CICIG COMMISSIONER PROVIDES UPDATE

C O N F I D E N T I A L GUATEMALA 000621 SIPDIS C O R R E C T E D C O P Y - ADDED WHA CENTRAL AMERICAN COLLECTIVE TO SLUG LINE DEPT PLEASE PASS TO WHA CENTRAL MERICAN COLLECTIVE E.O. 12958: DECL: 0/15/2018 TAGS: PTER KCRM ASECVZ PREL PHUM KJUS PGOV GT SUBJECT: CICIG COMMISSIONER PROVIDES UPDATE REF: A. GUATEMALA 355 ¶B. GUATEMALA 441 ¶C. GUATEMALA 387 Classified By: Ambassador James M. Derham for reasons 1.4 (b & d) ¶1. (C) At luncheon hosted by Swiss Ambassador on May 14, CICIG Commissioner, Carlos Castresana provided overview to international community ambassadors involved with CICIG on activities to date. Of note were the following comments by Castresana: Relations between CICIG and the GOG - Castresana characterized them as good. He has met with President Colom on a monthly basis and is in constant communication with the Ministers of the Interior (Gobernacion) and the Public Prosecutor (Fiscal General). The only frictions were an unannounced change in Castresana's security detail and problems for CICIG access to the airport, both appear to be miscommunications or misunderstandings, not deliberate harassment. Castresana does anticipate, however, that the good relationship will be put to the test when CICIG's investigations progress and follow-up GOG action or cooperation is needed. Castresana commented also that since the new government took over in January, the Minister of Gobernacion has strengthened what had been a very weak position while the Fiscal General seems to be losing ground politically. International Assistance - Castresana lauded Chile, Mexico and Uruguay for seconding professionals to work with CICIG. He hoped that the U.S. and Colombia could also provide personnel. CICIG was still very much in need of criminal investigators. Also important would be establishment of a winess protection program outside of Guatemala for Guatemalan witnesses. Investigations - Castresana said CICIG is investigating three cases and three themes/areas. The three cases are the murders of Victor Rivera (reftel B) and Pepe Mendez (son of human rights activist Amilcar Mendez),and the Zacapa drug shootout (reftel C). The three themes are femicides, extorsions and trafficking in children. CICIG has received dozens of requests for investigations and may take on more investigations if resources permit. Other possible investigative areas might be violence against labor leaders, journalists or human rights defenders. Law Enforcement in Guatemala - Castresana said that law enforcement in Guatemala is essentially non existent and CICIG is in a sense doing an autopsy of collapsed institutions. In the short term CICIG hopes to train up a cadre of Guatemalan investigators who will make a contribution to Guatemalan institutions once CICIG has completed its work. Longer term, a sustained, politcally challenging total overhaul of Guatemalan law enforcement institutions is needed. As experiences in Chile and Colombia have shown, this will require many years, and much political will. Crime in Guatemala - Castresana noted that the murder rate in Guatemala is decreasing. He attributed it to a drop in extra-judicial killings after Adela Torrebiarte took over the Ministry of Gobernacion in March 2007. Castresana estimated QMinistry of Gobernacion in March 2007. Castresana estimated that at that time almost 6,000 people were being murdered in Guatemala every year; 25 percent of that total were extra-judicial executions. Comment: While the murder rate is declining, it is not clear to us that this is due to a decline in extra-judicial killings nor that previously 25 percent of all murders were extra-judicial. Derham