Guatemala: U.N. Should Advance Investigative Commission

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Full Text of Joint Letter to the United Nations

(Washington, D.C., October 9, 2024) - The United Nations should move quickly to establish a commission to investigate political violence in Guatemala, Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch, and the Lawyers Committee for Human Rights said today in a letter sent to U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan.

Over the past two years, there has been an alarming number of attacks and threats against human rights defenders, justice officials, and journalists in Guatemala. The role of the proposed commission will be to investigate the clandestine groups that appear to be responsible for these acts.

“The clandestine groups responsible for this political violence appear to have links to state institutions and organized crime,” said José Miguel Vivanco, Executive Director of Human Rights Watch’s Americas Division. “Given their capacity to corrupt public institutions and undermine the rule of law, they pose a serious danger to Guatemalan society as a whole.”

Last March the Guatemalan government, the national human rights ombudsman, and civil society groups endorsed the creation of the Commission of Investigation into Illegal Groups and Clandestine Security Apparatuses (CICIACS). The United Nations in July sent a team of experts to Guatemala to assess the viability of the proposal. Their findings have not yet been made public.

“The gravity of Guatemala’s human rights situation requires an urgent response from the international community,” said Susan Lee, Americas Program Director of Amnesty International. “The proposal to create an international investigative commission has widespread support in Guatemala, and everyone now hopes that the United Nations will identify the best way to make it work.”

The strength of the proposed CICIACS, as the three human rights organizations observed in their letter to the U.N. Secretary-General, “lies in its ability to ensure that investigators have the independence necessary to achieve results, even as they engage with—and ultimately work to strengthen—the local institutions that are responsible for law enforcement in Guatemala.”

If and when the United Nations endorses the CICIACS, several more hurdles will remain before the commission can begin working. These include a vote by the Guatemalan Congress to endorse the government’s collaboration with the United Nations, the selection of individuals to serve on the commission, and the procurement of the financial and other resources needed for it to function.

"To the extent the existence of the CICIACS could serve as a deterrent to political violence, any undue delay in its creation could have serious consequences," said Neil Hicks, director of the Lawyers Committee's Human Rights Defenders Project.

(Washington, D.C., October 9, 2024) - The United Nations should move quickly to establish a commission to investigate political violence in Guatemala, Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch, and the Lawyers Committee for Human Rights said today in a letter sent to U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan.

Over the past two years, there has been an alarming number of attacks and threats against human rights defenders, justice officials, and journalists in Guatemala. The role of the proposed commission will be to investigate the clandestine groups that appear to be responsible for these acts.

“The clandestine groups responsible for this political violence appear to have links to state institutions and organized crime,” said José Miguel Vivanco, Executive Director of Human Rights Watch’s Americas Division. “Given their capacity to corrupt public institutions and undermine the rule of law, they pose a serious danger to Guatemalan society as a whole.”

Last March the Guatemalan government, the national human rights ombudsman, and civil society groups endorsed the creation of the Commission of Investigation into Illegal Groups and Clandestine Security Apparatuses (CICIACS). The United Nations in July sent a team of experts to Guatemala to assess the viability of the proposal. Their findings have not yet been made public.

“The gravity of Guatemala’s human rights situation requires an urgent response from the international community,” said Susan Lee, Americas Program Director of Amnesty International. “The proposal to create an international investigative commission has widespread support in Guatemala, and everyone now hopes that the United Nations will identify the best way to make it work.”

The strength of the proposed CICIACS, as the three human rights organizations observed in their letter to the U.N. Secretary-General, “lies in its ability to ensure that investigators have the independence necessary to achieve results, even as they engage with—and ultimately work to strengthen—the local institutions that are responsible for law enforcement in Guatemala.”

If and when the United Nations endorses the CICIACS, several more hurdles will remain before the commission can begin working. These include a vote by the Guatemalan Congress to endorse the government’s collaboration with the United Nations, the selection of individuals to serve on the commission, and the procurement of the financial and other resources needed for it to function.

"To the extent the existence of the CICIACS could serve as a deterrent to political violence, any undue delay in its creation could have serious consequences," said Neil Hicks, director of the Lawyers Committee's Human Rights Defenders Project.