VZCZCXYZ0008
OO RUEHWEB

DE RUEHGT #2473/01 3531812
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
O 191812Z DEC 06
FM AMEMBASSY GUATEMALA
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 1462
INFO RUEHZA/WHA CENTRAL AMERICAN COLLECTIVE IMMEDIATE
RUCNDT/USMISSION USUN NEW YORK IMMEDIATE 0115
RUEHC/DEPT OF LABOR WASHDC IMMEDIATE

UNCLAS GUATEMALA 002473 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SIPDIS 
 
DEPT FOR WHA/CEN AND IO/UNP 
DEPT FOR DRL/IL MMITTELHAUSER 
DOL FOR CROMERO, PCHURCH, AND LBUFFO 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PHUM PGOV KJUS EAID SNAR KCRM KDEM GT
SUBJECT: GUATEMALA SIGNS AGREEMENT WITH UN TO CREATE 
INTERNATIONAL COMMISSION AGAINST IMPUNITY 
 
REF: A. 06 GUATEMALA 0168 
     ¶B. 05 GUATEMALA 2766 
     ¶C. O4 GUATEMALA 2985 
 
¶1. Summary:  The Government of Guatemala (GOG) signed an 
agreement with the United Nations December 12 to establish 
the International Commission Against Impunity in Guatemala 
(CICIG).  Pending approval and ratification by the Guatemalan 
Congress, the independent UN-led body will investigate 
illegal security groups and clandestine security 
organizations operating with impunity and threatening human 
rights in Guatemala.  Under an initial two-year mandate, 
CICIG will assist Guatemalan institutions with investigation 
and criminal prosecution of crimes committed by members of 
such groups, a legacy of the internal armed conflict that 
ended in 1996.  The signed agreement is expected to be 
presented to the Guatemalan Congress in mid-January 2007. 
Early comments from legislative leaders make it clear that 
approval will not come quickly.  End summary. 
 
¶2. The GOG and the United Nations signed an agreement 
December 12 to establish an independent UN-led body to combat 
impunity and to strengthen the rule of law in Guatemala. 
Under its initial two-year mandate, the International 
Commission Against Impunity in Guatemala (CICIG) will assist 
Guatemalan institutions to investigate and prosecute crimes 
committed by members of illegal security groups and 
clandestine security organizations, a legacy of Guatemala's 
36-year armed conflict that ended in 1996 with the 
UN-brokered peace accords.  The Commission will determine the 
existence of such groups, their structure, forms of 
operation, sources of financing and possible relation to 
State entities or agents and other sectors that threaten 
civil and political rights in Guatemala. 
 
¶3. The Commission will be led by a commissioner appointed by 
the UN Secretary-General and will be empowered to promote 
criminal prosecutions by filing criminal complaints; to join 
criminal proceedings as a private prosecutor; and to provide 
technical advice to State institutions in the investigation 
and criminal prosecution of crimes committed by members of 
illegal security groups and clandestine security 
organizations.  It will also have the authority to advise 
State institutions in the implementation of administrative 
proceedings against State officials allegedly involved in 
such organizations, and to report to administrative 
authorities the names of civil servants who have allegedly 
committed administrative offenses in the exercise of their 
official duties.  The Public Prosecutor's Office will retain 
final decision-making authority as to who will be criminally 
prosecuted. 
 
¶4. The agreement is expected to go to the Guatemalan Congress 
for discussion and approval once Congress returns from recess 
on January 14.  The complex internal process could take as 
long as three months or more and will require a simple 
majority (80 of 158 votes) in Congress for ratification. 
 
 
¶5. Preliminary reaction from various congressional blocs and 
editorial writers reveals a deep divide over the utility and 
constitutionality of CICIG.  While some have praised the 
agreement as a positive, significant step in the fight 
against impunity and violence that have become increasingly 
prevalent in Guatemala, some human rights groups have 
expressed reservations and criticized the agreement for its 
non-retroactive application to past illicit activities. 
Critics within the human rights community assert that past 
activities should be investigated because those who now run 
organized crime groups violated human rights and committed 
crimes in the past.  Some congressmen expressed opposition to 
CICIG based on their concerns that it would diminish 
Guatemala's sovereignty, while some op-ed writers asserted 
that it would undermine Guatemala's own institutions charged 
with enforcing the laws. 
 
¶6. Ruben Dario Morales, Secretary-General of the National 
Advancement Party (PAN) and president-elect of Congress, 
publicly expressed reservations over the effectiveness of 
such commission to combat the endemic problem of impunity. 
In local press, he emphasized the need to create a permanent 
entity -- a national system of security -- and to establish a 
State policy against crimes committed by illegal security 
groups and clandestine security organizations.  Private 
sector leaders, including Humberto Preti, former head of the 
principal business association CACIF, have argued that the 
 
Commission is only a temporary solution to the persistent 
problem of impunity and expressed concern that it may be 
little more than a leftist intervention that will address 
only crimes committed by the right wing. 
 
¶7. Comment:  The CICIG agreement is a promising, if 
long-delayed, initiative of the Berger Administration to 
strengthen the rule of law and protect human rights in 
Guatemala.  Based on preliminary reaction, however, Embassy 
anticipates a vigorous and protracted debate in Congress. 
While the GOG tells us they consulted with all interested 
parties on the text of the agreement prior to signing with 
the UN, it apparently has not done a thorough job of lobbying 
and convincing congressional blocs to support the agreement. 
The Embassy has been actively engaged in lobbying for 
congressional approval of CICIG (formerly known as CICIACS) 
since the beginning of GOG-UN negotiations more than a year 
ago, and as the text is presented to Congress early next year 
we will intensify our lobbying efforts. 
Derham