Kitabı oxu: «Thirteenth Report on Human Rights of the United Nations Verification Mission in Guatemala»
United Nations
Thirteenth Report on Human Rights of the United Nations Verification Mission in Guatemala
Published by Good Press, 2022
EAN 4064066466497
Table of Contents
I. Introduction: the context in which the Mission carried out its activities
II. Analysis of the commitments made in the Comprehensive Agreement on Human Rights
Commitment 1. General commitment to human rights
Commitment II. Commitment to strengthening institutions for the protection of human rights
Commitment III. Commitment against impunity
Commitment IV. Commitment that there are no illegal security forces and clandestine structures; regulation of the bearing of arms
Commitment V. Safeguards and protection for individuals and entities working for the protection of human rights
III. Conclusions and recommendations
Appendix
| General Assembly | Distr.: General22 August 2002 Original: English |
Fifty-seventh session Item 38 of the provisional agenda*[1]
The situation in Central America: procedures for the establishment of a firm and lasting peace and progress in fashioning a region of peace, freedom, democracy and development
United Nations Verification Mission in Guatemala Note by the Secretary-General**[2]
| Summary This is the thirteenth report on human rights of the United Nations Verification Mission in Guatemala (MINUGUA), which has been monitoring implementation of the peace agreements signed by the Government of Guatemala and the Unidad Revolucionaria Nacional Guatemalteca. During the reporting period, from July 2001 to June 2002, human rights compliance has deteriorated. Violations by the police have increased and impunity is the norm. The Mission found that this deterioration is closely linked to the failure to advance on other aspects of the peace agreements. |
1. The attached document contains the report on human rights of the United Nations Verification Mission in Guatemala (MINUGUA) on the verification of compliance with the Comprehensive Agreement on Human Rights (A/48/928-S/1994/448, annex I). In accordance with the practice established since the Mission’s inception, I shall transmit a copy of the report to the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, with the request that it be brought to the attention of the members of the Commission on Human Rights.
2. The report, transmitted by the Chief of Mission, is the thirteenth on the subject and covers the period from 1 July 2001 to 30 June 2002, during which the Mission continued to verify compliance with the peace agreements signed by the Government of Guatemala and the Unidad Revolucionaria Nacional Guatemalteca (URNG). The findings of the verification were reported to the General Assembly on 10 July 2002 (see A/56/1003).
3. In my report to the General Assembly (A/56/391), I conveyed the request of the signatories to the peace agreements that the mandate of the Mission be extended. The mandate was renewed by the General Assembly until 31 December 2002, by resolution 56/223 of 24 December 2001. In that resolution, the Assembly reiterated to me its request to keep it fully informed.
4. I wish to express my gratitude to the Government of Guatemala and the Unidad Revolucionaria Nacional Guatemalteca (URNG) for their cooperation with the Mission. I should also like to thank the Member States and the United Nations system in Guatemala for the constant cooperation and support provided for the Mission and the Guatemalan peace process.
Annex
Thirteenth report on human rights of the United Nations Verification Mission in Guatemala
I. Introduction: the context in which the Mission carried out its activities
Table of Contents
1. During the period covered by the present report, the United Nations Verification Mission in Guatemala (MINUGUA) continued to verify compliance with the Comprehensive Agreement on Human Rights (A/48/928-S/1994/448, annex I), and the human rights aspects of the Agreement on Identity and Rights of Indigenous Peoples (A/49/882-S/1995/256, annex). Since its installation, on 21 November 1994, the Mission has received 150,000 individual and group visits related to human rights and other aspects of the peace accords, and verified nearly 50,000 alleged violations of human rights.
2. The work of the Mission has evolved along with the peace process. Until the signing of the Agreement on a Firm and Lasting Peace (A/51/796-S/1997/114, annex II) in December 1996, the Mission and its roughly 250 international staff was dedicated exclusively to the verification of human rights. Subsequently, and with the same basic levels of staff and deployment around the country, the Mission has verified compliance with all of the peace agreements. Given the breadth of the commitments still pending, the parties requested that the Mission continue its activities, albeit with gradual reductions, until the end of 2003, an election year.
3. Advances in human rights registered in the early stages of the peace process gave way to a long period of stagnation. Subsequently, during the period under review, Guatemala’s human rights situation actually deteriorated. MINUGUA verified cases of threats or assassinations of human rights defenders, church workers, judges, witnesses, journalists, political activists and labour unionists. Lynchings and mob violence continued. Illegal groups and clandestine structures operated with impunity. Incidents of human rights violations by the police sharply increased. Impunity remained systematic, as the State neglected its obligation to investigate crimes and sanction those responsible, while its own agents often obstructed justice.
4. Guatemala’s human rights crisis goes beyond problems in the observance of civil and political rights to encompass the vast and constant violation of social, economic and cultural rights. In 1999, the parties agreed on a new timetable for implementing the outstanding commitments in the peace agreements, placing an emphasis on attacking the root causes of the conflict, such as discriminatory social policies, economic inequality and the exclusion of indigenous peoples (see A/55/389, para. 11). Three years later, however, a large number of those commitments remain unfulfilled. There has been an utter failure, moreover, to implement the recommendations of the Historical Clarification Commission (see A/53/928, annex), especially those designed to promote national reconciliation and provide compensation to victims of the armed conflict.
5. The human rights situation is being shaped by the transformation, during peacetime, of important actors from the armed conflict. The URNG demobilized and became a political party, but the military has yet to redefine its mission as contemplated in the peace agreements. The military commissioners, voluntary civil defence committees (CVDCs) and former police forces were also demobilized. However, many excommissioners and ex-CVDC members remain in leadership positions in their communities, and have not changed their discourse or methods, including inciting mob violence and lynchings. Many former police and soldiers were incorporated into the new National Civil Police (PNC), where they have committed abuses reminiscent of practices from the armed conflict. 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. In just the first four months of 2002, there were 1,143 homicides, 80 per cent of them with firearms. Although a crime surge is common in postconflict situations, this cannot be an excuse for the State’s weak response. 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.
Pulsuz fraqment bitdi.
