Truth or Reconciliation Mechanism: Accord for a Firm and Lasting Peace
Implementations
Truth or Reconciliation Mechanism – 1997
The Commission for Historical Clarification (CEH) formed in February and began work in April. German Jurist Christian Tomuschat led the commission, appointing two Guatemalans to fill the remaining leadership positions: Otilia Lux de Coti and Alfredo Balsells Tojo. The international community was slower than planned in supplying financial support, so the CEH did not start taking testimonies until 1 September.1
- «Press Conference by Members of Guatemalan Historical Clarification Commission,» United Nations, Press Briefing, March 1, 1999, accessed April 20, 2012, https://www.un.org/News/briefings/docs/1999/19990301.guate.brf.html.
Truth or Reconciliation Mechanism – 1998
The CEH completed its interviews in April.2 The CEH convened 400 persons from 139 civil society organizations for the National Forum on Recommendations on 27 May.3
On April 26, Roman Catholic Bishop Juan Jose Gerardi was murdered two days after releasing a parallel report of atrocities committed during the civil war.4
- Ibid.
- «Guatemala: Memory of Silence,» Guatemalan Commission for Historical Clarification, 1999, accessed April 20, 2012, http://shr.aaas.org/guatemala/ceh/report/english/toc.html.
- Greg Brosnan, «4 Men Convicted in Murder of Guatemalan Bishop,» The Washington Post (Reprinted from Reuters), June 9, 2001, A14.
Truth or Reconciliation Mechanism – 1999
The CEH released its final report, «Memory of Silence,» on 25 February 1999. It documented human rights violations against 42,275 victims, of which 23,671 were victims of arbitrary execution and 6,159 of forced disappearance. Mass killings were common, with 626 cases verified by the CEH. Mayans made up the vast majority (83%) of the victims, and the Guatemalan state, mainly through the Army, was responsible for nearly all (93%) of the violations. Most of the violations (91%) were committed between 1978 and 1984. The CEH described the Army’s attacks against Mayans between 1981 and 1983 as «acts of genocide.» Insurgent groups also committed many grievous human rights violations, but they amounted to 3% of the total violations identified. The CEH made several recommendations, including: formal apologies from the State of Guatemala and the Guatemalan National Revolutionary Unity (URNG); monuments and a day of commemoration for victims; the creation of a National Reparation Program for victims of human rights violations; investigations into cases of forced disappearances; exhumation of the remains of those killed in massacres so they can be properly buried; education initiatives to foster a culture of peace; ratification of international human rights instruments; increased accountability structures within the Government; improvement the public’s access to information; judicial reform, including respect for traditional forms of conflict resolution and customary law; re-emphasis on the military and police reforms and human rights protections stipulated in the agreements; and the creation of a Foundation for Peace and Harmony to oversee the implementation of the CEH recommendations.5
The CEH officially dissolved on 25 February with the presentation of the final report.6
- «Guatemala: Memory of Silence,» Guatemalan Commission for Historical Clarification, 1999, accessed 20 April 2012, http://shr.aaas.org/guatemala/ceh/report/english/toc.html.
- «Press Conference by Members of Guatemalan Historical Clarification Commission,» Press Briefing, United Nations, March 1, 1999, accessed 20 April 2012, https://www.un.org/News/briefings/docs/1999/19990301.guate.brf.html.
Truth or Reconciliation Mechanism – 2000
Citing financial shortcomings, the Government made no immediate progress in implementing the recommendations of the CEH, not even the cost-free gestures of acknowledgment and apology for the sake of national reconciliation. In the meantime, the human rights situation in the country deteriorated.7
- Will Weissert, «Guatemala’s Truth Commission Report Falls on Deaf Ears,» St. Louis Post-Dispatch (Reprinted from the Associated Press), February 20, 2000, A5.
Truth or Reconciliation Mechanism – 2001
A Guatemalan tribunal convicted three men linked to the Guatemalan military for the murder of Bishop Gerardi in 1998. A priest was also convicted as an accessory to the murder.1
- Greg Brosnan, «4 Men Convicted in Murder of Guatemalan Bishop,» The Washington Post (Reprinted from Reuters), June 9, 2001, A14.
Truth or Reconciliation Mechanism – 2002
No developments observed this year.
Truth or Reconciliation Mechanism – 2003
No developments observed this year.
Truth or Reconciliation Mechanism – 2004
No developments observed this year.
Truth or Reconciliation Mechanism – 2005
After preventing any actions to declassify information to investigate crimes committed by persons identified by the CEH for years, the Government adopted an order to improve (nominally) public access to information. The Attorney-General issued guidelines for investigations into past atrocities using forensic anthropologists, but the Government generally maintained a conspicuously silent position on the implementation of the CEH’s recommendations.8
- «Report of the High Commissioner for Human Rights on the Situation of Human Rights in Guatemala,» United Nations Economic and Social Council (E/CN.4/2006/10/Add.1), February 1, 2006.
Truth or Reconciliation Mechanism – 2006
After a period without developments, in December 2009, the Inter-American Court of Human Rights condemned Guatemala for failing to seek justice in the 1982 massacre of more than 200 villagers.9 In March 2012, a Guatemalan court denied amnesty to former dictator Efrain Rios Montt who was facing genocide charges for abuses committing during 1982-1983.10