E/CN.4/2005/18/Add.2 page 10 18. At the institutional level, Guatemala has several bodies devoted to the promotion and protection of human rights. The most important are the Presidential Human Rights Commission, the Presidential Commission on Discrimination and Racism against Indigenous Peoples, the Office of the Human Rights Procurator and the Office for the Defence of Indigenous Women. 19. The Presidential Human Rights Commission was established in 1991 to coordinate government policy on human rights. It supports the various ministries in formulating and implementing measures to protect human rights and may submit to the Government draft laws designed to improve the protection of human rights. It centralizes the collection of data on complaints of human rights violations and maintains channels of communication and cooperation with the judicial system and the Human Rights Procurator to follow up such complaints. It is also responsible for coordinating the drafting of Guatemala’s periodic reports to the bodies monitoring the human rights treaties to which Guatemala is a party. The Commission has seven regional offices, which bring it closer to the people. 20. The Presidential Commission on Discrimination and Racism against Indigenous Peoples (CODISRA) is the prime institution for combating racial discrimination. It was established in October 2002, and its task is to: advise and support the different State institutions and departments and private-sector enterprises in drawing up policies and setting up mechanisms to combat racial discrimination; formulate public policies guaranteeing non-discrimination; act as a link between indigenous peoples’ organizations and the Government in matters of racial discrimination; keep a record of the cases of racial discrimination brought to its attention and forward them to the relevant institutions; and launch campaigns against racial discrimination. Although it is linked to the executive, CODISRA is an offshoot of Guatemalan civil society, and is made up of representatives of the Mayan, Xinca and Garifuna peoples. However, its members believe that its effectiveness is limited by the shortage of funding, its statutory inability to rule on the cases of discrimination referred to it and its inability to bring actions against the relevant State bodies. They believe that a broadening of its mandate would give it greater credibility among the population groups concerned. 21. The Office for the Defence of Indigenous Women, which was set up in 1999, is the institution responsible for defending the human rights of indigenous women. Its main task is to propose solutions to the problem of the extreme vulnerability of indigenous women in Guatemalan society. It promotes and develops, in cooperation with governmental and non-governmental bodies, action, public policy proposals, action plans and programmes for the prevention and elimination of all forms of violence and discrimination against women. The Office is also responsible for receiving complaints and reports of violations of women’s rights and forwarding them to the competent authorities, and for counselling women who have been subjected to violence, ill-treatment, discrimination or sexual harassment. 22. The Constitution also established the post of Human Rights Procurator (arts. 273-275), who is a judge appointed by Congress to promote and ensure that the State respects human rights, report and investigate State actions that violate human rights, respond to individual complaints of human rights violations by investigating them and taking out prosecutions, and recommend remedial measures to be taken by the authorities to ensure respect for and the protection of human rights.