WRITTEN QUESTION E-0423/03

by Erik Meijer (GUE/NGL) to the Commission

(17 February 2003)

Subject: Continuing campaign of intimidation and murder against the Indian majority in Guatemala by the ruling elite of European origin, and possible reinstatement of dictatorship

1. Is the Commission aware that in Guatemala recently intimidation and murder attempts have been used to oppose the exhumation and listing of victims of oppression in the past, the updating of archives of mass murder and judicial proceedings against war crimes?

2. Is the Commission also aware that the former dictator General Efrain Rios Montt, whose FRG party regained power after the elections in 1999, is again a presidential candidate?

3. Does the Commission share the view that the democratic governmental structures which have been introduced meanwhile in Guatemala are to a great extent unilaterally controlled by the minority of the population who are the descendants of European colonists, while the Indian majority is again being marginalised through terror and intimidation?

4. What role can the EU play in helping put an end to the problems existing in Guatemala as a result of the failure to achieve integration of its European and Indian inhabitants?

5. What practical contributions is the EU making to ensuring as far as is possible that the current inequality-based situation in Guatemala does not continue?

Source: Nederland 2, current affairs programme Twee Vandaag, 3 January 2003

Joint answerto Written Questions E-0422/03 and E-0423/03given by Mr Patten on behalf of the Commission

(26 March 2003)

The Commission has been supporting politically and financially the reconciliation and democratisation in Guatemala since the 80's and is monitoring the situation in this country very closely.

There is a general consensus within the Union and the international community that, despite some progress, a lack of fulfilment of some important elements of the reforms established by the 1996 Peace Agreements to tackle the structural causes of the internal conflict, are yet to be fulfilled. Furthermore, delays in compliance with the Accords on the identity and rights of the indigenous people are undermining the development of the country and a real integration of the indigenous populations.

Many international observers including Minugua (the United Nations mission for the observation of the peace process in Guatemala), have underlined that the positive steps registered in recent months have been overshadowed by worrisome trends in public security and demilitarisation. In addition, increasing infringements of the rule of law and human rights, the growth of threats and violence against human rights activists and justice workers and a deepening polarisation within Guatemalan society are creating serious tension in the country on the eve of the electoral process leading up to the November 2003 elections. Despite some advances in the judicial system, including the condemnation of those behind the murder of the anthropologist Myrna Mack, as well as the proposal to create a Commission to investigate illegal powers and clandestine security forces, impunity has remained endemic for human rights cases since the time of conflict.

Within this scenario, the Commission is taking action in two complementary ways in line with the resolution on Guatemala that the Parliament issued in April 2002, as well as in coherence with the 1998 Council Resolution on indigenous people.

Through political dialogue the Commission and the Member States, constantly remind the Guatemalan authorities and local public institutions of the importance of respecting the dignity and of securing the wellbeing of all Guatemalan people, especially the indigenous people, on the basis of principles of democracy, equality, non-discrimination, peace and social justice.

From the co-operation point of view, the Commission's strategy 2002-2006 for co-operation with Guatemala (CSP) is aimed at sustaining the Peace Accords and at breaking the cycle of poverty and exclusion that affects mostly indigenous people. This strategy focuses on the following sectors: good governance; consolidation of the rule of law and protection of human rights; local development based on participation, inclusion and equity; equitable economic growth and job creation. The indicative financial resources for Guatemala under the two main Community budget lines for Latin America (Financial and Technical, Economic Co-operation) is EUR 93 million.

The Commission has been financing concrete actions in favour of indigenous people in sectors such as health, education, reinsertion of refugees and gender promotion. These initiatives will be reinforced within the next months by means of a series of co-operation programmes aimed at sustaining the access of the indigenous people to the judiciary system, supporting the National Attorney's Office by creating a Fiscalía indígena, a specific department to deal with the promotion of the rights of indigenous people and sustaining the Procuradoría de los Derechos Humanos (the Ombudsman's office) in following up the situation of the indigenous people at local level.

Additionally, the Commission is preparing complementary initiatives, aimed inter alia at reinforcing the participation of the civil society, consolidating the State's decentralisation process, promoting gender and human rights and developing rural areas, whose beneficiaries will be mostly the Mayan origin people.

Guatemala is also a Latin America focal country in the framework of the EU Initiative for Human Rights and Democracy (EIHRD) for the period 2002-2004, which provides support in different priority areas, such as the fight against racism and xenophobia, intimidation and impunity and reconciliation and torture. The Commission will also support a National Observatory for Human Rights dealing with indigenous people and is also involved in the preparation of a report on Rights of indigenous people and its accomplishment in Guatemala to the special United Nations Rapporteur for indigenous people.

It is also worth underlining that the coherence and co-ordination of the Commission's initiatives in Guatemala are reinforced by the so called Mesodialogo, which is a permanent forum on community co-operation with Guatemala composed of the Commission, the Member States, the Guatemalan Government, local and European non-governmental organisations (NGOs). Within this framework, a specific sub-group dealing with indigenous people's issues was established in December 2002.

Concerning the potential participation of general Ríos Montt in the next presidential elections, the Frente Republicano Guatemalteco (FRG), the Government's party, has not yet decided who will be the party's official candidate. Furthermore, the Commission understands the Constitutional Tribunal has already expressed itself against the candidature of Mr Ríos Montt in previous occasions and would re-examine the case if necessary.