Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
04GUATEMALA3241
2004-12-21 21:40:00
UNCLASSIFIED//FOR OFFICIAL USE ONLY
Embassy Guatemala
Cable title:  

GUATEMALA: MILITARY CONFERENCE ON HUMAN RIGHTS

Tags:  PHUM PGOV MASS SNAR ASEC GT 
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UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 GUATEMALA 003241 

SIPDIS

SENSITIVE

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PHUM PGOV MASS SNAR ASEC GT
SUBJECT: GUATEMALA: MILITARY CONFERENCE ON HUMAN RIGHTS

REF: GUATEMALA 479

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 GUATEMALA 003241

SIPDIS

SENSITIVE

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PHUM PGOV MASS SNAR ASEC GT
SUBJECT: GUATEMALA: MILITARY CONFERENCE ON HUMAN RIGHTS

REF: GUATEMALA 479


1. (U) Summary: The Guatemalan Ministry of Defense and the
U.S Southern Command co-sponsored a December 7-10 conference
in Antigua, Guatemala, to develop an action plan for the
regional Human Rights Initiative (HRI) Consensus Document.
Civilians worked alongside military officers to design a plan
to systematize the Guatemalan military's observation of human
rights in four key areas: civil-military relations; training
and education; the human rights doctrine; and internal
controls to prevent abuses. This initiation is off to such a
good start, we are exploring how we might stand up a similar
program for the police. End Summary.


2. (U) The HRI, which has been sponsored by SOUTHCOM since
1997, began with military officers from 33 countries and
human rights NGOs working together to develop a regional
model for military human rights programs, contained in the
&Consensus Document.8 Currently, SOUTHCOM provides support
to the armed forces of those nations whose Ministries of
Defense have decided to implement the Consensus Document.
During an initial visit to Guatemala in February, SOUTHCOM
and the OAS affiliated, San Jose-based Center for Education
and Training for Human Rights (CECADH) pushed for
implementation of the Consensus Agreement in Guatemala
(reftel). The Guatemalan Defense Ministry and SOUTHCOM
signed the Consensus Document on October 13 and scheduled the
December 7-10 conference to develop a detailed working plan
for implementation of the ideals encompassed by the agreement.


3. (U) Following opening remarks by the Ambassador and
Guatemalan Vice President Stein, the conference began with
the division of military and civil society attendees into
working groups to hammer out meaningful performance goals and
plans of action, as well as timelines for achieving each
target outlined. Participants worked on four major issues:
improving civil-military relations and interaction; training
and educating the military on international principles of
human rights and international humanitarian law; developing a
human rights doctrine; and establishing internal controls to
prevent future human rights abuses. The sixty conference
participants included military officers from the Army, Navy,
and Air Force, and representatives from COPREDEH (President's
Commission on Human Rights),the Mack Foundation, and the
Human Ombudsman's Office (PDH).


4. (U) Among numerous goals, the Guatemalan Defense Ministry
committed to the following:

--- to implement regulations to assure that human rights
violations are promptly reported to civil authorities;

--- to provide appropriate civil institutions full access to
military documents and personnel files in investigations of
human rights violations and to create an electronic database
of such information to facilitate those investigations;

--- to hold workshops to provide human rights training and
analyze cases of previous human rights violations and correct
procedures;

--- to revise all military manuals and print 10,000 booklets
with an updated human rights doctrine

--- to create a website to disseminate the human rights
doctrine to all levels of military;

--- and to create a database to register military personnel
convicted of human rights abuses.


5. (U) Comment: As the Ambassador noted in his remarks,
human rights require constant vigilance. Though the
Guatemalan military had a long history of disregard for human
rights, the Defense Ministry's willingness to sign the
Consensus Document, open the door further to civilian
involvement, and work to develop clear guidelines for
adherence to principles of human rights and international
humanitarian law, signals another step in the right
direction.


6. (SBU) Comment Continued: Currently, we observe far more
human rights abuses and common crime committed by the
National Civil Police (PNC) than the military. In fact,
there have been no known human rights abuses committed by
military in recent years. Several PNC officers in attendance
at the conference expressed interest to MILGP Commander in
implementing the same type of training and internal controls
that were developed during the SOUTHCOM event, a prospect we
are exploring.
HAMILTON