PRESS RELEASE 011
CICIG HEARING BEFORE THE INTER-AMERICAN COMMISSION ON HUMAN RIGHTS OF THE OAS
Watch the video of the hearing:
http://www.oas.org/en/media_center/videos.asp?sCodigo=09-0286&videotype=&sCollectionDetVideo=2
Date: 06 November 2009
Time: 8:00 a.m. Guatemala / 10:00 a.m. Washington
Guatemala, 04 November 2009. This Friday, 6 November, CICIG Commissioner Carlos Castresana Fernandez, will introduce a report on the two years of CICIG activities in Guatemala at a General Hearing of the Inter American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR-OAS) in Washington, DC, as under the Agreement between the United Nations Organization and the Government of the Republic of Guatemala.
CICIG considers it appropriate to submit this report before the Commission in accordance with the emphasis on respect for Human Rights that supported the creation of this Commission as well as their implementation and enforcement. The report focuses on 4 key areas:
- The background for the establishment of CICIG in Guatemala.
- Some criminal investigation activities and processes carried out by CICIG in support of the Public Prosecutor’s Office.
- Report on legal reform proposals CICIG has made to Congress.
- CICIG participation in the process of electing judges to the Supreme Appellate Courts.
On these topics, CICIG will submit a written report to the Honorable Inter-American Commission on Human Rights for its respective transfer to the State of Guatemala, whose representatives will participate in the hearing. This hearing will be held at 9:00 am this Friday, 6 Novembe,r in the Rubén Darío Room, GSB Building, in Washington, DC.
INFORMATION FOR EDITORS:
You may access this report at www.cicig.org eon Friday, 6 November, at 9:30 in the morning.
The OAS will make an audio recording of this hearing and upload it to its website 30 minutes after the end of the session. It will also be published in www.cicig.org
For more information in Spanish, contact the Director of the Press and Information Office of the IACHR, Maria Isabel Rivero, telephone (202) 458-3867, or e-mail mrivero@oas.org
You may find the date and name of the hearing at the following OAS address:
http://www.cidh.oas.org/prensa/publichearings/Hearings.aspx?Lang=ES&Session=117&page=2
The following URL takes you directly to the audio of this hearing after the OAS uploads it to its website:
http://www.cidh.org/audiencias/137/46.mp3
More information:
Diego Alvarez
CICIG Chief of Press
IMPORTANT INFORMATION TAKEN FROM: http://www.cidh.org/Prensa/pautascoberturaaudienciasSPAN.htm
Audio: The audio recordings of all public hearings will be posted on the website of the IACHR, www.cidh.org, the day the hearing is conducted. Radio stations are licensed to broadcast the hearings while crediting the OAS. (Click here to go directly to the page where you will find the audio)
Languages: Please note that participants in the hearings may speak any of the four official languages of the OAS: English, French, Portuguese and Spanish. The videos and audio recordings contain the original speakers’ voices, so it is possible that statements in different languages may be heard at a hearing.
Photographs: High-resolution photographs of sessions and public hearings are published. The media are allowed to reproduce them by crediting the OAS.(Click here to access the page where the pictures may be found).
Media: Media representatives need not be previously accredited to cover public hearings. Journalists are allowed to attend hearings and use recorders and laptops as long as this does not interfere with the normal conduct of the hearing. You are asked to turn off cell phones before entering the room.
Cameras: Photographers and cameramen are allowed to film and photograph during the first five minutes of the hearing. Access will be denied once the hearing starts. For those wishing to film the full hearing, the rules vary depending on the room where it is held. In the Padilha Vidal Room, the cameras must be connected to the OAS console. Filming permits for the Rubén Darío Room, should be obtained in advance through the IACHR Press Office (see contact details below).
Connections:The console of the OAS has XLR audio connectors and BNC video. Media wishing to film the hearrings through this system are invited to come into the room at least 15 minutes prior to the start time of the hearing to prepare the equipment.
Special service for television: Television media based outside Washington, DC wishing to obtain footage of a hearing held the same day may receive a selection of three minutes of uncut video footage online using the OAS FTP server. For more information on this service please contact Martin Ribeiro, by telephone at (202) 458-3680, by e-mail at mribeiro@oas.org.
Press contact: For any questions and to arrange interviews, please contact María Isabel Rivero, Head of the IACHR Press and Information Office by phone at (202) 458-3867 or by e-mail at mrivero@oas.org
The Republic of Guatemala, a mountainous country that lies in the Central American isthmus, has an estimated population of 13 million people.
