IACHR TO GIVE PRESIDENT OSCAR BERGER A REPORT ENTITLED

JUSTICE AND SOCIAL INCLUSION: THE CHALLENGES OF DEMOCRACY

IN GUATEMALA

The Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) is to present its report entitled Justice and Social Inclusion: The Challenges facing Democracy in Guatemala to President Oscar Berger in a public ceremony to be held in the National Palace in Guatemala at 10:30 a.m., local time, on March 22. The IACHR delegation will comprise Susana Villarán, Commission and Rapporteur for Guatemala, and Santiago A. Canton, Executive Secretary of the Commission.

Following the ceremony, the Commission representatives will hold a series of talks with high-level authorities in the different branches of the Guatemalan government, including the Vice President of the Republic, the Minister of Foreign Affairs, the Minister of the Interior, the Presidents of Congress, the Supreme Court of Justice, the Constitutionality Court, and the Presidential Commission to Coordinate Government Policy with respect to Human Rights, the Presidential Commissioner for Security, the Attorney General and the State’s Attorney for Human Rights. The Commission will also meet with representatives of civil society organizations.

The IACHR report analyzes the current state of administration of justice and the rule of law in Guatemala and makes recommendations to the Guatemalan State. The seven chapters examine issues such as access to justice, security for citizens, the current status of freedom of expression, and the status of human rights defenders, indigenous people, women and children.

The IACHR, which is a specialized organ of the Organization of American States (OAS) drew up the report on the basis of information culled before, during, and after an on-site visit to Guatemala from March 24 to 29, 2003, carried out in response to an invitation from the Government of Guatemala. During that visit, the IACHR met with numerous authorities in the different branches of government and representatives of civil society and received information and testimony regarding the human rights situation in all regions of the country.

Washington, D.C., March 19, 2004