Fifty-fifth session
Item 43 of the provisional agenda*
The situation in Central America: procedures for the establishment of
a firm and lasting peace and progress in fashioning a region of peace, freedom, democracy and development
United Nations Verification Mission in Guatemala
Note by the Secretary-General**
1. The attached document contains the report on Human Rights of the United Nations Verification Mission in Guatemala (MINUGUA) on the verification of compliance with the Comprehensive Agreement on Human Rights. In accordance with the practice established since the Mission’s inception, I shall convey a copy of this report to the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, with the request that it be transmitted to the members of the Commission on Human Rights.
2. The report, which is being transmitted by the acting head of the Mission, is the eleventh on the subject, and covers the period from 1 December 1999 to 30 June 2000, during which the Mission continued to carry out its work and verify compliance with the commitments of all the Peace Agreements. The results of the verification of compliance with the Agreements were reported to the General Assembly on 26 July 2000 (see A/55/175).
3. I wish to reiterate my thanks to the Government of Guatemala and President Alfonso Portillo, who assumed office on 14 January 2000, and to the Unidad Revolucionaria Nacional Guatemalteca (URNG) for their cooperation with the Mission, without which it would have been unable to function. I also wish to express my gratitude for the ongoing collaboration and support for the peace process provided by Member States and the United Nations system in Guatemala.
Annex
Eleventh report on human rights of the United Nations Verification Mission in Guatemala
I. Introduction and context
1. During the period covered by this report (1 December 1999 to 30 June 2000), the United Nations Verification Mission in Guatemala (MINUGUA) continued to verify compliance with all the Peace Agreements signed between the Government of Guatemala and the Unidad Revolucionaria Nacional Guatemalteca (URNG). Among the Agreements, the Mission verifies compliance with the Comprehensive Agreement on Human Rights, signed on 29 March 1994 (A/48/928-S/1994/448, annex I) and with the human rights aspects of the Agreement on Identity and Rights of Indigenous Peoples, signed on 31 March 1995 (A/49/882-S/1995/256, annex). This report also refers to the commitments under the Comprehensive Agreement which were not included in the Agreement on the Implementation, Compliance and Verification Timetable for the Peace Agreements (A/51/796-S/1997/114, annex I).
2. In order to permit continuity of statistical comparison with previous reports on human rights, the figures on complaints received and the results of verification of the complaints will cover a period of nine months, from 1 October 1999 to 30 June 2000 (see appendix). Issues arising from the follow-up to the recommendations of the Commission for Historical Clarification (see A/53/928, annex) were dealt with in the Mission’s fifth report on the verification of compliance with the Peace Agreements (see A/55/175, paragraphs 20 to 22).
3. During the period under review, the first elections since the signing of the Agreement on a Firm and Lasting Peace (A/51/796-S/1997/114, annex II), were held with the participation of URNG as a political party. These elections, involving the entire national political spectrum, represented a milestone in the consolidation of democracy in Guatemala. The change of political leadership in the framework of a democratic electoral process is a further manifestation of the consolidation of the rule of law and of the expansion of political spaces, the closing of which has been regarded by the signatories to the Agreements as one of the historical causes of the armed confrontation.