III 

110TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. RES. 155 

Expressing the sense of the Senate on efforts to control violence and 

strengthen the rule of law in Guatemala. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

APRIL 18, 2007 

Mr. DODD (for himself, Mr. LEAHY, Mr. BIDEN, Mr. DURBIN, and Mr. 

BINGAMAN) submitted the following resolution; which was referred to the 

Committee on Foreign Relations 

MAY 1, 2007 

Committee discharged; considered and agreed to 

RESOLUTION 

Expressing the sense of the Senate on efforts to control 

violence and strengthen the rule of law in Guatemala. 

Whereas warring parties in Guatemala ended a 36-year internal armed conflict with a peace agreement in 1996, but 

the country has since faced alarming levels of violence, 

organized crime, and corruption; 

Whereas the alleged involvement of senior officials of the National Civilian Police in the murder of three Salvadoran 

parliamentarians and their driver, and the subsequent 

killing of four of the police officers while in custody underscored the need to purge and strengthen law enforcement and judicial institutions in Guatemala; 


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SRES 155 ATS 

Whereas high-level officials of the Government of Guatemala 

have acknowledged the infiltration of organized criminal 

networks into the state apparatus and the difficulty of 

combating these networks when they are deeply entrenched in public institutions; 

Whereas, in its 2006 Country Report on Human Rights 

Practices in Guatemala, the Department of State noted 

that police corruption was a serious problem in Guatemala and that there were credible allegations of involvement by individual police officers in criminal activity, including rapes, killings, and kidnappings; 

Whereas, in its most recent report on Guatemala, the United 

Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights notes 

that impunity continues to undermine the credibility of 

the justice system in Guatemala and that the justice system is still too weak to confront organized crime and its 

powerful structures; and 

Whereas, the Government of Guatemala and the United Nations signed an agreement on December 12, 2006, to establish the International Commission against Impunity in 

Guatemala (Comisio ́n Internacional Contra la Impunidad 

en Guatemala—CICIG), to assist local authorities in investigating and dismantling the illegal security groups 

and clandestine organizations that continue to operate in 

Guatemala: Now, therefore, be it 

1 Resolved, That— 

2 (1) it is the sense of the Senate that the Inter3 national Commission against Impunity in Guatemala 

4 is an innovative mechanism to support local efforts 

5 to confront the entrenched and dangerous problem 


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SRES 155 ATS 

1 posed by illegal armed groups and clandestine secu2 rity organizations in Guatemala and their infiltra3 tion into state institutions; 

4 (2) the Senate commends the Government of 

5 Guatemala, local civil society organizations, and the 

6 United Nations for such a creative effort; 

7 (3) the Senate encourages the Guatemalan Con8 gress to enact necessary legislation required to im9 plement the International Commission against Impu10 nity in Guatemala and other pending legislation 

11 needed to fulfill the 1996 peace agreement; 

12 (4) the Senate calls on the Government of Gua13 temala and all sectors of society in Guatemala to un14 reservedly support the investigation and prosecution 

15 of illegal armed groups and clandestine security or16 ganizations; and 

17 (5) the Senate reiterates its commitment to 

18 support the Government of Guatemala in its efforts 

19 to strengthen the rule of law in that country, includ20 ing the dismantling of the clandestine groups, the 

21 purging of the police and judicial institutions, and 

22 the implementation of key justice and police reforms. 

Æ 


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