A/HRC/39/17/Add.3
97.
The Special Rapporteur notes with concern the lack of intellectual property
protection for indigenous textiles and clothes.
I.
Responsibility and remedies for crimes committed during the internal
armed conflict
98.
The wounds of the internal armed conflict have not yet healed. The conflict
produced not only the forced displacement of over 1.5 million people, the majority of them
indigenous, but also extrajudicial executions and the enforced disappearances of more than
200,000 people, 83 per cent of them Maya. Although the Commission for Historical
Clarification concluded that State and paramilitary groups were responsible for about 93
per cent of violations, virtually no one has been held accountable.
99.
As regards action against impunity, the Special Rapporteur considers that an
important step forward was taken in 2016 with the conviction of two former soldiers in the
Sepur Zarco case for the murder, rape and sexual enslavement of Q’eqchi’ women during
the armed conflict, but the compensation measures awarded under the judgment are still
awaiting implementation. The Special Rapporteur also recognizes the importance of the
convictions on 23 May 2018 in the Molina Theissen case for crimes of torture, sexual
violence and enforced disappearance committed in 1981.
100. In other key cases, especially in the Ixil genocide case and the so-called
CREOMPAZ case, proceedings were repeatedly held up as a result of delaying tactics, such
as abusive applications for amparo. The Special Rapporteur met victims of these and other
cases involving massacres and serious violations, who told her of their suffering and
humiliation, aggravated by the State’s failure to take responsibility and provide redress. The
National Compensation Programme should carry out its mandate to provide individual and
collective redress for victims of violations committed during the internal armed conflict. It
is a matter of concern that the Programme lacks a proper budget, trained human resources,
clear internal guidelines and a victim-centred focus on providing redress.
V. Conclusions and recommendations
101. The situation of the Maya, Xinka and Garifuna peoples of Guatemala centres
on the fact that they suffer from serious historical and structural problems that
prevent them from enjoying their individual and collective human rights, particularly
the racism and discrimination that permeate every aspect of the country’s life.
Impunity, corruption, institutional weakness and extreme economic and social
inequality are all factors in the problems that these peoples face. It is imperative that
the Government of Guatemala identify, confront and take action to resolve these
structural problems as a matter of urgency.
102. There are also persistent patterns of violence and repression that keep the
legacy of the internal armed conflict alive. The failure to implement the Peace
Agreements has prevented true reconciliation after the conflict and is the source of
many of the current violations of indigenous peoples’ rights in the country.
103.
The Special Rapporteur makes the following recommendations:
General considerations
(a)
The State should fully commit itself to the work against corruption and
impunity jointly carried out by the International Commission against Impunity in
Guatemala and the Public Prosecution Service. It is recommended that an
investigation be undertaken into the connections between corruption in the
registration and ownership of land and the expropriation of indigenous communities’
lands;
(b)
The right of the Xinka, Garifuna and Maya indigenous peoples of
Guatemala to self-identification should be respected. The State should support the
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