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Did You Know?
> 2011 was the most violent year for human rights defenders in Guatemala since the end of the civil war. NISGUA's teams of on-the-ground international human rights monitors work to deter violence in communities, courtrooms and at public events. > Former dictator Efrain Rios Montt, who ruled during the bloodiest period of the war, is awaiting trial for genocide and crimes against humanity. > The Xalalá hydro-electric dam is rejected by 89% of the local population because it would displace thousands of indigenous people and damage farmlands and forests. > Almost 400 mining concessions have been granted to transnational gold, silver, nickel, and zinc companies in Guatemala, posing severe threats to rural communities' social and environmental well-being. | |
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printer-friendly Impunity
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CICIACS
In early 2003 the Guatemala Human Rights Ombudsman, with support from Guatemalan
human rights organizations, called on the Portillo administration to establish
an international commission to investigate clandestine groups and illegal security
apparatuses. In mid-March 2003, the Guatemalan administration and the Human Rights
Ombudsman signed an agreement to form the Commission for the Investigation of
Illegal Bodies and Clandestine Security Apparatuses (CICIACS).
The agreement, as originally envisioned, proposed a national/international Commission that would consist of three members, two appointed by the UN and the Organization of American States and one appointed by the Guatemalan government. This provision would later be altered so that the Commission would reflect participation of only the UN and the Guatemalan government.
The proposed Commission was intended to investigate illegal armed groups currently operating with impunity in Guatemala, and would give special attention to those groups responsible for the rampant attacks and threats against human rights defenders, judges, witnesses, and other civil society representatives. CICIACS was to be charged with determining the ties between these groups, state agents, organized crime, and private security forces and was intended to have the authority to investigate and prosecute individuals involved in such activities.
Unfortunately, the process leading up to creation of the Commission has been fraught with obstacles and the dilatory tactics of government officials whose ties to organized crime could be exposed by creation of such a Commission. Then, in August 2004, the Constitutional Court of Guatemala found certain provisions of the agreement creating CICIACS in violation of the Guatemalan Constitution.
Today human rights organizations and others continue to push for formation
of such a Commission and are working to revise the text so that it complies
with
the Guatemalan Constitution but doesn’t lose the investigatory and prosecutorial
teeth currently lacking in the Guatemalan judicial system.
To take action on this issue, please click here.
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