Fifty-ninth session
Agenda item 26
The situation in Central America: progress in fashioning a
region of peace, freedom, democracy and development
United Nations Verification Mission in Guatemala
Report of the Secretary-General
I. Introduction
1. The United Nations Verification Mission in Guatemala (MINUGUA) completed operations on 31 December 2004, after 10 years of support to the Guatemalan peace process. This end-of-mission report, prepared at the request of the General Assembly, describes the work of MINUGUA throughout the various stages of the peace process and of the Mission. It pays special attention to the innovative transition strategy during the Mission’s last two years, designed to build national capacity to promote the peace accords agenda after departure of MINUGUA.
II. Overview
2. MINUGUA began operations on 21 November 1994 under the terms of the
Comprehensive Agreement on Human Rights, which was signed eight months
earlier between the Government of Guatemala and the Unidad Revolucionaria
Nacional Guatemalteca (URNG). The accord committed both parties to respect
international human rights standards and invited the United Nations to deploy a
verification mission that would observe compliance with those commitments and, through its presence on the ground, help to build confidence in ongoing peace negotiations that were being moderated by the United Nations.
3. For more than two years, until the signing of the final peace agreement at the end of 1996, MINUGUA verified human rights amid the armed conflict and the polarized political situation it engendered. Major incidents during that period prompted concern and brought MINUGUA verification into the national spotlight. An army massacre in a community of returned refugees in 1995 and a 1996 kidnapping by URNG were grave breaches of the human rights agreement, which threatened, each in its own way, to undermine the peace talks.
4. Perhaps the most difficult challenge for MINUGUA was to operate in the
complex multi-ethnic, multicultural and multilingual environment of Guatemala, with its deeply entrenched racism and abandonment of the nearly two dozen Mayan, Xinca and Garifuna indigenous communities that comprise at least half the population. Inserting itself effectively into this context required great cultural sensitivity on the part of MINUGUA, which made use of national indigenous staff and translators able to explain the peace accords and the mandate of the Mission and to take complaints in indigenous languages.
5. Although the Mission verified continuing abuses during that first period, some very serious, its presence generally had a dissuasive effect, contributing to a steady decline in violations from the time of its arrival through a ceasefire and the final signing of the peace agreement. Human rights activists and members of rural communities who had been targeted during the conflict saw the Mission as a source of protection. A network of field offices throughout the country brought the Mission in direct contact with the population, permitting individuals to lodge complaints against the security forces and URNG members. The complaints were verified by MINUGUA teams, whose work was the basis for regular reports to the General Assembly. These reports fostered a public debate on human rights, demonstrating that the peace process was opening political space in the country. The Mission also set up a trust fund to support technical assistance programmes with national justice and human rights institutions, in keeping with its mandate to cooperate with national entities for the effective protection and promotion of human rights.
6. MINUGUA relied heavily on the United Nations Volunteers (UNV) programme throughout the life of the Mission. The first contingent of human rights observers included 72 UNVs. In all, more than 430 international and Guatemalan personnel served in various professional capacities under the umbrella of the UNV programme. The decision to employ such a large number of human rights observers, public information specialists and other staff from this programme was debated at the outset of the Mission, but it quickly proved to be a success. While retaining their volunteer spirit, UNVs worked with the utmost professionalism as they carried out the core functions of the Mission.