WRITTEN QUESTION E-0422/03 by Erik Meijer (GUE/NGL) to the Commission. Failure resulting from deliberate opposition of the peace agreement following the civil war and dictatorship in Guatemala.
Date: 2003-02-17
Institutions: European Parliament, Provisional data
Subjects: Guatemala, democratisation, dictatorship, equal treatment, human rights, indigenous population, peacekeeping, political cooperation, public safety, rule of law

26.2.2004

EN

Official Journal of the European Union

C 51 E/21

Reply

(29 September 2003)

The Council has not examined the future eligibility criteria as such since no formal proposal has been put
forward by the Commission.

On 16 June 2003 the Council adopted the report by the Working Party on Structural Measures, which
conveyed the delegations’ comments and views on the Commission’s second progress report on economic
and social cohesion.

(2004/C 51 E/022)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-0422/03

by Erik Meijer (GUE/NGL) to the Commission

(17 February 2003)

Subject: Failure resulting from deliberate opposition of the peace agreement following the civil war and

dictatorship in Guatemala

Does the Commission recall that between 1954 and 1996 the Central American state of Guatemala
1.
was in a state of permanent and violent conflict, which left 200 000 dead, between a government with
strong links to the military and foreign business interests on the one hand and, on the other, the largely
rural Indian population and some urban workers, and that this conflict finally came to an end with the
signing of a peace accord and the establishment of a Truth Committee?

2.
Is the Commission familiar with the conclusion of the UN observers that while it is true that the state
is not, as in the past, directly responsible for wholesale violation of human rights, it has nevertheless in the
past three years again taken a wrong turn, in that the recommendations contained in the final report of the
Truth Committee (including investigations into the fate of 50 000 missing persons) are not being
implemented, no independent judiciary is being put in place, the government is not holding any form of
dialogue with the population, journalists and other people concerned with human rights are exposed to
threats, crimes from the past are going unpunished, the military budget has been greatly increased at the
expense of social expenditure, hardly any opportunity for participation by, or strengthening of the socio-
economic position of, the Indian population has been established, many political opponents of the ruling
group in the province of Quiché have been lynched, the influence of the military on the government has
grown, and armed groups with links to the army maintain a strong influence in country areas, while the
government lacks either the will or the power to take any action to oppose them?

Does the Commission take the view that,

3.
in so far as the EU can exert any influence through
development ties and trade relations, a reversion in Guatemala to dictatorship and civil war should be
prevented by all possible means?

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

(2004/C 51 E/023)

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

Is the Commission aware that in Guatemala recently intimidation and murder attempts have been
1.
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?

Is the Commission also aware that the former dictator General Efrain Rios Montt, whose FRG party

2.
regained power after the elections in 1999, is again a presidential candidate?