GUATEMALA'S INPUT FOR PRESIDENT'S 2007 UNGA HUMAN

UNCLAS GUATEMALA 001916

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

DEPT FOR G, DRL/SEA, NSC/DEMOC

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PHUM PREL ELAB KCRM KJUS KDEM EAID SOCI PGOV
GT
SUBJECT: GUATEMALA'S INPUT FOR PRESIDENT'S 2007 UNGA HUMAN
RIGHTS ROUNDTABLE

REF: STATE 125456


1. Per reftel, post submits the following information to help
inform the discussion at the President's 2007 UNGA Democracy
and Human Rights Roundtable.


2. Post strategy for promoting human rights and democracy in
Guatemala focuses on helping the government strengthen its
democratic institutions while promoting transparency,
accountability, and respect for human rights and the rule of
law. USG efforts in Guatemala aim to strengthen the capacity
of civil society to partner in efforts to consolidate
democratic principles and values.


3. In support of civil society, Embassy successfully pushed
the Guatemalan government and Congress to establish the
International Commission Against Impunity in Guatemala
(CICIG). The UN-led commission will operate under the Public
Ministry's prosecutorial authority to help dismantle criminal
organizations that have penetrated state institutions.

4. Embassy provided training to law enforcement in crime
scene protection and other law enforcement procedures to help
professionalize the police force. It funded a consultant at
the National Police Academy to continue developing its
curriculum, which includes a human rights component. To
increase the capacity of the National Civil Police to
investigate police officers implicated in corruption or other
crimes, Embassy continued to assist the new Inspectorate
General in structural and operational guidelines to oversee
the Office of Professional Responsibility.


5. Guatemala has a strong civil society that played an
important role as watchdog and advocate for democratic
principles. The Ambassador and other Embassy representatives
met frequently with journalists, human rights defenders,
labor leaders, and other activists and publicly expressed
support for their work. In numerous specific cases, Embassy
continued to urge the government to investigate attacks,
threats, and other acts of intimidation and to provide
additional protection when appropriate.


6. Embassy provided substantial material and technical
assistance to continue to build the capacity of justice
sector institutions and to consolidate reforms initiated
under the Peace Accords. In an effort to improve
prosecutions of serious crimes, Embassy provided technical
assistance in implementing improved pre-trial procedures and
case management. The most notable example was the design and
implementation of three 24-hour criminal courts, which
significantly improved the quality of arrests and indictments
by preventing arbitrary detention, and enabled prosecutors
and defense lawyers to take immediate action on cases.
Embassy provided not only technical assistance but also
refurbished offices and facilitated dialogue among the
Supreme Court, the Attorney General, the Public Defense
Director, and the Ministry of Interior with the aim of
providing more effective and comprehensive service within the
court system. The program also helped redesign the structure
of the Office of the Prosecutor Against Homicide,
implementing methodologies for case organization, monitoring,
and supervision, with the objective of improving the quality
and quantity of prosecution of homicide cases, particularly
killings of women. This program has resulted in a 25 percent
increase in the rate of prosecution for homicides, of which
10-12 percent annually are killings of women.


7. Embassy continued to provide material support and training
to the Special Prosecutor for Human Rights and the Special
Prosecutor for Crimes Against Women, Children, and Victims of
Trafficking in Persons. It also continued to provide
assistance in monitoring adherence to due process through the
Public Defense Institute.


8. Embassy funded expansion of a network of Justice Centers
intended to modernize and streamline judicial processes and
to make them more accessible. The success of the Justice
Centers has had a multiplier effect, promoting local
initiatives such as a shelter for domestic violence victims,
a legal aid office at the University of San Carlos for
non-criminal cases, and improvements in administrative
services provided by other justice sector institutions. The
15 Justice Centers are now part of a national program to
promote access to justice and coordination of justice sector
institutions.


9. Unresolved issues from Guatemala's 1960-1996 internal
conflict continued to undermine respect for human rights and
the rule of law. Many victims of political crimes and human
rights violations remained missing while the alleged
perpetrators enjoyed impunity. Embassy funded a project that

develops legal cases related to human rights violations
committed during the conflict. The project aims to overcome
institutional obstacles to prosecution that allow for
continued impunity. The project helped lay the groundwork
for future prosecutions in other human rights cases.
Exhumations were conducted at 147 sites last year, primarily
in the western highlands where the conflict was most intense.
Embassy personnel, including the Ambassador, visited the
Forensic Anthropological Foundation to demonstrate support
for forensics workers and victims' families. The National
Reparations Program, created as a result of a three-year
human rights project sponsored by the U.S., continued to make
reparation payments to civilian victims of the internal
conflict.


10. Embassy provided technical assistance to the Ministry of
Defense in support of its human rights curriculum. All
military personnel are required to receive human rights
training, which is part of the curriculum of every Guatemalan
military school.


11. Embassy is working with the Guatemalan government to
build the capacity of state institutions to more effectively
combat child labor and trafficking in persons (TIP). Embassy
is monitoring a USG grant to a local NGO that is working on a
project that focuses attention on trafficked victims. The
project is aimed at rescuing minors who are being sexually
exploited, especially in the border region, and discouraging
minors from engaging in prostitution by expanding immediate
and long-term care for trafficking victims, including
providing shelter and food, health care, immediate legal
assistance, and post-traumatic stress disorder therapy. The
project also aims to build the institutional capacity of law
enforcement to identify trafficking cases, build stronger
cases for prosecution, and create stronger linkages with
civil society. Embassy is also monitoring a grant to an NGO
that is working on a regional anti-TIP project focusing on
the institutional capacity of civil society, religious, and
governmental organizations to promote and defend the human
rights of women and minors who are victims of or vulnerable
to trafficking for sexual exploitation in Central America.



12. Embassy funded projects to improve labor law compliance
and to reduce the incidence of child labor. Through these
projects, Embassy supported the efforts of the Ministry of
Labor and NGOs to train labor inspectors, educate employers
and workers about their rights and responsibilities, and
provide educational opportunities to children who would
otherwise be forced to work. Embassy is monitoring a USG
grant to Catholic Relief Services to implement a USD 4.5
million project to promote workers' rights in support of
CAFTA-DR. The project aims to establish six model Worker
Rights Centers, reaching approximately 200,000 workers, to
provide legal services to workers to assist in documenting
and filing labor complaints and to conduct outreach
activities to educate workers on labor issues.


13. The Public Affairs Section has coordinated a wide range
of outreach initiatives at universities, high schools, and
the Binational Center to publicize U.S. human rights advocacy
and concerns. These initiatives have included presentations
by the Embassy's Public Affairs Officer and the Human Rights
Officer at several universities.


14. The Ambassador has delivered speeches focused on human
rights and support for human rights defenders, as well as
support for the elections. The Ambassador and senior Embassy
officers have met with human rights advocates, including the
government's Human Rights Ombudsman, Presidential Human
Rights Commissioner, prominent Guatemalan human rights NGOs,
and local human rights defenders in Guatemala City as well as
in Solola, Quiche, San Marcos, and other outlying departments.


15. The Public Affairs Section has provided grants to the
Office of the Human Rights Ombudsman to support its project
to protect and catalog the police archives and to the NGO
Center of Investigations in the Meso-America Region (CIRMA)
to raise awareness of historic human rights abuses and
indigenous rights. It has also worked closely on indigenous
rights education efforts with the government's Commission on
Discrimination and Racism.


16. Public Affairs has focused on increasing outreach and
grant support to indigenous Mayan and Garifuna
(Afro-Caribbean) Guatemalans, including support for Del Valle
University's community outreach in the Lake Atitlan region,
NGO Enlace Quiche in Santa Cruz del Quiche, and the
Guatemalan-American Institute (IGA) in Quetzaltenango and
Guatemala City.



17. The Guatemalan government's democracy and human rights
priorities include ensuring free and fair elections, and
giving voters easier access to polling stations by
substantially increasing the number of polling stations in
rural areas. Combating the ongoing problem of insecurity and
violence is a top priority for the GOG, as is reforming the
police and judiciary. The GOG is a strong advocate for the
human rights of illegal Guatemalan aliens in the U.S. and
returned deportees. The non-partisan Human Rights Ombudsman
serves as an official human rights watchdog, and the
independent press and large NGO sector are also effective
human rights monitors. The GOG is a consistent advocate for
human rights in international fora such as the OAS and UN.
Derham