GUATEMALA: U.N. Agency Finds Impunity for Rights Abuses

By Farhan Haq Reprint | | Print |

UNITED NATIONS, Mar 14 1995 (IPS) - In its first report on human rights in Guatemala, the United Nations has sharply criticised Guatemalan authorities for failing to act against serious abuses.

In a report released in Guatemala City Monday, the U.N. Human Rights Verification Mission in Guatemala (MINUGUA) argued that “impunity is the most serious obstacle for the respect of human rights in Guatemala.”

In the report, MINUGUA Director Leonardo Franco confirmed “the existence of a high and persistent number of grave human rights violations — violations which almost in their entirety remain without response by the competent authorities.”

MINUGUA has collected some 1,000 complaints of human rights violations between the mission’s opening last Nov 21 until last month.

Of those, MINUGUA verified 288 violations of priority concerns identified in the Global Accord on Human Rights, signed in March 1994 by the Guatemalan government and the Guatemalan National Revolutionary Union (URNG) rebels.

Almost 35 percent of the complaints were of violations of the right to life — indicating a rise in death squad activity, most of which has been linked to the country’s military.

“A great majority of these cases have never been adequately investigated nor decided upon by the competent authorities, which serves to increase the levels of impunity,” MINUGUA declared.

Worse, because many of the violations of the right to life “indicate the participation of agents of the State or persons under its control,” MINUGUA said those complaints — some 100 over the past three months — could be classified as extra- judicial executions.

Human rights groups hailed the report for supporting their claims that the Guatemalan armed forces have enjoyed decades of impunity in fighting perceived enemies.

“It’s extremely important that we have the United Nations come out reaffirming the conclusion that most human rights groups have been saying for years: that there is absolute impunity” for Guatemala’s authorities, said Anne Manuel, deputy director of Human Rights Watch/Americas.

Manuel argued the report could be valuable, especially in Washington, where, she said, it could provide ammunition for officials in the Clinton administration who have sought a tougher line on human rights with Guatemala, a longtime U.S. ally.

The Washington Office on Latin America (WOLA) has calculated that, despite the March agreement between the government and URNG, killings by forces linked to state security agents remained high throughout last year.

WOLA researcher Rachel Garst cited estimates from the Human Rights Office of the Archbishop of Guatemala citing 356 cases of extra-judicial execution for 1994, in addition to 41 forced ‘disappearances.’ There were also more than 1,000 unsolved murders that “did not show clear signs of political involvement.”

“The Guatemalan government failed to investigate adequately or to prosecute almost all of those cases,” Garst said.

Many groups, including WOLA, hope that MINUGUA’s presence can crack the wall of impunity for the military and secret service, which has shielded officers during 40 years of a brutal ‘dirty war’ in which an estimated 140,000 Guatemalans have been killed.

But Garst warned, “The delay in getting MINUGUA into place was itself harmful to the peace process.” She noted that many of the atrocities cited by the Archbishop’s rights office occurred after the March peace agreement, but before the mission was finally allowed to begin last November.

Despite such a high level of violations, WOLA noted in a report last week, the U.S. State Department in 1994 “failed to criticise the Guatemalan government for its non-compliance with the Global Human Rights Accord.”

The U.S. government, Manuel argued, is torn between officials who believe solid human rights monitoring is essential to strengthening a shaky peace process, and those who contend that the government of President Ramiro de Leon Carpio, a former human rights ombudsman, is too weak to withstand much criticism from Washington.

But Manuel asserted that the U.N. report, by vindicating rights groups’ claims about impunity and the violation of last year’s Human Rights Accord, will strengthen the former camp.

“It’s important not to underestimate the impact of something with the U.N. imprimatur,” Manuel said. She noted the report comes after Washington last Friday took several steps, including a halt to training of Guatemalan soldiers in the United States, to prod the government into ending impunity.

But the civilian government of President Ramiro de Leon Carpio has kept a wary posture toward MINUGUA and outside human rights groups.

“Several (MINUGUA) offices don’t even have telephones yet,” Manuel said. “That’s the fault of the government.”

The MINUGUA report added that the mission, which will soon field its maximum of 245 officers, still needs radios, transmitters and other facilities to monitor incidents throught the country better.