NAME OF MECHANISM

Commission for Historical Clarification (Comisión para el Esclarecimiento Histórico)

PERIOD OF OPERATION

February 1997 – February 1999

MANDATE AND OPERATIONS

Mandate: The Commission for Historical Clarification (CEH) was provided for in the United Nations-brokered 23 June 1994 peace agreement signed by the government and the Revolutionary National Unity of Guatemala (URNG). The commission’s aim was to investigate the human rights violations and acts of violence committed during the armed conflict, from 1960 to 1996. Its mandate did not allow it to name perpetrators.

Staff: The CEH consisted of three appointed members: two Guatemalans and a “moderator” appointed by the United Nations secretary-general who chaired the commission. German law professor Christian Tomuschat was appointed “moderator.”

RESOURCES

Guatemala: Memory of Silence [1999]
Guatemala: Memoria del Silencio [1999] (in Spanish)
Agreement on the Establishment of the Commission to Clarify Past Human Rights Violations and Acts of Violence that Have Caused the Guatemalan Population to Suffer [1994]
Accord for Firm and Lasting Peace [1996] (in Spanish)

RESULTS

The CEH released its final report in February 1999. The commission conducted 7,200 interviews with 11,000 individuals [USIP]. It reported that 200,000 people died in the conflict, and that 93 percent of human rights violations were committed by government forces while 3 percent were committed by guerrillas [AAAS | 2011]. It also reported that government forces targeted the indigenous Mayan community and, importantly, committed acts of genocide [USIP].

The commission made several recommendations in its report, including both financial and symbolic reparations for victims. It also called for respect for human rights and the democratic process and measures for countering the discrimination repeatedly aimed at Mayans [CEH | 1999].

A number of the CEH’s recommendations have not been implemented. Most perpetrators have not been prosecuted, partially due to the 1996 National Reconciliation Law, which offers perpetrators amnesty for political crimes except in the case of crimes of genocide, torture and forced disappearance [ICRC]. In addition, given its historical unreliability and service to the elite, Guatemalans have little faith in the ability of the criminal justice system to bring perpetrators to justice [Issues in Ethics | 1998]. The government has, however, established a national reparations programme, which has been distributing compensation payments, official apologies and other measures to victims [Washington Post | 6 May 2009].

BACKGROUND

The conflict in Guatemala, which began in 1960 and ended in the mid-1990s, was characterised by mass violence by government troops, including scorched earth campaigns, against rebel groups and civilians suspected of collaborating with these groups. Following a series of failed peace talks between the government and the rebels, the parties signed a United Nations-brokered peace agreement in 1994 that laid out plans for a truth commission.

SOURCES

[American Association for the Advancement of Science]
[International Committee of the Red Cross]
[Issues in Ethics | 1998]
[United States Institute of Peace]
[Washington Post | 6 May 2009]