A/HRC/11/7/Add.3 page 2 Summary The present report is submitted in accordance with resolution 8/10 of the Human Rights Council following the official visit of the Special Rapporteur on the human rights of migrants to Guatemala, at the invitation of the Guatamalan Government, from 24 to 28 March 2008. The purpose of the mission was to examine the status of the human rights of migrants for whom Guatemala is a country of origin or destination and especially of transit through an analysis of the national and international legal framework for the protection of migrants and of the public policies and programmes put in place by the Government. For the purposes of this report, “migrants” refers to all non-citizens living in Guatemala, including, among others, undocumented non-citizens and non-citizens with legal permission to remain in the country, such as legal permanent residents, work visa holders and persons with refugee status. The Special Rapporteur thanks the Government of Guatemala for extending an invitation for him to conduct such a mission and for its cooperation in organizing the visit. He also thanks the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights in Guatemala for the substantive and logistical support provided and organizations of civil society and the academic world for their valuable assistance and cooperation in the preparation and conduct of the mission. The Special Rapporteur wishes to highlight the effort made at the regional level to find and disseminate information on the phenomenon of migration and invites the Government to continue participating actively in existing regional processes and to step up its joint efforts with other countries of the region to conclude multilateral agreements among countries of origin and destination that would strengthen protection of the human rights of migrants in conformity with the provisions of the International Convention on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of Their Families. The Special Rapporteur calls upon the State to adopt the necessary measures to bring Guatemalan domestic legislation fully into line with the International Convention and to submit its first report to the treaty body concerned. The Special Rapporteur notes the Government’s interest in addressing some of the problems related to the human rights of migrants but observes with concern certain gaps and ambiguities in the legislative framework regulating migration in Guatemala. He is greatly concerned to see that those gaps lead to abuses and violations of the human rights of the migrant population, most of which go unreported. The Special Rapporteur notes with concern the information received about cases in which, during the interception and deportation of migrants from the United States of America to Guatemala, various abuses were committed, including physical ill-treatment, lack of medical assistance in detention centres, lack of information on the deportation and lack of communication with consular representatives.