XIII.          THE RIGHTS OF WOMEN

293.   In Chapter XIII of the Report on Guatemala, the Commission recognized the major progress the State had made in recent years in remedying problems of de facto and de jure discrimination. It did say, however, that the persistence of a number of anachronistic and unjustified legislative distinctions based on gender contravened the object and purpose of the positive new agenda that is being constructed.

294.   In the report the Commission analyzed the situation of such basic women’s rights as access to justice, labor, health, and gender violence. As a general conclusion, the Commission said that the quest of the State and civil society to ensure that women were able to fully exercise their rights required meeting two further priority challenges. First, the administration of justice must be made more available and effective for women seeking the protection of basic rights. Second, the positive norms that have been adopted to safeguard the rights of women must be translated into concrete action through the establishment and strengthening of the necessary policies, programs, and services.

295.   With regard to the rights of women, the Commission recommended that the State:

1.     Take the steps necessary to carry out a comprehensive review of national legislation to continue the process of identifying provisions which establish unjustified distinctions based on gender.

2.     Adopt the legislative and other measures necessary to advance without delay in the process of modifying or eliminating provisions, such as those discussed above, already identified as discriminatory.

3.     Devote specific attention to the barriers in law and in fact that impede women’s access to effective judicial remedies and protection, particularly in the area of violence against women, within the framework of ongoing efforts to strengthen the administration of justice.

4.     Establish the necessary mechanisms of coordination, technical assistance, training, monitoring, and evaluation to ensure that the perspective of gender is incorporated in the design and execution of all spheres of law and policy; this should include amplifying existing mechanisms for the participation of civil society in the formulation and implementation of State initiatives affecting the rights of women.

5.     Ensure the allocation of sufficient human and material resources to the entities, such as the National Office of Women, the Office of the Defender of Indigenous Women, the Office of the Defender of Women’s Human Rights of the Ombudsman, and the Presidential Secretariat of Women, tasked with special responsibility for the protection of the rights of women.

6.      Strengthen strategies to ensure that girls have equal access to primary education, and to support the completion of primary school as a minimum standard, and to provide girls and women equal access to secondary education, and technical and professional training.

7.     Design and implement educational initiatives for people of all ages, with a view to changing stereotypes and beginning to modify practices based on the idea of inferiority or subordination of women.

8.     Strengthen labor legislation and labor inspection services to protect the right of women to just, equitable and healthy conditions of work; to ensure equity in pay and benefits; and, in particular, to safeguard the rights of women and girls employed in domestic work.

9.     Adopt additional steps to provide integral health services, including the provision of modern family planning services, in order to protect the right of women to personal integrity, and the right of couples to determine the number and spacing of children.

10.   Ensure that the impact and consequences of the acts of violence committed against women during the armed conflict are adequately reflected in the design and execution of the national reparation plan and other measures of reparation and rehabilitation.

11.    Further develop the system for registering complaints of violence against women to ensure the adequacy of the form used to collect information and the availability of accurate data for the design of effective responses.

12.   Invest additional human and material resources in education initiatives designed to inform the public about the causes, nature, and consequences of gender violence, most especially intrafamilial violence, and to inform girls and women of their right to be free from violence and the measures available to protect that right; such initiatives should include information about the terms of the Law on the Prevention, Punishment, and Eradication of Intrafamilial Violence and the Convention of Belém do Pará.

13.   Intensify and amplify existing efforts to train officials, particularly those within the National Civil Police and Public Prosecutor’s Office responsible for receiving complaints, in the causes, nature, and consequences of gender violence, with a view to increasing the sensitivity and efficacy of their response to victims.

14.    Guarantee the availability and effective implementation of judicial measures to protect women who have been subject to or threatened with violence.

15.    Provide additional training, technical assistance, material resources and oversight to the entities responsible – the National Civil Police, Office of the Public Prosecutor, technical personnel such as forensic specialists, and the judiciary–to ensure that cases concerning violence against women are investigated, prosecuted, and punished in accordance with the standard of due diligence of the American Convention and Convention of Belém do Pará.

Review of National Legislation

296.   As regards the first recommendation in Chapter IX–the need for a comprehensive review of national legislation to continue the process of identifying provisions that establish unjustified distinctions based on gender–the IACHR has received information indicating that the measures necessary for such an exhaustive review of Guatemalan law have not been adopted, principally because of a lack of willingness of part of the decision-makers. Consequently, the Commission urges the State to comply with that recommendation immediately.

297.   With regard to the draft legislation to prevent and punish sexual harassment, the State noted that the preliminary bill was being studied and analyzed after a new version had been issued.

Legislative Measures to Modify or Eliminate Discriminatory Provisions

298.   With respect to the second recommendation–the adoption of legislative and other measures necessary to advance without delay in the process of modifying or eliminating provisions, such as those discussed above, already identified as discriminatory–on September 11, 2002, the Guatemalan Congress issued Decree 57-2002, modifying Article 220-bis of the Criminal Code, which deals with discrimination. This article defines the crime of discrimination and imposes prison terms and fines on anyone who incurs in discrimination that hinders or prevents a person, group of persons, or associations the enjoyment of a legally established right, including customary rights, and it rules that discrimination on language, cultural, or ethnic grounds shall be considered an aggravating factor in the crime committed, for any person who disseminates, supports, or encourages discriminatory ideas; when the action is by a public employee or official in the exercise of that position; and when the action is by a private citizen while providing a public service. The Commission recognizes the importance of the amendment of this article. However, it points out that although it defines the crime of discrimination, the task of eliminating the discriminatory provisions still remains pending.

Access to Justice in Cases of Violence against Women

299.   With reference to the third recommendation in Chapter IX, which proposes devoting specific attention to the barriers in law and in fact that impede women’s access to effective judicial remedies and protection, the State reported that work was underway with the first report of the Defense Office for Indigenous Women on the prevailing situation among Guatemala’s indigenous women.

          300.   In its comments on this follow-up report, the State said that it has been working in this area to ensure women increased access to the resources of judicial protection, particularly in cases involving violence against women.

301.   It also noted that the PNC’s gender office had begun operations, in compliance with the Work Plan established to promote gender equality measures within the police. It also reported the creation of an office for women within the Indigenous Development Fund. However, the Commission was told that although offices have been opened up within the Public Prosecution Service, they neither facilitate nor strengthen women’s access to justice. The information indicates that the judicial officials’ efforts are aimed more at detecting shortcomings in formalities than at finding solutions to controversies, thus causing the delays in the administration of justice that are only too familiar.

302.   The Commission would like to emphasize once again the importance of facilitating access to justice by women, particularly in cases involving violence, as required by Article 7 of the Convention de Belém do Pará. Similarly, information that has reached the Commission indicates that no steps have been taken to guarantee a reduction in the acts of violence committed against women. At present, violence toward women has increased: rapes, incest, and murder.

Gender Awareness

303.   Regarding compliance with the IACHR’s fourth recommendation in Chapter IX–establishing the necessary mechanisms of coordination, technical assistance, training, monitoring, and evaluation to ensure that the perspective of gender is incorporated in the design and execution of all spheres of law and policy, with the expansion of existing mechanisms for allowing civil society to participate in the formulation and implementation of State initiatives affecting the rights of women–the State reported that it had carried out a consensus-building exercise with civil society organizations with a view toward defining the National Policy for the Promotion and Development of Guatemalan women and the Equal Opportunities Plan for 2001-2006.

304.   This Policy and Plan contain a general set of measures, programs, and projects, to be implemented by the agencies of the State responsible for the integral development of Guatemalan women under conditions of true equality.

305.   The Consultative Council of Women, set up by the Presidential Secretariat for Women, has the task of coordinating activities to promote women at the interinstitutional level. In connection with this, the Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock, and Food conducted an internal program of training, intended to respond to the specific demands regarding gender issues. The Ministry is also working in close conjunction with the Presidential Secretariat for Women on creating and/or strengthening Gender Units within other ministries.

306.   The State also reported that the National Public Administration Institute has launched a gender equality training program for government officials, which will help boost understanding of the importance of including gender awareness in public policies.

307.   With respect to information systems, an agreement was reached with the National Statistics Institute (INE) to improve data breakdown in terms of sex.

308.   With reference to participation by civil society, the Commission commends the positive exercise conducted to secure passage of the Social Development Law and the Development and Population Policy, an effort that involved representatives of both civil society and the government.

Strengthening Protection Agencies

309.   As regards the fifth recommendation–ensuring the allocation of sufficient human and material resources to entities such as the National Office of Women, the Defense Office for Indigenous Women, the ombudsman’s Women’s Defense Office, and the Presidential Secretariat for Women, all of which have special responsibility for protecting the rights of women–there is no information regarding the State’s implementation of this recommendation.

Access to Education

310.   With respect to the sixth recommendation, the State reported that it has made proposals for educational reform, including amended curricula; similarly, in conjunction with the Secretariat for Social Projects, the First Lady facilitated access to primary, secondary, diversified, and university education for 3,785 women from 14 departments by means of basic literacy programs, access to accelerated learning efforts, and participation in distance-learning projects by funding enrollment fees and paying for purchases of school supplies. However, the IACHR has been informed that no steps have been taken to guarantee girls and women equal access to secondary education or technical and professional training.

311.   In its comments on the follow-up report, the State said that among its education initiatives for people of all ages, a method was proposed to the National Literacy Council (CONALFA) for literacy training for women, using reproductive health texts. Within the Education Reform Commission, after a proposal was submitted, it was agreed to create a Gender Commission, responsible for implementing gender awareness. The State also reported that the Defense Office for Indigenous Women had conducted a series of workshops with young people to inform and educate them about human rights and about the enforcement of the international human rights instruments that Guatemala has ratified; and that the National Institute for Technical and Productive Training (INTECAP) provided education programs directed at the demands expressed by the public in different regions of the country. The State specified that the training programs most frequently requested by the indigenous population were those dealing with the agricultural sector, the textile industry, and the foodstuffs business.

312.   In its comments on the follow-up report, the State said that INTECAP was keeping statistics indicating the ethnic origin and gender of the participants in promotional programs.

313.   As regards the seventh recommendation the design and implementation of educational initiatives for people of all ages, with a view to changing stereotypes and beginning to modify practices based on the idea of women’s inferiority or their subordination–the Commission noted with satisfaction that the Social Development Law addresses a change in those stereotypes.

Labor Laws

314.   Regarding the eighth recommendation–which proposes strengthening labor legislation and labor inspection services to protect the right of women to just, equitable, and healthy working conditions, ensuring equity in pay and benefits, and in particular, safeguarding the rights of women and girls employed in domestic service–the State reported that the proposed amendments to the Labor Code to include the notion of equality between men and women was still being discussed by different sectors of civil society. SEPREM, SEPAZ, MINTRAS, and ONAM, in conjunction with the female members of Congress, are preparing a negotiating strategy for approval.

Health

315.   With reference to the ninth recommendation, dealing with integral health services, the Commission notes with satisfaction that the Guatemalan Congress passed the Social Development Law, which, in its provisions on family planning, contains a sexual and reproductive program run by the Ministry of Health. One of its achievements is that it guarantees the right of couples to decide the number of their children and timing of their births, and it also treats single parents and women as families.

Reparation and Rehabilitation

316.   Regarding the tenth recommendation–aimed at ensuring that the impact and consequences of the acts of violence committed against women during the armed conflict are adequately reflected in the design and execution of the national reparation plan and other measures of reparation and rehabilitation–the Commission believes that it is positive that the National Redress Program (PNR) provides particular attention for victims of sexual violence who so request, in accordance with their specific needs. Equally commendable is that it will coordinate with other government agencies and civil society on policies aimed at providing permanent attention for victims of sexual violence.

Single Register of Complaints

317.   With respect to the eleventh recommendation–further developing the system for registering complaints of violence against women to ensure the adequacy of the single form used to collect information and the availability of accurate data for the design of effective responses–the State has provided no information. The information available indicates that not many people are familiar with the single form used to report violence against women. The existing system has not guaranteed the collection of precise information, which hinders coordination among the different organizations involved.

318.   In its comments on this follow-up report, with respect to the registering of complaints alleging violence against women, the State reported that it had introduced the use of the single form in order to record cases before different legal bodies. When a woman lodges a complaint with a competent body, she fills out the form, which is then classified immediately. The procedures established by law are then followed, either the issuing of security measures or determining whether a crime or misdemeanor occurred.

Domestic Violence

319.   In response to the twelfth recommendation, which addresses the issue of domestic violence, the State reported that it had enacted the regulations for its Law to Prevent, Punish, and Eradicate Intrafamilial Violence and had set up the National Coordinating Office to Prevent, Punish, and Eradicate Violence in the Family and Against Women (CONAPREVI). The Commission commends the work of the agency charged with pursuing public policies in the field of domestic violence. However, the Commission has received reports that the number of complaints lodged about acts of violence has been increasing from year to year.

320.   With respect to raising awareness about the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women, the State reported that it was working, in conjunction with SEPREM, the Defense Office for Indigenous Women, and the Women’s Forum, on a Dissemination Plan. Similar combined efforts are taken place for disseminating the optional protocol to the Convention, which was ratified by Guatemala in 2001. As part of the dissemination effort, a popularly accessible version of the optional protocol to the CEDAW is being designed.

321.   The Commission has also been informed that several government agencies provide support of different kinds to women who have suffered violence. However, the Commission has no information indicating whether additional human and material resources have been invested in dissemination initiatives and educational campaigns about gender-based violence, including its domestic and intrafamilial varieties.

Training

322.   With regard to the thirteenth recommendation, aimed at expanding efforts to train officials about gender violence issues, the State reported that the General Directorate of the PNC ordered the creation of a Gender Equality Office within the PNC, with the task of incorporating and promoting gender awareness internally within the institution and in the services it provides. In pursuit of its mission, it renders service, training, and support functions, it provides follow-up, coordination, and representation, and it is preparing a study into the gender equality situation within the PNC. Other activities reported by the State include the holding of workshops with the support of organizations such as IEPADES, and joint projects carried out with the Women’s Defense Office and the Women’s Forum.

323.   However, the Commission has received information indicating that the specific training about violence against women is scarce and sporadic. The Commission believes that in order to generate a new culture regarding gender equality, the State must invest resources in a training program with broad coverage.

Judicial Protection

324.   With respect to the fourteenth recommendation, which deals with judicial measures for protecting women who have been subject to or threatened with violence, the Commission has been informed that even though progress has taken place on paper, the laws are not enforced. Congress must issue clear procedural rules for addressing cases involving gender-based violence against women.

325.   As regards the final recommendation–additional training, technical assistance, material resources, and oversight for the entities responsible for investigating and punishing cases of violence against women–in its comments on this follow-up report the State reported the existence of a Gender Equality Office within the PNC. Among the office’s activities, the State referred to the training given to the rank-and-file and to junior and senior officers on matters of domestic violence and gender equality. In addition, the study curriculum at the National Civil Police Academy includes courses on domestic violence and gender equality.

326.   The State also reported that the Defense Office for Indigenous Women had trained women leaders in the department of Huehuetenango and, in addition, carried out the following: dissemination of the National Policy for the Promotion and Development of Guatemalan Women and the Equal Opportunities Plan for 2001-2006; promotion and dissemination of the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women and its enforcement; inclusion in legal amendments of the commitment of achieving equality between women and men within State agencies at the local, municipal, departmental, regional, and national levels; adoption of measures to guarantee women full participation and representation in all spheres of endeavor; promotion of a range of programs based on observing conventions, treaties, agreements, and international conference resolutions on the matter of women’s universal human rights, the plans of actions handed down by summits and international conferences, and peace agreements.

327.   The State also reported the Ministry of Labor and Social Prevision’s creation of its Department for the Promotion of Working Women, as an agency of the General Directorate of Social Prevision, by means of Ministerial Agreement No. 11-94 of March 3, 1994, within the framework of the country’s laws and the international conventions ratified by Guatemala dealing with the elimination of job discrimination against women.

328.   According to its purposes and functions, this Department, in conjunction with the General Inspectorate of Labor, coordinates advisory and oversight services connected with the labor rights of working women. During 2002 it held seven workshops and eight clinics with labor inspectors of both sexes in seven regions covered by the Ministry of Labor and Social Prevision. The topics for these events were gender equality in labor relations and the enforcement and interpretation of women workers’ labor rights as set forth in domestic labor laws. A total of 160 male and 92 female inspectors attended, giving a total of 252 participants in all.

329.   In July 2002, the Department of Working Women also began systematizing the complaints of labor law violations submitted to the General Labor Inspectorate by women workers in the maquiladora sector. Complaints were filed against an average of 110 companies a month; 38 companies were identified as repeat offenders, and these have been investigated, brought into line, and given a reasonable amount of time to comply with the recommendations served on them by the inspectors.

XIV.         THE HUMAN RIGHTS OF THOSE UPROOTED BY THE ARMED CONFLICT

330.   In Chapter XIV of the Fifth Report on Guatemala, the Commission determined that the Resettlement Agreement had been implemented partially and that there was still much work to be done with regard to the basic rights and needs of this sector of the population. The Commission’s analysis concluded that some of the outstanding commitments were resource-based, requiring an additional investment of capital and technical support, and that in contrast, others were systemic, requiring the exercise of political will and action to overcome long-standing deficiencies, such as the absence of systems to accurately register and confirm land title, to effectively resolve land disputes, and to design and implement comprehensive policies to overcome extreme poverty through sustainable, integral, participatory development.

331.   With reference to the human rights of those uprooted by the armed conflict, the Commission offered the State the following recommendations:

1.     Allocate to the public institutions assigned to implement aspects of the Resettlement Agreement the human and material resources necessary for the effective discharge of their mandates, and, in particular, that it strengthen the Technical Committee created to coordinate and facilitate the terms of the Agreement.

2.     Take the budgetary, administrative, and other steps necessary to complete the process to purchase land for the uprooted population.

3.     Adopt further measures, including the allocation of the necessary human and material support, to facilitate the legalization of land titles and resolution of ongoing legal disputes over the ownership of land.

4.     Take additional measures–in accordance with the commitment of the Resettlement Agreement to give priority attention to female-headed households, and the terms of the Law of the Social Fund–to support the right of women to own land, and to co-own land with their husbands or partners, including through measures to train officials working in this sphere, and to promote knowledge of and respect for this right among local populations. In order for this right to be exercised effectively, the State should strengthen efforts to provide women with access to credit and development projects.

5.     Develop a comprehensive, long-term, integral sustainable development policy within which the specific needs of different communities can be addressed, and amplify the integration, coverage, and depth of development projects and programs, with additional attention to advisory services and technical training. This should also include encouraging non-agricultural employment alternatives in areas of low agricultural productivity.

6.     In connection with the preceeding recommendation, adopt the concrete measures and procedures to implement the commitment of the Agreement on Resettlement that population groups uprooted in connection with the conflict shall participate in decision-making in the design, implementation and oversight of the policies and projects that affect them, at the local, regional, and national levels. In this regard, effective participation necessarily requires the dissemination of adequate information to be used in the taking of decisions.

7.     Devote special attention to amplifying the coverage and enriching the content of education and health services for this population, continuing to prioritize the need for primary education and health care, and the need for bilingual education in indigenous communities.

8.     Provide additional resources for the creation of basic infrastructure so that all communities have access, at a minimum, to potable water and sanitary facilities sufficient for the protection of health, and for advancing the provision of housing assistance, as well as the installation of access roads, electricity, and communications infrastructure.

9.     Take the legislative and other steps necessary to prolong the application of the Special Temporary Law on Personal Documentation, and intensify efforts under the National Plan for Personal Documentation to ensure that all members of the population uprooted by the conflict can obtain identity documents.

10.   Continue the collaboration of the Congress, OAS, and Volunteer Firefighters to ensure the completion of demining efforts.

332.   The Commission’s recommendations on the matter at hand were intended to emphasize the need for implementing short- and medium-term measures for land purchases and for the reintegration and development of those Guatemalans who had been uprooted or demobilized.

333.   More than 5,000 property deeds have been handed out in the municipality of Gomera and in Guanagazapa, Escuintla; San Pedro Carchá, Alta Verapaz; and the village of San Román, La Libertad municipality, Petén. This provides the new inhabitants with legal certainty regarding their tenure of the land.

334.   The State has sent the Commission information on the land grants that the government has been offering, as compensation, to uprooted and demobilized individuals. It reports that FONAPAZ bought property that benefited 71 families as compensation for uprootings and demobilizations. Thus, deeds to the Claudia Estate and its associated land, comprising five rural properties, were awarded to the Santiago Ixcán Former Smallholders Group, on an individual basis for each of the members. It also reports that the deeds to the property known as Lot No. 30-A, located in Petén, were issued on behalf of the La Quetzal Estate Overflow Group.

335.   Similarly, in its comments the State reported that in September 2002, FONAPAZ purchased and handed over five estates in the departments of Petén, Escuintla, and Suchitepéquez, benefiting 150 families (900 individuals) and allowing the recipients to resettle and begin the productive integration of their families. The State indicated that FONAPAZ’s investment totals Q26,298,848.

          336.   The information provided by the State notwithstanding, the Commission has seen no progress as regards budgetary measures for completing the land acquisition program, which has not yet been finalized as the government promised. In addition, the Commission notes with concern that as of the date of its report, the government had not taken the legal measures necessary to resolve the conflicts of land ownership and use.

337.   In its comments the State reported that it had taken into account the budgetary measures for dealing with the issue and, most particularly, it had strengthened the institutions responsible for the matter. At the same time, it has created agencies such as the Presidential Unit for Conflict Resolution, which has helped resolve many cases involving land disputes, thereby benefiting various indigenous communities.

          338.   The Commission recognizes that the government must pay particular attention to displacements in Guatemala, with a view toward restoring the rights that sector of the population were denied. In light of this, the IACHR urges the State to enforce, in full, the recommendations made by the Commission in numbers 1, 2, and 3 of its Fifth Report.

339.   The State reported that it had, to the best of its abilities, provided the resettled communities with necessary services, including drinking water, sanitation, roadways, electricity, and communications.

          340.   The Commission notes that there has been no significant progress in complying with the fourth recommendation. From the analysis of the government’s reports regarding gender issues, the Commission sees that the recommendations set forth in that section were not put into practice.

          341.   The Commission would like to point out again that the phenomenon of the uprooted population entails several crosscutting issues. The State must see that the compensation process for uprooted families cannot be divorced from a policy of integral, sustainable, and participatory rural development, provision of resources, access to such basic services as education, health, and basic infrastructure (drinking water, sanitation, roads, electricity, and communications).

          342.   The Commission thus once again urges the State, in compliance with the recommendations set forth in numbers 5, 6, 7, and 8 of the Report, to design a global policy for sustainable, integral, long-term development that pays due attention to the particular characteristics of the displaced communities.

343.   As regards the seventh recommendation, in its comments on this follow-up report the State said that in response to the commitments acquired under the Peace Accords and the Specific Plan for Attending to Uprooted Populations, those sectors that were victims during the armed conflict were given the opportunity to enter the national education system during 2002. To do this, training programs for education promoters and standardization programs were carried out; rural bilingual teachers at the preschool, primary, and secondary school levels were given training; ten thousand scholarships were awarded to the children of uprooted families; seven schools were built specifically for their communities; school breakfasts were distributed to 95 percent of preschool and primary pupils; and 65 percent received school supplies.

          344.   Regarding the adoption of measures to improve personal documentation, dealt with in the ninth recommendation, the Commission notes that unfortunately the State has not taken the steps necessary to ensure that all members of the uprooted population can obtain identity documents.

345.   Similarly, the Commission points out the importance of the State paying due attention to the recommendations made by the Commission in its last Report regarding the conclusion of the demining effort.  

[ Table of Contents | Previous | Next ]