Appendix III: The United Nations Mission for the Verification of Human Rights in Guatemala MINUGUA
| Date | 01 December 1997 |
| DOI | 10.1177/092405199701500412 |
| Author | Marylene Smeets |
| Published date | 01 December 1997 |
| Subject Matter | Article |
Appendix III: The United Nations Mission for the Verification
of
Human Rights in Guatemala MINUGUA
Marylene Smeets'
I Introduction
When President Jorge Serrano Elias carried out an autogolpe (coup organised by the
Government itself) in an attempt to reconquer the legitimacy he was losing, Guatemala's
social sectors united in protest and called for the President to be ousted from power. They
Were
opposed to Vice-President Gustavo Espina Salguero taking on the presidency because
he was suspected
of
corruption just as his superior. The resistance to the coup was
endorsed by different entities
of
the Guatemalan Government and the social sectors were
permitted to propose three presidential candidates out of which Congress was to elect one.
On 6 June 1993, Congress chose Human Rights Ombudsman Ramiro de Leon Carpio to
become Guatemala's new President.
Under De Leon, the Government
of
Guatemala and the Guatemalan National
Revolutionary Unity (URNG) reactivated the peace process that had commenced under
Serrano. On 10 January 1994, they signed the Agreement for the Resumption
of
the
Negotiation Process. \ This Agreement contained the topics that needed to be discussed
and agreed upon before the Paz Finne y Duradera (Firm and Lasting Peace) could be
concluded. During the Government of De Leon, important agreements were concluded,
notably the Comprehensive Agreement on Human Rights and the Agreement on Identity
and Rights
of
the Indigenous Peoples.' However, the Firm and Lasting Peace was not
arrived at.
On 7 January 1996, Alvaro Arzu
of
the rightist National Advancement Party (PAN)
Won Guatemala's presidential elections by a narrow margin. Having taken office, he did
his utmost to fulfil his electoral promise on having peace signed during the first year
of
his Government. In the course
of
1996, his Government and the URNG concluded six
agreements - amongst which agreements on the highly controversial topics
of
political
participation, the role
of
the army and the incorporation
of
the URNG. On 29 December
1996, the parties to the longest civil war
of
Central America sealed the Firm and Lasting
Peace.'
Once the Firm and Lasting Peace was signed, it was the task
of
the United Nations
Mission for the Verification
of
Human Rights in Guatemala (MINUGUA) to verify the
Compliance with all the Agreements concluded during the peace process. Previously,
MINUGUA had only verified the Government's and the
URNG's
compliance with the
Comprehensive Agreement and with those parts
of
the Indigenous Agreement that referred
The author is a lawyer specialised in human rights in Latin America. She worked with MINUGUA from
November 1994 until January 1997 in different field offices. Currently she works at the Americas Program
of the Committee to Protect Journalists in New York. She wishes to thank Hilde Hey, who edited the article.
The Framework Agreement for the Resumption of the Negotiation Process between the Government of
Guatemala and the URNG of 10 January 1994, UN Doc. A/49/61-S/1994/53.
The Comprehensive Agreement on Human Rights of 29 March 1994, UN Doc. A/48/928-S/1994/448; and
the Agreement on Identity and Rights of the Indigenous Peoples of 31 March 1994, UN Doc. A/49/882-
S/1995/256.
The Agreement of Firm and Lasting Peace of 29 December 1996, UN Doc. A/5l/796-S/1996/114.
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