PEACE BRIGADES INTERNATIONAL – GUATEMALA PROJECT MIP - MONTHLY INFORMATION PACK – GUATEMALA Number 100, J nu ry 2012 1. NOTES ON THE CURRENT SITUATION 2. ACTIVITIES OF PBI GUATEMALA: WITHIN GUATEMALA 2.1 MEETINGS WITH GUATEMALAN AUTHORITIES, DIPLOMATIC CORPS AND INTERNATIONAL ENTITIES 2.2 MEETINGS WITH CIVIL SOCIETY ORGANISATIONS 2.3 ACCOMPANIMENT 2.4 FOLLOW-UP 2.5 OBSERVATION 3. ACTIVITIES OF PBI GUATEMALA OUTSIDE GUATEMALA 4. NON-GOVERNMENTAL ORGANISATIONS 1. NOTES ON THE CURRENT SITUATION IMPUNITY Judge suspends the genocide prosecution o. Me/0 10ctores Guatemala, 06.01.2012 (PL,SV,EP) - Jud e Carol Patricia Flores has provisionally suspended the prosecution of eneral ,scar Humberto Me./a V/ctores, accused of havin ordered the e0termination of indi enous communities in 1uich2 in the 1380s. The .ud e ordered the doctors of the National Institute of Forensic Sciences (INACIF) to evaluate the accused5s health every 30 days and inform the public prosecutor5s office (MP). This decision follows an application from the public prosecutor5s office indicatin that the accused was not in a fit state of health to continue with the trial 7at the moment8. Manuel V s9ue:, public prosecutor, said that it would be better to wait until the accused5s mental and physical situation had improved before continuin the case a ainst him. Ed ar P2re:, le al representative of the Justice and Reconciliation Association, disa reed with the rulin , ar uin that the e0aminations of Me./a only 7show that he cannot articulate words, which doesn5t mean to say that he can5t understand what is bein said, so it is still possible to continue with the process.8 The president re2uests t3o ye r e4tension o. the m nd te o. the Intern tion l Commission Ag inst Impunity in Gu tem l 6CICIG7 Guatemala, 24.01.2012 (EP, CA, PL) - On 23 January 2012, after an interview with the head of the Commission A ainst Impunity in Guatemala (CICIG), Francisco Dall5Anese, President Otto P2re: Molina announced that they were e0pectin to e0tend the mandate for this Commission for two more years. Judge commences prosecution o. Gener l E.r 0n R0os Montt .or genocide nd crimes g inst hum nity Guatemala, 27.01.2012 y 31.01.2012 (EP, PL, CA) - Jud e Carol Patricia Flores has commenced proceedin s a ainst General Jos2 Efra/n R/os Montt for enocide and crimes a ainst humanity. He is the first e0-head of state to appear before the .ustice tribunals. In her verdict the .ud e ruled that there was no dan er that the defendant would abscond and ordered house arrest with a permanent uard from the National Civil Police (PNC). Manuel V s9ue:, human ri hts public prosecutor, based the accusations a ainst R/os Montt on e0tracts from military documents, 84 witness testimonies and e0perts5 reports from forensic anthropolo ists, which showed evidence that about 1,771 people were massacred durin the period from 23 March 1382 to 8 June 1383, when R/os Montt was actin overnor. Ed ar P2re:, plaintiff in the proceedin s, said that the military chain of command demonstrated that R/os Montt knew full well what the troops were doin : committin human ri hts violations of a severity and scale never before been seen in the country5s history. Gu tem l n Congress ppro8es the Rome St tute 6the tre ty o. the Intern tion l Crimin l Court7 Guatemala, 27.01.2012 (AC, EP, PL, SV, CA) - On Tuesday 26 January, the Guatemalan con ress approved Decree 3-2012, confirmin ratification of the Rome Statute (the treaty of the International Criminal Court (CPI/ICC)). The treaty of the ICC created the first permanent lobal court with the capacity to prosecute and sentence individuals accused of enocide, crimes a ainst humanity and war crimes when national tribunals cannot or will not do so. It is not of retroactive effect. Guatemalan human ri hts or anisations had been seekin the ratification of the Rome Statute since 2002. The forei n relations commission approved the resolution in 2006, with ratification now followin si0 years later. Human ri hts activists e0pressed their satisfaction with the development, which promises .ustice for all those who violate the fundamental ri hts common to all human bein s where national remedies have been e0hausted. The Office of the United Nations Hi h Commission for Human Ri hts (OACNUDH) welcomed ratification as an advance in protectin victims5 ri hts to truth, .ustice and reparation without displacin the primary duty of the state to uarantee those ri hts. It emphasised that adoptin these institutional and le al measures was an important but partial step in ensurin that rave violations of human ri hts are not immune from .ustice. 1 Jody 9illi ms, Nobel Pe ce Pri:e 9inner, c lls .or go8ernment l ction on Anti-Femininicide L 3. Guatemala, 31.01.2012 (PL).- Jody Williams, the 1337 Nobel Peace pri:e winner, visited Guatemala with a dele ation from the Nobel Women5s Initiative to study the situation of violence a ainst women in Guatemala. Ms. Williams recommended that the overnment uarantee the observance of the anti-femininicide law so that crimes a ainst women and irls were investi ated. She called for women5s ri hts to be respected and asked that the a enda in the Peace Accords be re-instated and that the institutions which push forward these matters be stren thened so that the state would take on the commitments contained in these instruments. LAND Indigenous nd C mpesino org nis tions .rom the south co st dem nd right to digni.ied li.e Guatemala, 12.01.2012 (AC).- With the slo an that ”hun er and misery cannot wait5, indi enous and campesino or anisations from the southern coast of Guatemala warned the new overnment that they wouldn5t abandon demands for a more ade9uate 9uality of life. They pointed to the severity of problems in a riculture, which called for the Government to devote time and space to findin a solution. Aparicio P2re:,member of the Camnpesino Unity Committee (CUC) said that hun er and misery were endemic in indi enous and campesino communities due to both overnmental i norance and the impact of natural phenomena which have not met with any response from the overnment. Thelma Cabrera, member of the Committeee for Campesino Development (CODECA) said that or anisations had been callin for the passa e of the Inte rated Rural Development law, amon st other thin s, but that this had not happened due to a lack of political will. NEGATI1E EFFECTS OF GLOBALISATION Go8ernment nd mining industry re ch ne3 roy lties greement Guatemala, 27.01.2012 (EP, PL, SV, CA).- On 26 January 2012, President Otto P2re: and Andr2s Castillo, President of the Guatemalan Chamber of Commerce, representin the Guild of E0tractive Industries, si ned a voluntary a reement to au ment the royalties paid to the Government by minin companies from 1% to 5%. Althou h the a reement applies to 22 businesses affiliated to the Guild, not all the mines will pay the increased contribution immediately. Ecolo ists and some from the reli ious sector re.ected the a reement. Accordin to Yuri Melini, Director of the Le al, Environmental and Social Action Centre (CALAS), the a reement reflects only a previous political pact and masks the fact that con ress has not debated a new minin law. He said that anythin less than royalties of 20% was derisory. OTHER Otto P;re: Molin becomes President o. Gu tem l Guatemala, 16.01.2012 (EP, PL, SV, CA) - On Saturday 14 January 2012, Otto P2re: Molina, retired military officer, took up the presidency of Guatemala. In his speech he talked about the challen es of transparency and security, the need for investment and malnutrition. He also spent a few minutes on 7Bak5tun8, for him a symbol of the main point of his speech: chan e. The president announced the structure of five work forces a encies, inte rated by the National Civil Police (PNC), the Guatemalan army, civil intelli ence, military intelli ence and asked for the support of the Public Prosecutor5s Office and permanent accompaniment of the human ri hts ombudsman (PDH). Sources: A encia Ceri ua (AC), Prensa Libre (PL), Si lo Veintiuno (SV), El Peri?dico (EP), Diario de Centro Am2rica (CA). 2. PBI-GUATEMALA ACTI1ITIES: IN GUATEMALA Te m: Guillaume Riboulleau (France), Maike Holderer (Germany), Kathrin RAe (Swit:erland), Kathi Dunkel (Germany), Blvaro Cald/var (Spain), Mar/a Cayena Abello (Colombia), Francisco Bernal (Colombia), Ilaria Tosello (Italy), Sim?n Yeste Santamar/a (Spain), Phil Murwill (United Kin dom), Christa Hi.koop (Holland). 2.1. MEETINGS 9ITH GUATEMALAN AUTHORITIES, DIPLOMATIC CORPS AND INTERNATIONAL ENTITIES Meetin s with national and international authorities are an important tool for PBI5s efforts to make our ob.ectives and the nature of our work known. Throu h these meetin s, in cases where it is necessary, and with a reserved manner, we e0press our concerns about critical situations that we have come to know first-hand from the work we carry out across the country. Intern tion l Authorities nd other intern tion l entities in Gu tem l : O Alberto Brunori, Christina Papadopoulou and Viktoria Aber , Representative, Human Ri hts Officer and Security and Justice Unit Coordinator respectively, of the United Nations Hi h Commission of Human Ri hts (OACNUDH), Guatemala City. O Stephen Ste er and Vayram Nyadroh, Political, Economic and Commercial Consultant and Political Official of the U.S. Embassy, Guatemala City. Gu tem l n Authorities: O Antonio M?ntufar and Dulce Patricia CDEi a Schaeffer, E0ecutive Sub-Director and Official of Precautionary Measures 2 at Polochic respectively, of the Presidential Commission for Human Ri hts (COPREDEH), Guatemala City.