Military Reform – 2002

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Military Reform – 2002

2002

Intermediate Implementation Intermediate implementation

The Ministry of Defense prepared a report to set the main themes for future reforms of the Military Code and military prison system. The Ministry also publicly committed to reducing military spending back down to the level stipulated in the peace agreements, but then military commanders began withholding spending reports, and refusing to divulge information even before Congress, on the grounds of national security. The lack of a clear defense policy also left matters of military arms and equipment procurement ambiguous.1

The Armed Forces made very little progress with regard to intelligence services reform throughout the peace agreement implementation process to date. The one significant improvement was the creation of the Strategic Analysis Secretariat (SAE) in 1997. Although it was heavily influenced by the Armed Forces at first, it later became a truly civilian entity. However, the SAE’s work was hampered by the Government’s failure to create the Department of Civilian Intelligence and Information Analysis (DICAI) and the unauthorized intelligence functions of the Armed Forces, both of which are violations of the agreements.2

The EMP was still functioning, and the SAAS did not have the capacity to handle all the security duties previously upheld by the EMP. The Armed Forces also shirked their commitments in the agreements by remaining steeped in internal affairs—training new recruits for the National Civilian Police (PNC) and conducting independent public security operations.3

Military personnel became more involved in matters of public security, in violation of the agreements.4 At the heart of all the military reforms was the objective of demilitarizing Guatemalan society and strengthening civilian rule over all government agencies. The Government fell well short of this aim.5

  1. “Verification Report: Status of the Commitments of the Peace Agreements Relating to the Armed Forces.”
  2. Ibid.
  3. Ibid.
  4. “United Nations Verification Mission in Guatemala: Report of the Secretary-General,” United Nations General Assembly (A/56/1003), July 10, 2002.
  5. “Thirteenth Report on Human Rights of the United Nations Verification Mission in Guatemala,” United Nations General Assembly (A/57/336), August 22, 2002.