"In the 1970's, nickel giant, Inco mined the site near the town of El Estor. The company left a ghost town behind in 1981 as the civil war in Guatemala raged. Now the price of nickel is at a twenty year high and a Canadian company is back.

Skye Resources, based in Vancouver, bought the land from Inco and is ramping up to start production. If you talk to the company, the community is solidly behind them and if you talk to the mayor, you'll hear the same thing."

Guatemala: Congress must ratify UN-backed commission against impunity

The Guatemalan Congress must urgently ratify the new International Commission Against Impunity (CICIG) if the country is to tackle clandestine criminal groups, said Amnesty International today.

Once approved by Congress, the UN-sponsored CICIG will act in support of the Public Prosecutor's Office, suggesting methods of investigation and presenting evidence. The Public Prosecutor's Office will have ultimate responsibility for deciding whether or not to pursue an investigation.

"The existence and operations of clandestine groups severely undermines respect for the rule of law and human rights" said Sebastian Elgueta, Amnesty International's researcher for Guatemala. "The CICIG could become a valuable contributor in the fight against clandestine criminal groups and the impunity they enjoy."

The CICIG is an extremely important step in the fight against impunity and clandestine groups operating in Guatemala. There is grave concern that if the ratification of CICIG is not made a priority by all political parties, it will fail to advance.

"It is now over three years since initial proposals were discussed to establish an international commission to investigate clandestine criminal groups. The longer discussions and agreements are delayed, the more entrenched criminal networks become in state institutions and the more difficult it becomes to purge the system."

Amnesty International welcomes the international support that the CICIG initiative has received. The organization calls on the Congress of Guatemala to maintain the engagement of the international community and to show a real commitment to the protection of human rights by approving the CICIG without delay.