Guatemala, July 25, 2011. "Impunity: Advances, Setbacks and Challenges" was the title of the forum where international representatives and Guatemalan authorities participated in the Second International Conference against Impunity in Guatemala: For Respect of Human Rights, Work Rights and Trade Union Rights.

The event was organized by the General Centre of Workers of Guatemala (CGTG), the Guatemalan Confederation of Trade Union Unity (CUSG), the Union of Guatemalan Workers (USITRAGUA) and the Movement of Workers of San Marcos (MTC). The aim of the Second Conference was to agree upon action plans to reduce impunity levels. International trade union organizations also participated in the event.

The forum "Impunity: Advances, Setbacks and Challenges" was attended by Francisco Javier Dall'Anese Ruiz, head of the International Commission against Impunity in Guatemala (CICIG); Alberto Brunori, representative of the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights; Claudia Paz y Paz, Attorney General of the Public Prosecutor's Office (MP); and Sergio Morales, Human Rights Ombudsman.

At the inauguration, José Pinzón, in representation of the four trade union organizations, expressed his support for the work of Commissioner Dall'Anese in fighting this scourge in Guatemala.

"We have seen CICIG become a thorn in the side of obscurantist forces—targeted by the Commission since the beginning of its mandate. The monsters have woken as a result of Mr. Dall'Anese pointing to the absence of appropriate justice," he said.

In consequence, he said that the "autonomous union movement joins civil society organizations in expressing support and solidarity for the work of CICIG and the Commissioner in our country [...] and we will continue to support him until the very end".

Lack of confidence in justice
In his address, the Commissioner declared that in conditions of impunity, a great lack of confidence in the system and judges is created: "If the police force and the Public Prosecutor's Office seek to work well, but judges do the opposite, impunity will never be overcome. Impunity will remain so long as judges continue to take the law into their own hands rather than enforcing it appropriately."

He stressed that judges have shown signs of impunity and judicial irresponsibility by rejecting photographic evidence demonstrating the manner in which a massacre had been committed and by doing the same with audit reports demonstrating the embezzlement of Guatemalan State funds.

"In a democracy, nobody is above the law and judges are also bound by the same rules. Judicial independence is clearly hampered by malfeasance of office, whereby judges issue rulings in breach of the law or based on false facts," he added.

"It is untrue that judges are untouchable or 'super officials' that are above the law. Nor are they free from being criticized for their actions. All public officials are subject to the scrutiny of the people and they must be accountable, because otherwise, a lack of transparency will ensue," he said.

He said that if judges did not accept criticism, there was no point in having oral and public hearings and the millions invested by the State of Guatemala to transform and increase the transparency of the judicial system would therefore have been spent in vain. Therefore, he stated that in a democratic system, citizens must seek to ensure their judges correctly enforce the law and also be able to trust that they will not bow to political and economic powers.

Alberto Brunori, representative of the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, said that there must be a genuine interest in fighting impunity and not prolonging it; therefore, work must be done to strengthen the justice system.

"Citizens are entitled to strictly scrutinize and freely and respectfully express their concerns regarding the actions of the justice system. Therefore, it must be noted that part of the CICIG mandate concerns the filing of administrative complaints against public officials that take actions to hinder the work of the Commission and perpetuate impunity," he said.

Attorney General Claudia Paz y Paz explained that when she took up her position at the Public Prosecutor's Office (MP), it was apparent that in order to reduce impunity levels, she would have to begin with the MP. Therefore, among other efforts, she ordered the dismissal of 15 chief prosecutors and created a prosecution office to deal with high impact cases.

"One of the main challenges for the MP is tackling organized crime—which creates high levels of violence, corruption and impunity in the country—and to do so, there must be good coordination with the Ministry of the Interior and CICIG," she said.

Sergio Morales, Human Rights Ombudsman, described impunity as a "monster with one thousand heads" that takes advantage of opportunities to reproduce itself throughout Guatemalan society.

"Impunity is a reality in Guatemala: each year, 275,000 crimes are committed; over the past three years, 22,000 people have been murdered; 13% of extortions are committed from within the country's prisons; and there is widespread corruption among public officials due to the infiltration of organized crime in the State," he said.

The forum participants concluded that the greatest challenge is unifying all sectors in the country to strengthen the justice system and, thereby, triumph over impunity.