Thanks to a GSN member, John Hampson, for asking his MP to make the following parliamentary question:

Photo of Tom Levitt Tom Levitt (PPS (Rt Hon Hilary Benn, Secretary of State), Department for International Development, High Peak, Labour) Hansard source

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what assessment he has made of the likelihood of bringing to justice those responsible for mass killings in Guatemala in the 1980s; and if he will make representations to the government of Guatemala on this matter.

Photo of Douglas Alexander Douglas Alexander (Minister of State (Europe), Foreign & Commonwealth Office) Hansard source

The signing of the Guatemalan Peace Accords in 1996 brought an end to 36 years of conflict. The Peace Accords provided a blueprint for the Guatemalan authorities to pursue a process of social reforms, including the capacity to bring those responsible for human rights abuses to justice.

Though we have noted the progress made by the Guatemalan government in implementing the Peace Accords, that progress is slow and there is still much to be done. Many perpetrators of human rights violations continue to escape justice due to a weak judicial system.

The United Kingdom will continue to encourage the Guatemalan government to implement in full the 1996 Peace Accords, which covers improvements to the Guatemalan Judicial System. We will continue to monitor the efforts made by the Guatemalan authorities to bring those responsible for human rights violations to justice.

Photo of Tom Levitt Tom Levitt (PPS (Rt Hon Hilary Benn, Secretary of State), Department for International Development, High Peak, Labour) Hansard source

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what recent assessment he has made of (a) human rights and (b) the rule of law in Guatemala.

Photo of Douglas Alexander Douglas Alexander (Minister of State (Europe), Foreign & Commonwealth Office) Hansard source

The Human Rights situation in Guatemala has improved since the signing of the Peace Accords in 1996, following 36 years of conflict. However, we continue to be concerned by the growth of organised crime, the activities of gangs, called maras, and widespread impunity which threaten the rule of law in Guatemala. We are also concerned by attacks on human rights defenders and the increase in violence against women.

Our Embassy in Guatemala City works closely with human rights organisations and will continue to press the Guatemalan authorities to implement in full the 1996 Peace Accords, investigate reports of human rights abuses thoroughly and tackle impunity.

GSN member John Hampson who has worked hard on lobbying for justice in the genocide cases in Guatemala, comments on the response from the UK Goverment to Tom Levitt's question:
 
"This question was more specifically about the 'mass killings in the 1980s' and the 'likelihood of bringing to justice those responsable.' This was more in line with what I was asking him to ask, even though the word genocide wasn't specifically used. The government's answer was predictably vague, refering to 'those responsable for human rights violations' instead  of refering to the 'mass killings'."

UPDATE: John has been working hard to get Guatemala included in the list of countries that within the remit of the All Party Parliamentary Group on genocide prevention.Currently that list includes: Darfur, Burma, Rwanda, Bosnia, Kosovo, Zimbabwe, Armenia, and Cambodia. But not Guatemala. We are looking to work with the Aegis Trust to see that Guatemala is not left off the list.

While the UN-recognised genocide (see CEH excerpt below) took place for the most part in the 1980's, justice has never been achieved for the victims. The campaign is still very much on to see that justice is carried out in Guatemala, where the intellectual authors of these crimes are tried before a court of law. In June and July this year witnesses will be called to give evidence in Guatemala to the commission set up following the successful legal action brought by Rigoberta Menchu before the Spanish Constitutional Court.

Here is the conclusion of the Commission for Historical Clarification (CEH).

"122. In consequence, the CEH concludes that agents of the State of Guatemala, within the framework of counterinsurgency operations carried out between 1981 and 1983, committed acts of genocide against groups of Mayan people which lived in the four regions analysed. This conclusion is based on the evidence that, in light of Article II of the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide, the killing of members of Mayan groups occurred (Article II.a), serious bodily or mental harm was inflicted (Article II.b) and the group was deliberately subjected to living conditions calculated to bring about its physical destruction in whole or in part (Article II.c)."