Guatemala Truth Commission Report Released
February 25, 1999
*See
NY Times Slide Show
on Truth Commission Report
(9 photos)
After years of grueling research, thousands of interviews, study of forensic evidence and struggles with lack of funding, the Guatemalan Comision de Esclarecimiento Historico (CEH -- or "Truth Commission") has made public its report. Below is a collection of articles, summaries and links. We cannot post many of the articles here because of copyright restrictions. We provide links where we can. If the link is missing, we encourage you to visit the newspaper's web site and do a "search" for the article.
To access the report on-line, visit the AAAS Website devoted to the Commission and the CEH report, or view the Yale Law School Press Packet on the report, or visit the Web site of the Comision de Esclarecimiento Historico (Spanish).
Truth Commission Report Released
February 26, 1999 - from Guatemala News & Information Bureau
<gnib@igc.apc.org>
Guatemalan Commission's Report Is Searing Indictment on
Military
February 26 - New York Times
Guatemala Army Blamed for Massacres
US government provided support for some state operations
February 25 - Associated Press
Guatemalan Army Waged 'Genocide,' New Report Finds
February 26 - New York Times
Report on Guatemalan civil war blasts army's role in massacres
February 25 - Associated Press
Guatemalan truth commission condemns army, CIA
February 25 - Reuters
Racism
cited in Guatemala war
Truth commission blames U.S., Cuba; condemns genocide
February 26, 1999 Miami
Herald
The Atrocity Findings: 'The Historic Facts Must Be
Recognized'
February 26 - New York Times
Excerpts from Truth Commission report on Guatemalan civil war
February 25 - Associated Press
The Truth: A step toward ending Guatemala's
agony
February 26 - Amnesty International
The Truth: A step toward ending Guatemala's agony?
* News Release Issued by the International Secretariat of Amnesty International *
News Service: 041/99 - AI INDEX: AMR 34/05/99 - 26 FEBRUARY 1999
GUATEMALA
Download Unfinished Life, An Download Danny the Dog film Download Matador, The Download Devil's Rejects, The Download National Treasure film Download Hostage film Download Assault on Precinct 13 Download film Armageddon Download Find Me Guilty The tragedy and horror that we have been documenting in Guatemala over more than three decades has been officially recognised, Amnesty International said today, commenting on the report of Guatemala's Historical Clarification Commission.
The organization called for Guatemalan institutions and the international community to formally signal their acceptance of the Commission's findings, and begin discussions immediately on how to implement its recommendations.
"The Commission's report is a step along the road to setting things right for Guatemalans, who must never again suffer such atrocities," Amnesty International stressed.
"We particularly welcome the fact that the overwhelming responsibility of the Guatemalan military and their civilian adjuncts for the crimes has been clearly signalled -- as has the role of the US Central Intelligence Agency in Guatemala's agony."
It is now essential that the Guatemalan government, all the institutions cited in the report and the international community study the recommendations of the Commission and begin to implement them as a matter of utmost priority.
"This is the debt owed to both the living and the dead in Guatemala," Amnesty International said.
The human rights organization also welcomed the Commission's acknowledgement that impunity and the denial of justice were a factor in the conflict and the suffering it engendered.
"Justice must now be done as an essential step toward genuine reconciliation," Amnesty International said, expressing support for the establishment of a commission to review the conduct of military officials during the internal conflict, against the international human rights standards and humanitarian law which should have governed their operations and behaviour.
"Appropriate administrative and legal measures must then be taken. Killers cannot be allowed to continue to serve in the armed forces with impunity."
Amnesty International strongly supported the Commission's proposals for the payment of reparations to the victims and for the creation of an exhumation program by the government.
"It is high time for the authorities to support and indeed initiate efforts to clarify the truth about the massacres which occurred during the civil conflict, rather than leaving this to private initiatives, often hindered by local officials and the military," the organization said.
Just in the last few weeks, members of the Association of the relatives of the detained-disappeared (FAMDEGUA) and of the Guatemalan Forensic Anthropology Team (EAFG) , who were investigating a mass clandestine grave site in the department of Huehuetenango, reported harassment by soldiers.
"That was an apparent attempt to intimidate them and to interfere with the exhumations they were attempting to carry out there," Amnesty International said.
To the Commission's recommendations, Amnesty International added its own, that the government reform the Law of National Conciliation, to include extrajudicial executions and unlawful killings amongst the crimes which cannot benefit from impunity in any circumstances.
While broadly welcoming the report and its recommendations, Amnesty International expressed disappointment at the signal sent by President Alvaro Arzú's decision not to receive the report directly -- as had originally been planned for the presentation ceremony yesterday.
"The government must deal with the recommendations of the Commission at the highest level," the organization said, calling for the establisment of mechanisms to ensure compliance with the Commission's recommendations.
"It is essential to guarantee that the past does not repeat itself, and that Guatemalans enjoy a better future, where their human rights will be protected."
Finally, Amnesty International issued a strong call for the donor countries that will meet with members of the Commission in New York on Monday, to come up with specific programs and timely funding proposals to help implement the Commission's recommendations.
ENDS.../
Amnesty International, International Secretariat, 1 Easton Street,
WC1X 8DJ, London, United Kingdom
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Truth Commission Report Released
February 26, 1999 - from Guatemala News & Information Bureau <gnib@igc.apc.org>
Contact: Daniel Wilkinson, Lowenstein Project, Yale Law School (203) 432-4808
Guatemala Truth Commission to Release Report Detailing Human Rights Abuses during Brutal Civil War
The Guatemalan Historical Clarification Commission will today release its long-awaited report documenting the human rights abuses committed during the country's 36-year civil war.
"The release of the report will be a major turning point in Guatemalan history," says historian Gregory Grandin, former Clarification Commission consultant and a Director of Yale University's Lowenstein Project, which is coordinating efforts by human rights advocates to draw international attention to this report.
As the first official documentation of human rights abuses, says Grandin, "the report should force Guatemala—and the world—to come to terms with the staggering human costs of one of the most brutal conflicts of the twentieth century."
Guatemalan human rights leaders, who campaigned over a decade for the creation of the commission, have eagerly awaited the results of the investigation. According to Nobel Laureate Rigoberta Menchu Tum, "The need to know the truth about the atrocities committed in the recent past has generated enormous expectations for this report."
The report is expected to attribute the vast majority of violations, including genocide, torture, and forced disappearances, to Guatemalan government officials. The report is also expected to document U.S. involvement in Guatemala's internal politics, including training and funding some of the worst human rights violators.
The report promises to be a major step toward ending decades of impunity in Guatemala. To date, there have been no convictions of high-ranking military officers responsible for human rights abuses. Intimidation of witnesses, attorneys and judges has stymied efforts to prosecute. "Even though we have already had four civilian governments, military officers remain untouchable," says prominent human rights advocate Helen Mack.
Previous efforts to document the atrocities have met with violent resistance. Last year, Catholic Bishop Juan Gerardi was murdered two days after presenting the results of the Church's unofficial truth commission in a report entitled "Guatemala: Never Again."
Human rights leaders insist that the government must end impunity by prosecuting those responsible for past violations. "After clarification, there must be reparation," says Mario Polanco, coordinator of the Grupo de Apoyo Mutuo, an organization of victims of political violence. "The government must take responsibility for the human rights violations and make reparations for the harm they caused."
Human rights leaders also insist that, given its important role in the conflict, the U.S. has a duty to contribute to the process of ending impunity in Guatemala. In particular, the U.S. government should be more forthcoming in releasing classified documents that identify human rights violators.
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