PRESS BRIEFING BY SPECIAL REPRESENTATIVE OF SECRETARY-GENERAL FOR GUATEMALA

PRESS BRIEFING BY SPECIAL REPRESENTATIVE OF SECRETARY-GENERAL FOR GUATEMALA

The peace agreement signed in Guatemala about six years ago was beginning to yield the desired results, Tom Koenigs, the Secretary-General's Special Representative and head of the United Nations Verification Mission in Guatemala (MINUGUA) said at a Headquarters press conference this afternoon.

"I have good news to report, but concerns as well", he told correspondents, adding that MINUGUA had observed a broad consensus against a return to armed conflict and that Guatemala was a better country now than it had been before.  “There is greater participation, greater political space, freedom to associate and a critical and open press.”  But while the Guatemala peace agreements had closed a dark chapter in the country’s history, providing a comprehensive and viable blueprint for consolidating peace and constructing a multi-ethnic democracy, implementation of the agreements had been slow and key commitments remained unfulfilled.

Accompanied by Jared Kotler, MINUGUA's Political Adviser, Mr. Koenigs said that where progress had been made, it had fallen short of the goals set out in the agreements.  In some cases, such as human rights, there had been clear steps backward and the benefits of peace had still not trickled down to the population in the form of security, jobs and land for the landless.  "There is increasing social conflict and polarization, which could get worse as the country heads into elections next year”, he warned.

In general, Guatemala’s road to peace was still very much under construction, Mr. Koenigs said.  While human rights abuses had declined sharply after the signing of the peace agreements, there had been a recent “worrisome upsurge”.  Human rights activists continued to be targeted for violence and further advances in that field would be measured in key cases such as the killings of anthropologist Myrna Mack and Bishop Juan Gerardi.  Key human rights institutions like the Office of the Human Rights Ombudsman and that of the Attorney-General were desperately in need of increased budgets, he added.

Lynching persisted in Guatemala and had increased in recent months,

Mr. Koenigs said.  Describing it as the war’s violent legacy, he said the Guatemalan authorities had not carried out effective campaigns to condemn and discourage lynching.  There was also widespread discrimination against the country’s indigenous people, who make up about half of the population.  “Access to justice, health and education is limited and changes towards a multicultural educational system are going slowly."  However, he was encouraged by the new law against racial discrimination and the formation of a national council on indigenous people.

The Special Representative said that while the army had initially been reduced in accordance with the peace agreements, it had not followed through with other important changes.  “Its doctrine and deployment are as though the country

were still at war, its budget is growing instead of shrinking.”  He called for the immediate dismantling of the “shadowy presidential security unit” known as EMP, which, he said, had been implicated in grave human rights abuses.

However, Mr. Koenigs said he was encouraged by recent statements made by President Alfonso Portillo pledging to press ahead with army reductions, indemnify civil war widows and orphans, increase funding for land purchases and provide greater safety for human right workers.  “The peace process would be revitalized if these words become actions”, he added.

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