SPANISH AMBASSADOR: FIGHTING IMPUNITY IS POSSIBLE

Guatemala, March 1, 2010. Ambassador Díez-Orejas makes a second contribution to CICIG on behalf of the government of her country “at a time when we begin to hear criticism against the work done by CICIG as a result of the success of its investigations.”

Guatemala, March 1, 2010. María del Carmen Díez-Orejas, Ambassador of Spain, signed an agreement with the Resident Representative of the United Nations Development Program in Guatemala –UNDP-, René Mauricio Valdés and the Commissioner of the International Commissioner against Impunity in Guatemala –CICIG-, Carlos Castresana, for 3 million Euros to continue to fight impunity in the country. This new contribution supports the independence of CICIG in Guatemala.

Ambassador Díez-Orejas makes this second contribution on behalf of the government of her country “at a time when criticism begins to be heard against the work done by CICIG as a result of the success of its investigations”. She said that this is the right time for all the friends of the Guatemalan people and every Guatemalan committed to the fight against impunity to “publicly say that we are all committed in this struggle”.

She declared that “it is possible to fight impunity, and CICIG is proving it. The fight is possible with the will and the means and if all of you, all the Guatemalan people, support this battle without division; each to the best of your abilities.”

The Ambassador stated that Spain’s commitment is firm and therefore, even at a time of economic crisis, in a particularly difficult context for the country, the Spaniards made this second contribution to CICIG with a sense of solidarity “because we want to support the institutions’ and your efforts to rescue the justice system in this country”.

“Our aim is, –therefore- to strengthen the rule of law in Guatemala and its institutions. You should know that you can count on the support of friendly countries like Spain in this effort. We will continue to strive to make the work entrusted to the Commission possible and to attain the objective that we all yearn for” she concluded.

For his part, the United Nations Resident Representative René Mauricio Valdés, spoke on behalf of the Secretary General of the UN to express appreciation for CICIG’s work and asked the Ambassador to convey this appreciation to the Government of Spain for the cooperation that consolidates the close relationship between Spain and the United Nations.

Activities
UNDP is the agency that conducts the administrative-financial process of the Commission, a key task for its operation.

The results of the Commission’s work represent hope for the citizens that it is not only possible to combat impunity but that it is possible to defeat it too. CICIG is a temporary agency and therefore its aim is to strengthen national institutions. Work is being conducted jointly by the Public Prosecutor’s Office, the National Civilian Police and the Special Prosecutor’s Office for CICIG, which has led to important results obtained in several investigation activities.

CICIG provides technical assistance to restructure the National Witness Protection Program. Along those lines, support has been provided to train recently graduated police agents who make up the Program’s personal protection unit. CICIG also worked with the Public Prosecutor’s Office to write the Witness Protection Program Regulation, which changes the Program’s operational structure, defines the rights of witnesses and provides better housing conditions for protected witnesses.

El 24 de noviembre de 2008, el Acuerdo Interinstitucional para el Establecimiento y la Implementación del Sistema de Escuchas Telefónicas se firmó entre el Ministerio Público, el Ministerio de Gobernación y la CICIG. La Oficina del Coordinador ayudó al establecimiento del Centro de Monitoreo de Comunicaciones para interceptar comunicaciones y negociar los fondos, así como obtener los equipos necesarios. La CICIG colabora con el entrenamiento de oficiales a cargo de este Centro, el cual está dirigido por el Ministerio Público. El Sistema de Escuchas Telefónicas se encuentra en operación desde junio de 2009.

La Oficina del Coordinador de la Unidad Especial de Fiscalía Adscrita a la CICIG organizó varios cursos de capacitación para mejorar las capacidades investigativas de su personal y del Ministerio Público. Se realizaron esfuerzos dirigidos a otros fiscales y jueces.

El trabajo de CICIG en el área de propuestas de reforma legal tuvo como resultado la aprobación en el Congreso de tres piezas esenciales de la legislación: La Ley de Armas y Municiones, la Ley de Fortalecimiento de la Persecución Penal y la Ley de Competencia Penal en Procesos de Mayor Riesgo.