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Urgent campaigns / Urgent Interventions / Guatemala / 2011 / July

Guatemala: Request to the European Union (EU) to monitor and support the progress against impunity in Guatemala

Brussels, Guatemala City, 27-07-2011

Re: Request to the European Union (EU) to monitor and support the progress against impunity in Guatemala.

Dear EU Ambassadors in Guatemala,

Dear Head of the EU Delegation in Guatemala,

The undersigned networks and European and international civil society organizations welcome the historic progress against impunity in Guatemala, following the detention and initiation of legal proceedings against General Héctor Mario López Fuentes, accused of committing genocide and crimes against humanity. We ask the EU to pay special attention to such legal proceedings and, in particular, to the due process as it is unique, historical and of great importance for the entire Guatemalan society.

As the alleged intellectual author, the detainee is accused, among other issues, of being responsible for twelve massacres, direct deaths, rape, threats and persecution. He is also accused of creating inhumane conditions for over nine thousand people, perpetrated against the Ixil Maya people in the department of Quiché, from 23 March 1982 to October 21 1983, under the regime of General Efraín Ríos Montt.

This first case of prosecution of genocide is a historic opportunity for the Guatemalan justice administration system to continue to take steps towards bringing down the impunity that has lasted for almost thirty years, guarantee the rights of the victims' families and survivors to truth, justice and redress, and adopt and implement measures of non-recurrence, thus promoting the opening of new legal proceedings for the crimes against humanity committed during the internal armed conflict that afflicted Guatemala for 36 years.

Having regard to Article 10A of the Treaty of Lisbon of the European Union, the democratic clause laid down in the Political Dialogue and Cooperation Agreement between the EU and Central America, the EU Guidelines on Human Rights -particularly on human rights defenders and combating torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading punishment or treatment-, we ask you to:

-         Express your support to public institutions and officials in charge of clarifying the serious violations of human rights and breaches of international humanitarian law committed during the internal armed conflict, so the Guatemala State will fulfill their obligations to research, identify, prosecute and, as the case may be, sanction those materially or intellectually responsible;

-         Participate as observers in all the public hearings that will be held during this process and, especially, in the first public hearing to take place on 21 September 2011, to observe the guarantees of independence, impartiality and judicial transparency, respect for victim’s rights, the guarantees of the due process, and so that your presence will act as a deterrent of possible pressures and threats against those involved in the process;

-         Call on the Guatemalan authorities to provide effective security assurances to witnesses, lawyers, judges, prosecutors, other judicial officers, and the relatives of the victims involved in the process;

-         Promote a meeting with the Association for Justice and Reconciliation -AJR- in order to show your support for the efforts to combat impunity, and provide protective measures, as set out in the guidelines for human rights defenders, to the surviving victims of genocide and their legal representatives if requested;

-         Show that the fight against impunity by all available legal means is a key element in preventing the recurrence of serious human rights violations such as genocide and torture, and thus it is important to strengthen the rule of law and the promotion of present public safety;

-         Urge the Guatemalan authorities to adopt additional measures to combat impunity and prevention of genocide and crimes against humanity such as the ratification and implementation of the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court.



Sincerely, 

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Date: July 27, 2011
Activity: Urgent campaigns
Type: Urgent Interventions
Country: Guatemala

Attachments

  • EU Letter_Guatemala
    2 pages / 334 KB

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