This report details the continuing state of impunity in Guatemala and describes human rights violations perpetrated since the signing of the Global Human Rights Accord in March 1994. Such violations include extrajudicial execution, “disappearance”, torture and harassment. It describes a number of individual cases against a background of armed conflict, political repression, the return of refugees and internally displaced people, “social cleansing” – the policy of repression against social “undesirables”, and repression in the context of labour demands and land disputes. It examines the legislative and institutional protection of citizens in theory and reality and the authorities’ apparent lack of political will to investigate human rights violations. The report also examines allegations of foreign support for human rights violations and the role of the international community, particularly the effectiveness of MINUGUA in guaranteeing protection of human rights. The report concludes with a series of recommendations to the Guatemalan authorities and the international community.
