Committee on Elimination of Racial Discrimination considers report of Guatemala

22 February 2010

The Committee on Elimination of Racial Discrimination has considered the twelfth and thirteenth periodic reports of Guatemala on how that country implements the provisions of the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination.

Lars Pira, Vice Minister for Foreign Affairs of Guatemala, introducing the report, said it had to be recognized that discrimination and racism still affected Guatemalan society on a daily basis, and in particular impacted on its indigenous populations – the Maya, Garifuna and Xinka peoples. To combat that, there were 13 public policies to eliminate racism and racial discrimination in Guatemala, with 22 priority actions in four sectors: legal racism; economic racism; institutional racism; and training to prevent racism. Those activities were promoted by the Presidential Commission on Discrimination and Racism against Indigenous Peoples in Guatemala, which had been established in 2004. There was also the Public Agenda concerning the Indigenous Peoples as part of the Peace Agreements, 2005-2012, and there were multiple institutions to promote indigenous rights and welfare in Guatemala, including an indigenous woman's Ombudsman; the Presidential Commission on Discrimination and Racism against Indigenous Peoples in Guatemala; the Ministry of Education for bilingual education; and an itinerant ambassador for indigenous affairs.

In preliminary concluding observations, Pastor Elias Murillo Martinez, the Committee Expert serving as Rapporteur for the report of Guatemala, noted concerns raised by Experts with regard to the situation and impact of mining companies on the lives of indigenous peoples. He also highlighted that there had been some 24 killings of indigenous persons in 2009, which would require follow-up. Nevertheless, the Committee welcomed efforts on codification of budgetary spending for the indigenous and others. It was hoped that the intercultural dialogue within Guatemala could produce a Constitutional reform promoting the participation of all indigenous Guatemalans, and giving them the proper priority.

Other Committee Experts raised questions and asked for further information over the course of the two meetings with the delegation on subjects pertaining to, among other things, a seeming discrepancy in the statistics on the indigenous presented at the last review, and the statistics presented today; concerns about the right of indigenous persons to self-identification and how that was protected; and what was the reason for the delay in adoption of laws that were of fundamental importance for the Committee, such as the agrarian reform bill, the bill on establishing a moratorium on mining, the bill on the mining law and the bill on sacred sites.

The delegation of Guatemala also included representatives of the Permanent Mission of Guatemala to the United Nations Office at Geneva; the Presidential Commission against discrimination and racism against indigenous persons; the Presidential Commission of the National System of Permanent Dialogue; the Ministry of Foreign Affairs; and two Defenders of Indigenous Women.

The next meeting of the Committee will be at 3 p.m. today, when it will take up the eighteenth periodic report of Cameroon.

Report of Guatemala

The twelfth and thirteenth periodic reports of Guatemala, submitted in one document (CERD/C/GTM/12-13), observes that, since the advent of democracy in the country, and particularly since the signing of the Peace Agreements, Guatemala has been involved in a process of political, economic and cultural transformation. An essential component of this process is its vision of transforming the still-homogenous State into one that represents and reflects the multicultural and multinational character of the country. In this regard, the legal and political entities of the Guatemalan State are promoting ethnic and cultural diversity in such a way as to affirm and strengthen respect for the identity and rights of the indigenous peoples – Maya, Garifuna and Xinca – to ensure that the public administration responds by providing better services. The main trend here is towards the adoption of new legal and political norms or the reform of the few that exist, thereby generating measures and actions on the part of the authorities to enhance the treatment of the indigenous peoples.

The prevailing political and philosophical thinking in the country concerns cultural pluralism, specifically multiculturalism and interculturalism. This points to a political and intellectual awakening regarding observance of and respect for the human and collective rights of the indigenous peoples. This thinking has influenced the new set of legal and political norms now in place in the country concerning indigenous peoples. Likewise, it has permeated Guatemala's institutions. Focusing on cultural pluralism has also given the State a certain means of political pressure to combat and eradicate discrimination and racism. The State has also taken important steps towards the recognition of inequalities and racist practices, language and attitudes that have contributed over time to generating ethnic and social discrimination, which has limited the indigenous peoples’ access to economic and political opportunities.

Presentation of Report

LARS PIRA, Vice Minister for Foreign Affairs of Guatemala, introducing the report, said it had to be recognized that discrimination and racism still affected Guatemalan society on a daily basis, and in particular impacted on its indigenous populations – the Maya, Garifuna and Xinka peoples. The delegation's presence today was another occasion for them to re-examine the challenges they faced as a society in regard to eliminating all forms of racial discrimination.

Despite the fact that Guatemala had been a party to the Convention since 1983, and had registered many achievements during the intervening 27 years, there were still considerable limitations to implementing the Convention. To overcome those challenges, the Government was ready to undertake joint efforts to achieving one of the fundamental goals of the United Nations: the achievement of a global society that was free from segregation and racial discrimination. Mr. Pira hoped that the results of the dialogue with the Committee would allow them to make progress in eliminating racial discrimination from the world.

The authorities recognized the existence of racism and discrimination against indigenous peoples in Guatemala, and that had been acknowledged in statements at the highest level, including by the President. However, Mr. Pira noted that national statistics were not yet in line with the context of indigenous people, so it was rather difficult to corroborate the facts.

The Committee had asked about quantitative data on indigenous population in the country. To give just the main numbers: the Garifuna numbered 6,100; the Xinka, 17,848; the Ladinos, or Spanish speaking population, were about 8,034,916 million; and the remaining 60,100, were made up of Maya peoples.

On the level of awareness among most Guatemalans of the Garifuna people, Mr. Pira said there had been no assessment of that level of knowledge. However, there had been two awareness-raising campaigns with regard to the Garifuna, and the United Nations High Commissioner of Human Rights had participated in that process through the OHCHR Guatemala office. Garifuna culture was promoted, through a number of government bodies and agencies, including the Presidential Commission on Discrimination and Racism against Indigenous Peoples in Guatemala, and the Ministry of Culture. There was also a national day of the Garifuna.

There was a national Council for the Implementation of the Peace Agreements, which included a proposal to establish a Maya university, in accordance with the agreement on the rights and identity of the indigenous peoples – although that was the most delayed element in terms of implementation in the Peace Agreements, Mr. Pira acknowledged.

Providing results of an assessment of the public investment in the indigenous peoples, Mr. Pira reported that, for 2008, public spending in departments with a majority indigenous population represented 13 per cent of the national budget, and the level had increased to 14 per cent in 2009. In addition, public spending for indigenous institutions for those years equalled 1 per cent of the national budget for each year.

Mr. Pira noted that there were 13 public policies to eliminate racism and racial discrimination in Guatemala, with 22 priority actions in four sectors: legal racism; economic racism; institutional racism; and training to prevent racism. Those activities were promoted by the Presidential Commission on Discrimination and Racism against Indigenous Peoples in Guatemala, which was established in 2004. There was also the Public Agenda concerning the Indigenous Peoples as part of the Peace Agreements, 2005-2012. Although it was not strictly recognized as a public policy, it was a basic document for the design of public policies concerning the indigenous peoples for all Guatemalan institutions.

There were also multiple institutions to promote indigenous rights and welfare in Guatemala, Mr. Pira said, including an indigenous woman's Ombudsman; the Presidential Commission on Discrimination and Racism against Indigenous Peoples in Guatemala; the Ministry of Education for bilingual education; and an itinerant ambassador for indigenous affairs.

Among relevant legislative measures, Mr. Pira highlighted the Law on Registering Land Ownership of 2005, noting that information campaigns on the register had been carried out, taking gender, linguistic and ethnic characteristics into consideration. The Law on Food Security of 2005 established the National Secretariat for Food Security, and subsequently the strategic plan for food security (2009-2012) had been developed. The objective of the strategic plan was to implement institutional coordination mechanisms to deal in a crosscutting and sustainable way with food security and the impact that insecurity could have on the most vulnerable sectors of the country. There was also the Framework Law of the Peace Agreements, under which a follow-up unit to ensure implementation had been established. Further legislation under consideration included a law to recognize the competence of the Committee to consider complaints from individuals that their rights under the Convention had been violated by the State.

Providing some numbers on concrete cases, Mr. Pira reported that, under the anti-discrimination provisions in the Criminal Code, some 412 complaints had been received to 31 December 2009. Since then, four accusations had gone to trial, resulting in three convictions and one acquittal.

In terms of political participation by the indigenous, there had been more participation in voting through the extension of electoral zones and the registering of citizens, Mr. Pira said. Moreover there were a number of indigenous persons at high decision-making levels, including one Minister, four Deputy Ministers, a Departmental Governor and others.

On land issues, in terms of access to land, the State had made land grants benefiting 1,673 persons and regularized the situation of 16,970 hectares of land, benefiting some 1,789 families in 2008. It had also invested in resolving land disputes, and had made loans available for renting of land. To protect the lands of indigenous peoples, the law on land registry established mechanisms for land measurement and registration in indigenous areas. A draft law on mining was also in the works, which included the right to consultations. No new licences for exploitation or exploration had been granted by the Government or would be granted until a new law was in place, Mr. Pira affirmed. Currently there were 136 exploration and 2,062 exploitation licenses for mining, and some were 177 new requests.

Regarding reparations to victims of the armed conflict, to date, about 23,984 people had benefited from 551 million quetzals, Mr. Pira noted. There had also been historical memory measures, including exhumations of those killed in the conflict. Psychosocial reparations were being made in the form of training workshops.

Turning to the case of San Juan Sacatepequez (where farmers and indigenous Guatemalans had staged protests against construction of a cement factory, asking that the Government overturn infrastructure and natural resource licenses), Mr. Pira observed that the Constitutional Court in 2009 had reaffirmed the 2005 ruling that the Congress had to give priority to establishing rules to cover the rights of peoples affected by the grant of mining exploitation concessions.

In terms of access to justice for the indigenous, the National Police had a Multicultural Division, including almost 5,000 police officers who were bilingual in the 20 indigenous languages in the country. The Human Rights Procurator was also involved in advocating for the indigenous, and in 2004 had been involved in prosecuting and defending 775 cases involving indigenous persons' rights. Of those, 80 had not involved discrimination on the basis of ethnic origin.

To address the issue of violence against indigenous women, institutional and inter-institutional actions had been taken. A law of 2008 prohibited femicide and other forms of violence against women, and preventive action was being undertaken in that area in units in a number of departments, and social protection networks for women were being integrated, Mr. Pira concluded.

Questions by Experts

PASTOR ELIAS MURILLO MARTINEZ, the Committee Expert serving as Rapporteur for the report of Guatemala, was concerned that, despite the great diversity in the country, the political constitution of Guatemala, which dated to 1985, did not recognized the multicultural nature of the nation. He hoped Guatemala could follow the examples of other countries in the region in changing that.

Mr. Murillo Martinez drew attention to some statistics based on the 2002 census. It said the population of Guatemala was 41 per cent indigenous, divided among three groups – the Maya, which were divided among 22 linguistic groups; the Garifuna, or afro-Guatemalan population; and the Xinka. The other 59 per cent of the population was categorized as "non-indigenous". Some 51 per cent of the population were poor, with 15 per cent considered extremely poor, of whom almost 70 per cent were indigenous persons. The priority problem that poverty had given rise to was a high level of chronic malnutrition: according to a report from the United Nations Children's Fund, Guatemala had the highest level of children suffering from malnutrition in Latin America – 43 per cent – with 80 per cent of those being indigenous children, he underscored.

Mr. Murillo Martinez acknowledged that the report did provide statistics, but regretted that that data was not sufficiently disaggregated to allow the Committee to appropriately assess the situation of discrimination in the country. He asked about the text of the next census, and wondered if any pilot projects had been launched to involve indigenous groups in the census?

Highlighted as positive among measures taken to combat racism in Guatemala were the adoption of International Labour Organization Convention No. 169 (on indigenous and tribal peoples); the adoption of a National Policy on Racism and Racial Discrimination; and the creation of a Presidential Committee on Racial Discrimination. However, a remaining challenge was to implement the many legislative and administrative measures to combat racism, Mr. Murillo Martinez observed. Moreover, the Committee had received information from many sources according to which the Committee's recommendations made following Guatemala's last review had mainly not been followed through on.

It had to be acknowledged that racism and racial discrimination remained rampant in Guatemala. Citing just one example, Mr. Murillo Martinez described the case of a patient who had been treated in a hospital for schizophrenia because the healthcare employees had not understood his native (indigenous) tongue.

Mr. Murillo Martinez welcomed the fact that Guatemala was now a party to ILO Convention No. 169 and had been instrumental in promoting the United Nations Declaration on Indigenous Peoples. Both of those instruments prioritized the need for prior consultation and informed consent from indigenous peoples on decisions that affected them. However, the main complaint received by indigenous peoples in the country was that such consultations were not made. If the State were to implement that practice, that would transform the State's relationship to the Garifuna and other indigenous groups. That was essential given the depth of the social chasm that existed.

Many cases illustrated the growing tensions among indigenous peoples centred on the activities of mining companies in indigenous areas. A particularly serious situation involved gold and cement concessions in San Juan Sacatepequez. Many reports had been received that a number of murders, as well as criminalization of social protest, had taken place in those areas, with some protestors sentenced to as much as 150 years in prison. Just last week had seen the assassination of human rights defender, German Antonio Curup, the son of a community leader that opposed the installation of the cement plan in that municipality. Mr. Murillo Martinez called on the Government to investigate that murder.

Other Committee Experts raised questions and asked for further information on subjects pertaining to, among other things, a seeming discrepancy in the statistics on the indigenous presented at the last review – according to which a majority of the population was indigenous – and the statistics presented today, according to which the Spanish-speaking population (Ladinos) made up the majority (58.74 per cent). That seemed like a large shift for four years.

Experts also raised concerns about the right of indigenous persons to self-identification and how that was protected; whether intercultural education was the same as multicultural education, or if it placed more emphasis on the "stronger" culture; more information on sacred sites (noting that for indigenous communities religion, way of life and land were often inseparable); what was the percentage of those who had and had not received land among the indigenous communities; and whether prior consultation and environmental impact assessments for economic exploitation activities on indigenous land were required by law and, if so, if they were always undertaken.

Also asked was the reason for the delay in adoption of laws that were of fundamental importance for the Committee, such as the agrarian reform bill; the bill on establishing a moratorium on mining; the bill on the mining law; and the bill on sacred sites.

Response by the Delegation

Responding to the questions and issues raised by the Committee Experts, the delegation noted that today a new year began in the Mayan calendar. There was a very complex system of calendars in Guatemala, and the entire artistic and cultural production, including clothing, education and productive systems, were based on a system of values based on astronomy. There was thus a cyclical view of the unfolding of events allowing a certain amount of prediction of natural situations. It was also clear that Guatemala was unfolding an effort to defend indigenous rights. The delegation said a prayer in one of Guatemala’s indigenous languages for all to be receptive on this day of the year.

Racial discrimination was a serious problem in Guatemala, the delegation agreed, while noting there were laws that helped to make progress. One such was the law on national languages, which granted two indigenous languages national status. However, a challenge facing the State in that respect was the approval of its own regulations. There was also Governmental agreement 308/97, which established the Committee for the Officialization of the Indigenous Languages of the Guatemalan, and a Governmental agreement establishing a Commission for the establishment of sacred sites. The law for the protection of craft development had also been passed, and there was a General Directorate for Cultural Development and the Strengthening of Cultures.

On sacred sites, and the concept of ethnic groups, culture and religion, the delegation said that it was easier to understand that through the perspective of the division in Mayan culture between divinity and religion. There were physical sites loaded with positive energy, and they were venerated and recognized as protective. There were similar concepts in the Catholic religion. These sites were used by different communities, and had their own names and specific function for each of these and in the daily lives of people. They could be mountains, rocks, stones, rivers, lakes or other places, with their own voice and communication, communicating through spiritual persons to other human beings.

The Constitution recognized the right of persons and communities to their cultural identity, and every person had their right to practice their religion or creed, in public or in private. The Government also recognized the practice of Mayan spirituality and the elimination of all forms of intolerance based on religion or spirituality. The law on sacred places was designed to ensure coherence with ILO Convention No. 169. A draft law had been established to incorporate the provisions of the second part of that Convention. There was a consultative process based on thematic workshops including on access to justice, legislation, employment and labour.

The challenge of the peace agreements and on the identity of indigenous people's rights was changing the mono-cultural nature of the State, which was being transformed to become multi-ethnic, multilingual, and multi-spiritual. State bodies had therefore incorporated an indigenous dimension in their budgets.

The special programme for protection of private domestic employees had ensured affiliation with Social Security, providing maternity leave, childcare, and coverage of accidents, the delegation said. Some 10,900 domestic workers were expected to be registered, 6 per cent of those in the country. There was also an Office for Coverage of Gender Issues among the Indigenous Communities.

The timetable for compliance with the peace agreements 2008-2012 gave priority to certain indigenous issues, and those were being promoted by the relevant organizations. Promotion of the use of indigenous costume was helping to reduce discrimination at the institutional and social levels. There were also a number of programmes, such as providing microcredit for women, and to eliminate child labour. The Government was committed to making monetary transfers, allowing access to health and education.

A system had been set up for educational reform, and the Document on Educational Design set out policies and strategies to promote interculturalism and multiculturalism, the delegation said, with strategies on systematization and learning of national cultures, including ethnography, arts and values, and the promotion of non-discriminatory conduct. Materials eliminating cultural stereotypes had also been developed. Strategies including research and knowledge of history, traditions, cosmological values and others had been promulgated, aiming to promote universality in diversity, and the development of a citizenry that respected other cultures and upgraded the value of the nation as a whole. The focus of the national curriculum for primary education was now clearly on interculturalism for all students within the country. There were 18 different boards for intercultural education.

With regard to training of intercultural bilingual teachers, there were recognized schools which trained teachers to work with the different linguistic groups in the country. Teachers registered under the bilingual budget now amounted to some 12,000, and there were also some 3,000 indigenous teachers also working in bilingual education. In 2007, the Bilingualism Voucher was given to over 6,000 teachers, ensuring them an additional payment over and above their salary. As a result of the Peace Agreements, the official language of Guatemala was Spanish, but the languages of the Maya, Garifuna and Xinka peoples were recognized and promoted.

Concerning the need to consult the indigenous on decisions affecting them, the delegation said the process of good faith community consultations had been organized by municipalities, and those consultative processes, without any legal underpinning, had been recognized by the Congress as having met the spirit of the process leading to consensus on safeguarding the goods, customs and identity of the peoples themselves in the context of mining issues. The State was giving priority to trying to reach agreements and preventing conflict while waiting for a corresponding legal norm to be drawn up, and had not granted any permits in areas where the consultative municipal process had rejected those projects.

Work was also being done to ensure that the projects had a social component, the delegation noted. The Government was investigating complaints, and was promoting a space for interaction between the separate parties. The Government was in an ongoing process of discussion on a law on mining, following the efforts of other States, giving priority to the national interest and setting out rules and regulations on mining, in particular with regard to the impact on neighbouring communities.

Environmental monitoring had been established to determine the social baseline, the delegation said. There was social responsibility for company actions. Before convening a People's Consultation, it was necessary to meet the necessary legal procedure of a certain level of minimum participation of the people in the municipality, as well as consideration of the ethnic, spiritual, cultural, ecological and legal natures of the issue. In cases of legitimate resistance, it was vital that no armed or violent coercion be used, as those posed a threat to the life and integrity of persons. The Government of Guatemala had not so far carried out prior consultations for the granting of permits, nor had it implemented fully ILO Convention No. 169. The holders of permits for prospecting had avoided any mining activities in order to not lead to conflict since the adoption of the ILO Convention, and they were thus all inactive.

According to Guatemalan law, there was a need for consultation and environmental studies before a mining permit could be granted. Although the right of consultation was not equivalent to a right to veto public policies on mining, that could not be interpreted to say that the failure of consultation dialogue meant that the Government no longer had a duty to consider the wishes of the population. The Constitutional Tribunal had a law which stated that consultations of indigenous peoples could be carried out by their representatives on the Development Councils, and the latter must channel complaints through the mayor of the Development Council. A Council on Indigenous Consultations existed as a legal personality with members representing the different linguistic communities, and it had, inter alia, the role to determine what legislative and administrative decisions should be submitted to advised communities.

Human rights guides were voluntary leaders, unpaid, who in practice and in daily life protected indigenous peoples' rights, preventing conflict and ensuring their safety. That programme was designed to ensure that assistance in human rights was ensured for indigenous peoples, who often lived at a great distance from public institutions. The Ministry of Labour and Social Security had a programme for assistance to indigenous peoples in labour rights and other matters, including improvement of labour conditions through the elimination of discrimination based on age, sex, cultural or ethnic identity, and the Unit for Indigenous Peoples promoted dissemination of ILO Convention 169. There was an Inspectors Unit to oversee issues in assembly plants and mass dismissals.

Community Justices of the Peace helped with access to justice, and were established in communities where there was limited or no access. They included members of the community, the delegation said, in some cases nominated by the community, and in accordance with the requirements of the community, such as knowledge of the uses and customs of the community concerned. They sometimes followed a line between indigenous and national law, providing an effective service that did not run counter to domestic legislation, providing opportunities to hold reconciliation meetings, consider public and private suits, hear statements by accused persons, dictate coercive measures, and order the removal of a body, among other things. The judiciary contracted bilingual staff and used them to ensure the administration of justice.

With regard to the criminalization of discrimination, the delegation noted that there were various cases of racial discrimination before the courts, although it was not yet defined as a crime in Guatemala. The State was working to have racial and ethnic discrimination defined as a criminal offence and the legal code was being reformed in that regard.

With regard to the Labour Code, it prohibited discrimination on a wide range of grounds, including political belief and place of education or training, and employers were legally required to provide equal pay for equal work.

Furthermore, the law on educational promotion against discrimination established that the Ministries of Education, Culture and Sport should promote and disseminate respect for the Guatemalan nation, which was multicultural and multiethnic, and aimed to ensure that all Guatemalans lived together in peace and harmony. A draft law was being created to punish any incidents of discrimination and racism in Guatemala.

Regarding questions to be asked on the next census, the delegation noted that the National Statistics Institute intended to carry out a census in 2012. There were no firm resolutions yet on the questions to be asked therein. However, most of the questions on the previous census would be maintained, and consultations were under way to determine the procedure. Policies could only be successful if there were changes in education, access to employment and full access to rights by indigenous people. The Presidential Commission against Discrimination had begun to measure situational issues, including education, housing, education, home and family, as part of the Government's policy to ensure development in indigenous areas, giving priority to supporting productive structures, microcredit, connectivity, management planning, encouraging public-private linkages, and national cooperation.

Democratic governability was one of the fundamental axes of the national plan, with an exercise in permanent dialogue whereby the Government provided information and sought understanding with stakeholders and others in national life in order to deal with national issues. In order to comply with this, there was a Presidential Commission for the National System of Permanent Dialogue, which coordinated spaces for dialogue, the delegation said. Peaceful measures were used for political conflict settlement.

Questions by Experts

In follow-up questions and comments, Experts raised, among other issues, how complementarity was ensured between the regular legal system and the justice system for indigenous peoples; whether recognizing the multicultural nature of the nation in the Constitution might not be a useful step along the way ahead; the need for statistics, which helped the development of social policies; and why the passage of the drafts developed into law following the consultation process were taking so long to adopt.

Experts were further concerned about a tremendous divergence of perspective between the Government’s presentation and those that had been made by non-governmental organizations on the situation in Guatemala. It was extremely difficult to appraise the situation in the face of such strongly conflicting information. It was observed that a great deal of work remained to be done. In that context, how Guatemala was preparing the 2012 census and what questions it would include were very important.

On the issue of intercultural or multicultural education, an Expert wondered whether the population as a whole had the right to choose indigenous education and education in indigenous languages.

Answers by the Delegation

Responding to these and other questions, the delegation said Guatemala wished to achieve a pluricultural nation, reflecting the position of the Maya, Garifuna and Xinka peoples.

While answers to other questions would be provided later in writing, there were two subjects that needed to be addressed now. First, with regard to views expressed in an alternative non-governmental organization report, while that seemed to be a divergent view of the situation, when examined in concert with the official report it could be seen that they actually complemented each other. The changes in society needed to take place at the institutional and Governmental levels, but also in the on the ground. The Government had recognized the gaps between programmes and their implementation.

On legislative matters, it was true that a number of laws in force had been delayed, and there were others that were being considered by Congress. Some of those provided a right to consultation, including the law on mining. Also, the Presidential Commission against Discrimination had as its mandate to generate mechanisms to combat racism and racial discrimination, and was it was also responsible for coordination with all State bodies to achieve equality of economic, social and cultural rights for the entire population, including indigenous peoples. Guatemala wished to reaffirm its commitment towards moving towards that equality, the delegation concluded.

Preliminary Concluding Observations

PASTOR ELIAS MURILLO MARTINEZ, Committee Expert serving as Rapporteur for the report of Guatemala, in preliminary concluding observations, observed that today's introductory ceremony had been an expression of the very long culture which had contributed so much to science, and was different from the Cartesian view which believed science to be the highest achievement of mankind.

The Committee would draw up and present recommendations for Guatemala, having noted its concerns with regard to the situation and impact of mining companies on the lives of indigenous peoples, among others. In particular, there had been some 24 killings of indigenous persons in 2009, which would require follow-up.

The Committee welcomed efforts on codification of budgetary spending for the indigenous, believing that that also included the Indigenous University Initiative. All efforts seemed to be designed to ensure proper social incorporation of indigenous peoples. The Committee would be watching further legislative initiatives incorporating legislation of competence to deal with individual issues.

Finally, Mr. Murillo Martinez hoped that the intercultural dialogue within Guatemala could produce a Constitutional reform promoting the participation of all indigenous Guatemalans, and giving them the proper priority.

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