January 2004
Eighteen years after the return of civilian rule and seven years after the signing of peace accords, Guatemala has made little progress toward securing the protection of human rights and rule of law, essential features of a functioning democracy. On-going acts of political violence and intimidation threaten to reverse the little progress that has been made in recent years. At the same time, a promising new initiative has emerged that offers cause for some hope. It is a proposal to create a special commission that will investigate the groups responsible for recent acts of violence and intimidation and, in the process, work to strengthen the country's justice system.
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- Impunity
- Clandestine Groups
- Excessive Use of Force
- Workplace Discrimination
- Key International Actors
Impunity
Guatemala is still suffering the effects of an internal armed conflict that was, in some respects, the most brutal in the region during the last century. A U.N.-sponsored truth commission estimated that as many as 200,000 people were killed during the thirty-six-year war that ended in 1996. Government forces were responsible for the vast majority of the killings. Guatemalans seeking accountability for these abuses face daunting obstacles. One is the weakness of a justice system that relies on prosecutors and investigators who receive grossly inadequate training and resources. The courts routinely fail to resolve judicial appeals and motions in an expeditious manner and thus allow defense attorneys to engage in dilatory legal maneuvering. The army and other state institutions fail to cooperate fully with investigations into abuses committed by current or former members. The police do not provide adequate protective measures to persons involved in sensitive cases.
Clandestine Groups
Over the past two years, there have been an alarming number of attacks and threats carried out against Guatemalans seeking justice for past abuses. The targets have included human rights organizations, justice officials, forensic experts, plaintiffs, and witnesses involved in human rights cases. They have also included journalists, labor activists, and others who have denounced abuses of authority. There is a widespread consensus among local and international observers that the people responsible for these acts of intimidation are affiliated with private, secretive, illegally armed networks or organizations, commonly referred to in Guatemala as "clandestine groups." These groups appear to have links to both state agents and organized crime—which give them access to considerable political and economic resources. The Guatemalan justice system, which is ill-prepared to contain common crime, has so far proven no match for this powerful and dangerous threat to the rule of law.
Excessive Use of Force
While political violence is no longer carried out as a matter of state policy, there continue to be instances of violence inflicted on civilians by state agents. Members of the national police sometimes employ excessive force against civilians. These cases usually entail the abuse of authority by poorly trained and disciplined police officers.
Workplace Discrimination
Women and girls working in Guatemala's two female-dominated industries—the export-processing (maquiladora) and live-in domestic worker sectors—face widespread sex discrimination at the hands of private employers and the government. Domestic workers are denied key labor rights protections, such as the rights to the minimum wage and an eight-hour workday, and have only limited rights to paid national holidays. Younger women and girls, in particular, sometimes face sexual harassment and violence in the homes where they work.
Women and girls working in the maquiladora sector, though formally protected under the law, encounter persistent sex discrimination in employment based on their reproductive status, with little hope for government remedy. Guatemalan maquiladoras, many of which are suppliers for well-known South Korean and U.S.-based corporations, discriminate against women workers in a number of ways—including requiring women to undergo pregnancy tests as a condition of employment; denying, limiting, or conditioning maternity benefits to pregnant women; denying reproductive health care to pregnant workers; and, to a lesser extent, firing pregnant women.
Key International Actors
The United Nations Verification Mission in Guatemala (MINUGUA) continues to play a vital role in monitoring compliance with the 1996 peace accords. MINUGUA's reports contain detailed human rights analyses and indicate that significant aspects of the accords still have not been implemented. MINUGUA, however, is currently winding down its activities in preparation for the end of its mandate at the end of 2004.
The United Nations is working with the Guatemalan government to establish a special commission to investigate and promote the prosecution of the "clandestine groups." The CICIACS (Commission to Investigate Illegal Groups and Clandestine Security Apparatuses) grew out of a proposal developed by the Guatemalan government and local human rights groups, in consultation with members of the international community. The CICIACS has multiple objectives. Its immediate goal is to curb attacks and threats carried out against human rights defenders, justice officials, and other targeted groups. Its medium term goals include severing the links that may exist between these groups and some state agents, as well as disarticulating the groups themselves. Its longer term goal is to strengthen the capacity of domestic law enforcement mechanisms to investigate and prosecute the criminal activities engaged in by these sorts of groups.
Both the U.S. and European diplomatic corps have supported the creation of the CICIACS and expressed their intention to help finance its operations. The U.S. government also provides assistance—through the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID)—to local efforts to investigate and prosecute past abuses.
