UNITED NATIONS CERD International Convention On the Elimination Of all Forms of Racial Discrimination Distr. GENERAL CERD/C/GTM/CO/11 15 May 2006 Original: ENGLISH and SPANISH COMMITTEE ON THE ELIMINATION OF RACIAL DISCRIMINATION Sixty-eighth session 20 February-10 March 2006 CONSIDERATION OF REPORTS SUBMITTED BY STATES PARTIES UNDER ARTICLE 9 OF THE CONVENTION Concluding observations of the Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination GUATEMALA 1. The Committee considered the eighth to eleventh periodic reports of Guatemala, due respectively on 17 February 1998, 2000, 2002 and 2004 and submitted as one document (CERD/C/469/Add.1), at its 1739th and 1740th meetings (CERD/C/SR.1739 and 1740), held on 24 and 27 February 2006. At its 1756th and 1757th meeting, held on 9 March 2006, the Committee adopted the following concluding observations. A. Introduction 2. The Committee welcomes the report submitted by the State party and expresses its satisfaction at the resumption of a constructive dialogue with Guatemala. While the Committee appreciates that the delegation was composed of members of the Presidential Commission on Discrimination and Racism against Indigenous Peoples in Guatemala (CODISRA), it notes that it did not include representatives of the State party’s Ministries. 3. The Committee, noting that it received the report after a delay of seven years, invites the State party to respect the timetable set by the Committee for the submission of its future reports. B. Positive aspects 4. The Committee welcomes the establishment of the Presidential Commission on Discrimination and Racism against Indigenous Peoples in Guatemala (CODISRA), and the Office for the Defence of Indigenous Women’s Rights within the Presidential Human Rights Commission. 5. The Committee welcomes the promulgation of the Framework Law concerning the Peace Agreements by which the Peace Agreements, and in particular the Agreement on Identity and Rights of Indigenous Peoples, become binding on the State. GE.06-42036