various administrative, legislative and judicial measures undertaken by the Government to implement the provisions of the Covenant. It further includes development of civil and political rights from the viewpoint of the United Nations Verification Mission in Guatemala (MINUGUA). The report states that substantial progress has been made in applying the Covenant, notably through the ending of the armed internal conflict following the signing of the agreement. A transformation of governmental institutions such as the national police force, the army and the public prosecutor's department had taken place.

The report notes that the strengthening measures that have been taken formed part of a peace agenda being implemented in parallel with the Government's own programme with a view to ensuring appropriate compliance with the Government's commitments under the peace agreements and other State undertakings in the sphere of human rights. However, with regard to the protection of the rights contained in the Covenant, it is important to note that full observance is still prevented in certain situations.

It also notes that the signing of the peace agreement has offered all sectors of Guatemalan society increased scope for participation, particularly civil society and the indigenous peoples, which had been excluded from political and social life for decades. According to the ninth report of MINUGUA, from 1 April to 31 December 1998, the main factor militating against the enjoyment of human rights in Guatemala was criminal violence; and the State's weakness in the area of human rights remains its inability to tackle the crime problem through the administration of speedy and full justice. The report also enumerated the number of complaints of violations of the right to life arising from violations of legal guarantees and extrajudicial executions, attempted executions and death threats.

Further, the report states that from 1988 to 1998 three persons were executed, two of them in 1996 after being found guilt of rape and murder of a girl. In February 1998, a third one was punished for the murders of seven people and for the first time lethal injection was administered to execute the person. Until August 1999, the number of persons condemned to death by the courts was 12, ten of whom had committed kidnapping or abduction and two murders. The death penalty was not imposed on minors, the report affirms.

With regard to participation by the indigenous population, the report says that despite the relatively inferior participation rate of the indigenous population by comparison with the non-indigenous majority, members of the indigenous population occupy important posts in Congress and in other government agencies, mainly within department and municipal authorities.

Presentation of Report

RICARDO ALVARADO ORTIGOZA, President of the Presidential Commission for Human Rights of Guatemala, said that the continued violence in the country adversely affected the fundamental rights of persons. During the last 18 months, the Guatemalan Government had adopted measures in line with the United Nations and the Inter-American Human Rights system. During the last session of the Commission on Human Rights, the Government of Guatemala had expressed its willingness to cooperate with the United Nations system in the promotion and protection of human rights, in accordance with the international human rights instruments. The instruments related to involuntary disappearances, migrant workers, discrimination against women, the rights of the child, and the rights of indigenous population were significant to Guatemala.

The Guatemalan Government attached great importance to the implementation and promotion of the recommendations of the United Nations special rapporteurs and committees and to their visits of the country, Mr. Ortigoza said. The Government also continued to collaborate with the United Nations Verification Mission to Guatemala (MINUGUA), whose mandate had been extended to 2003.

Mr. Ortigoza said that under the Inter-American system, Guatemala was committed to resolving the 100 cases of complaints lodged with the Inter-American Commission for Human Rights. The Government had undertaken a dialogue with the aim of repairing prejudices concerning disappearances and extra-judicial executions. Within the framework of the actual dialogue, the Government had allocated $ 2 million to surviving victims or families of victims of violence.

The signing of the peace agreement following 36 years of armed conflict had finally terminated the conflict, but still the Government was not fully in a position to ensure the security and the right to life of persons, Mr. Ortigoza said, adding that much more was expected from the Government in the promotion and protection of the security of its people.

Discussion of Report

In response to written questions prepared by Committee members before hand, the delegation said that Guatemala was still in a situation of emergency because of the existing conflicts which were not totally resolved. However, measures had been taken in various areas within the framework of MINUGUA and the peace agreement. Not all the measures undertaken by the Government had achieved the results initially desired. The Government, nevertheless, continued to restructure the institutions.

With regard to the protection of judges, the Government had taken a series of measures to protect them from threats of death and harassment in the accomplishment of their duties, the delegation said. The Government had also taken measures to compile complaints and to investigate them.

The Government of Guatemala could not deny the existence of extrajudicial acts committed by some armed groups outside the framework of its armed forces, the delegation said. In the cases checked by MINUGUA, there were cases in which some elements of the police had been involved and recommendations had been made for investigations and judicial acts.

In order to transform the police culture to a service culture, the Government had reformed the national police, and a unit for human rights protection and promotion had been set up, the delegation said.

A joint training programme had been organized for the police and the security personnel in order to develop a peaceful civil service and to create a situation disconnected from the violent period of the past, the delegation said. The number of personnel had also been increased to allow the work to be performed efficiently. In addition, the efficiency of the Public Ministry was increased with the aim of fighting impunity.

President Alfonso Portillo of Guatemala had taken the initiative to create a "peace and accord committee" in application of the Commission de Escalarecimiento Historico with regard to impunity. The Government of Guatemala had acknowledged its responsibilities by omission of the various crimes committed against humanity. For that reason, it had attempted to restore the dignities of the victims by awarding compensation to survivors and families of victims. A large sum of money had been made available to them. In addition, it had erected monuments for non-combatant victims who had lost their lives in the hands of the paramilitary forces during the conflict.

The delegation said investigations would be initiated by the office of the Procurator General concerning acts of killings committed against military and political leaders with regard to indigenous populations. The investigation would determine the extent of the homicide or the extrajudicial executions committed by those leaders.

A question was raised about the action being taken to investigate and bring to justice the perpetrators of the 26 extrajudicial executions, and 9 attempts at that crime, reported from 1 December 1999 to 30 June 2000. The delegation said that the Government had encountered difficulty in clarifying the situation. The authorities had to through all the books and witnesses to conclude the investigation, which was still a long process. The delegation would provide the Committee with further information after properly identifying the perpetrators and after concluding its investigations.

Responding to a question on the continued application of the death penalty to men between 18 and 60, after abolishing it for women, young persons and men over 60, the delegation said although the capital punishment was not totally abolished, a gradual process of its abolition was being implemented. The execution of two persons on 29 June 2000 was not a renewal of the death penalty nor a policy of the Government towards such punishments. The death penalty was not applied at all times. The country's President was empowered to commute or pardon an individual on certain cases in application of article 46 of the Constitution. Persons sentenced to death penalty could also appeal against the decision to a higher court. There one case of a death sentence which was suspended in application of a political process was because of the fact that the person was not judged in his own language.


The televising of the actual execution was a matter of improper judgement by the media owners, the delegation said. The decision to televise any execution was left to the media and the Government; it was part of the freedom for free access to information by the media. In the future, coordinated action would be taken between the State and the media. The law, however, stipulated that the death penalty should be carried out in private, inside the relevant penitentiary. Although members of the press were allowed to be present during executions, they were not allowed to carry out live transmissions, nor any type of recordings for subsequent transmission, nor to take any photographs.

A question was asked about the results of the work of the "office of the professional responsibility" in the police force and of the army high command in bringing to justice police and military personnel who committed human rights violations. The delegation said that measures were taken to bring the perpetrators to justice, however, there was limited information made available to the authorities. No progress was made in those areas because the people who had the information were afraid to come forward to tell their stories about police or military acts of violence. The Government was attempting to overcome these fears and to convince persons to give their testimonies.

According to the delegation, the Government had taken a series of measures to reduce the numbers of the prison population held in pre-trial detention. Recently 325 defenders had been hired to serve on a permanent basis in order to speed up the judicial process and to reduce the number of prisoners. In addition, financial fines had been used in certain cases in order to avoid long periods of deprivation of liberty. Together with MINUGUA, the Government had conducted a study as a result of which many persons were freed. Further, a comparative study in penal law was also being carried on pre-trial detention and the text was submitted to the "national commission for the follow-up to justice".

The longest period of detention of a person as of 31 December 2000 was six years; the case involved a minor offender who had committed kidnapping and forgery, the delegation said.

Following the responses by the delegation, a number of Committee members made comments on the delegation's responses and the content of the report. Many of them said that impunity was the main problem of Guatemala. The situation of impunity had not improved, but had actually become worse. There were strategies and programmes designed by the Government to confront this problem, however, no concrete results were seen. The delegation had complained that the Government lacked material and technical assistance to tackle impunity, but the problem was not technical, it was the lack of political will and effective legal rule by the authorities. The situation of the country was precarious with continued threats perpetrated against judges, trade unions and political figures; farmers were chased out of their properties; and crimes were being committed on daily basis.

It was also said that since the peace agreement entered into force, 310 lynchings had taken place. The delegation was asked to explain the Government's attitudes towards the continued use of lynching in the country, which violated the right to life. The massacre in which 162 persons, including 60 children, had died had not been properly elucidated by the Government. The delegation said that the matter had been settled with the intervention of the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights.


The lack of justice and its administration was another problem prevailing in Guatemala, Experts said. Military jurisdiction was still present with military courts operating in civilian jurisdiction. In general, the military continued to enjoy too much power in the country. One Expert said there were still dark areas in the Guatemalan situation and asked if the military intelligence service was taking part in penal investigations of civilian nature.

Additional information was asked about the disappeared persons, the result of the investigations and the measures taken to prevent disappearances. Several Experts were of the view, among other things, that the Government of Guatemala had failed to protect and to ensure the rights to life and security of citizens; systematic violations of human rights had persisted by paramilitary groups; military delinquency was widespread; and the state of exceptions was not fully clarified concerning derogation of individual rights.



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