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* This document contains the 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 5th and 6th periodic reports due on 17 February 1986, 1988, 1990, 1992 and 1994 respectively. For Guatemala's initial report and the summary record of the meetings at which the Committee considered that report, see documents CERD/C/111/Add.2 and CERD/C/SR.686-687.
The information submitted by Guatemala in accordance with the consolidated guidelines for the initial part of the reports of States parties is contained in the basic document HRI/CORE/1/Add.47.
INTRODUCTION : 1 - 7
I. GENERAL : 8 - 84
A. Demography : 8 - 18
B. Social dynamics : 19 - 27
C. Education and training : 28 - 56
D. Housing situation : 57 - 59
E. Peasant movements and indigenous organizations : 60 - 84
II. INFORMATION RELATING TO ARTICLES 2 TO 7 OF THE CONVENTION : 85 - 134
Article 2 : 85 - 90
Article 3 : 91 - 95
Article 4 : 96 - 100
Article 5 : 101 - 126
Article 6 : 127 - 130
Article 7 : 131 - 134
Annex*: List of internal legislation mentioned in Part II of the report.
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* The annex is available for consultation in the Secretariat's files.
1. The State of Guatemala has been a signatory and Contracting Party to the International Convention on the Elimination of all Forms of Racial Discrimination since 18 January 1983 when the Convention entered into force.
2. On 15 February 1984, the State of Guatemala submitted to the Committee, through official channels, its initial report. The State of Guatemala has fallen behind with the preparation and submission of the periodic reports and is now submitting the first such report. This report consists of two parts structured as follows.
3. Part I presents information on the demographic aspects associated with the ethnic makeup of Guatemalan society, with a view to explaining the multicultural conditions which constitute the framework of national life in all its manifestations. It goes on to describe the social dynamics, with reference to the terms used to designate the various sectors of the Guatemalan population, and the trends among the groups of Mayan origin. Next, it examines the role of education and training in minimizing the ethnic contradictions which prevail among some sectors of the population. The report also includes an analysis of the structure and leadership of the peasant movements focussed on some of the most representative organizations. Finally, the first part concludes with a review of the indigenous organizations and presents percentage data for each department in which these organizations operate.
4. Part II relates to Articles 2 to 7 of the Convention. Each of these articles is compared analytically with the pertinent Guatemalan domestic legislation. In each case the comparison is followed by a commentary which attempts to reflect the present state of affairs as regards racial discrimination in Guatemala.
5. To be properly understood, the present situation in the State of Guatemala, with respect to racial discrimination, needs to be analyzed against the background of national historical development in its economic, social and political aspects.
6. The State of Guatemala undertakes, as from this day, to fulfil its obligations contracted at both national and international level, and to this end is promoting and implementing measures in all areas of government and society to ensure that human rights are respected and freely exercised, with a view to counteracting any possible manifestation of racial discrimination.
7. It only remains to add that, in its internal legislation, the State of Guatemala provides for the imposition of penalties on those who, as individuals or groups, encourage or foment racial discrimination.
8. In 1992, the population numbered 9,605,828, with the following ethnic composition: Ladino or Mestizo, 4,652,695 (48%); Mayan, 4,953,133 (52%).
9. The languages spoken in Guatemala are: Spanish (official); Mayan (21%); Garifuna (1%); Xinka (1%).
10. The population is distributed as follows:
11. The percentage ethnic distribution by department is as follows:
12. The age structure of the population in general is as follows:
15. The annual rate of population growth is 2.9%.
16. Life expectancy:
Female: 67.33 years
Male: 62.41 years
The masculinity ratio is 102% and the dependency ratio 96%.
17. The fertility rate by age group (1990-1995) per thousand women (Segeplan projection) is indicated below:
18. The migration rate by ethnic group is:
and by destination:
19. The terms ladino, mestizo, Indian, indigena, natural (native) and Mayan are used to distinguish between Guatemalans according to their physical and cultural characteristics.
20. The term "Ladino" was first employed during the colonial period. It was applied to all those who did not possess the characteristics of Indians or persons of Spanish extraction and were of less than noble rank. These people had neither privileges nor special responsibilities, with the result that they became marginalized. To survive, they had to live on their wits, which led to the Spanish calling them "ladino", meaning cunning. Although very poor, they always considered themselves superior to the Indians. The Ladinos were the product of intermarriage between Indians and Spaniards, Spaniards and Africans, Creoles and Indians and, in short, of the entire range of crosses possible during the colonial period. The most appropriate term for the Ladinos would be mestizo, since they are of mixed blood. However, this is not the normal usage in Guatemala.
21. "Indian" is a term of historical origin derived from the assumption that the New World corresponded to or was part of the West Indies.
22. The term indigena was used in Europe to designate people who were born or originated in the New World. It came into general use in America as a substitute for the word Indian, which has pejorative overtones.
23. The term natural (native) is used by members of groups of Mayan origin to refer to themselves; they do not use the terms "Indian" or "indigena".
24. The trend is now to use the term Mayan rather than Indian, natural or indigena, with a view to reinforcing a legitimate identity.
25. Indian and Ladino are contradictory terms. Traditionally, Indian is used by the Guatemalan people in a disparaging sense. The term Ladino is generally accepted.
26. Of the 4,953,133 people who make up the population of Mayan origin 3,072,984 or 31% of the country's total population are monolingual, communicating in their own language. The remaining 21% are bilingual, as a result of an endocultural process.
27. The population of Mayan ancestry is difficult to quantify. Different criteria have been used to define it: personal attire, first names and family names, the survey-maker's judgment, third-party assessment, the language criterion. The present report employs a language criterion for defining the ethnic groups of Mayan ancestry. The figures are approximations. Various studies have been made to determine the size of this population, but the results are inconsistent:
a/ Latin American Anthropological Documentation Centre.
b/ Ministry of Economic Planning.
28. Apart from the laws for the protection of the people of Guatemala, there are institutions for the advancement of the population of Mayan ancestry.
Academy of Mayan Languages
29. This institution was established on 18 October 1990, by Decree No. 65-90, following recognition of the rights of the individual and of communities and their cultural identity, in accordance with their language, customs and traditions, and recognition of the fact that the nation includes various ethnic groups of Mayan ancestry which the State has a duty to protect.
30. The Academy is an autonomous State institution whose task is to promote the dissemination of the Mayan languages, research, plan and programme linguistic, literary, educational and cultural projects and provide appropriate guidance and services. Its objectives are as follows:
(a) To promote and carry out scientific research in order to encourage and support activities aimed at developing the country's Mayan languages, within the general framework of the national culture;
(b) To plan and execute educational and cultural development programmes based on the results of the anthropological, linguistic and historical research carried out;
(c) To draw up, implement and promote bilingual and monolingual publication programmes in order to encourage the understanding and use of the Mayan languages and strengthen Guatemalan cultural values;
(d) To standardize the use and application of the Mayan languages of Guatemala in every field;
(e) To ensure that the Mayan languages and other Guatemalan cultural values are recognized, respected and fostered;
(f) To provide the Government and other bodies with technical and scientific advice within its sphere of competence.
National Programme of Bilingual Intercultural Education (PRONEBI)
31. This programme was set up on 20 December 1984 under Order No. 1093-84. The bilingual education programme derives from the experience gained with the campaign to eliminate illiteracy introduced in the sixties and from the investigation carried out in 1979 in 110 communities of Mayan origin, when it was found that:
(a) Pre-primary schoolchildren, up to the second grade, learn their lessons more easily when they are taught in their own language.
(b) For the pupils who speak Mayan, teaching Spanish as a second language is more effective, from the standpoint of oral and written comprehension, than teaching it as the first language, as is the case at present under the traditional school system.
(c) School enrolment and graduation rates are improving as a result of teaching in Mayan, while drop-out and failure rates are falling.
* Pre-primary only.
32. The programme employs a total of 2,790 bilingual teachers in 1,044 schools.
The National Anti-Illiteracy Committee (CONALFA)
33. The issuing of Decree No. 72 on 8 March 1945 marked the beginning of a systematic statutory process of elimination of illiteracy with the implementation of 11 anti-illiteracy campaigns and the establishment of the National Anti-Illiteracy Programme operating through specialized agencies of the Ministry of Education.
34. This legislation remained in force until 1978. On 9 June of that year, under Decree No. 9-78 of the Congress of the Republic, a new Anti-Illiteracy Law was promulgated. This period witnessed the launch of another anti-illiteracy campaign, known as the Guatemalan Anti-Illiteracy Movement (MOGAL), which operated during the years 1981-1982.
35. On 8 July 1986, the Congress of the Republic passed Decree No. 43-86 creating the National Anti-Illiteracy Committee (CONALFA), in accordance with transitional article 14 of the Constitution.
36. In this Decree, article 7 of the transitional provisions states that: "This law shall be translated into and widely circulated in at least four of the country's indigenous languages: Quiché, Cakchiquel, Kekchi and Mam. To this end, the Ministry of Education may call upon the participation of the institutions whose functions are relevant to this provision."
37. The national anti-illiteracy policy can be summarized as follows:
(a) The elimination of illiteracy is one of the fundamental social processes involved in the attainment of the objectives of national development.
(b) The elimination of illiteracy is an essential tool for developing and strengthening the process of democratization and effectively achieving respect for human rights and therefore peace and social justice.
(c) The anti-illiteracy campaign is aimed at providing universal basic education for all the country's citizens, within the framework of the objectives of the Education Master Project in Latin America and the Caribbean.
(d) To ensure the effective attainment of objectives and goals, the elimination of illiteracy calls for a systematic and sustained effort of intersectoral and institutional coordination.
38. The specific objectives are:
(a) To improve the quality of the educational process so that literacy workers are able to participate by developing skills, abilities and aptitudes which admit them to new educational levels;
(b) To develop Integral Basic Education options for adults between 15 and 46 years of age, with priority for those who live in rural and urban-fringe areas;
(c) To define the profile of the newly literate Guatemalan and develop a curriculum which reflects the reality of his situation through the use of innovative options;
(d) To develop various schemes for the newly literate which would permit the inclusion of young people who fail to complete formal primary education;
(e) To train and instruct specialized personnel in the various pedagogical and administrative techniques in order to ensure the success of the post-literacy programme;
(f) To help to reinforce the national identity by giving greater prominence to the forms of cultural expression of the country's various ethnic groups through the bilingual post-literacy process;
(g) To strengthen the principles of solidarity, social harmony and the common good, as well as civic rights and duties, in order to consolidate democracy through the post-literacy programme;
(h) To promote the active participation of all the social sectors in the planning, implementation and evaluation of the post-literacy process;
(i) To obtain undertakings from public and private institutions to finance and/or to provide technical assistance with the implementation of economic and productive projects generated by the post-literacy groups;
(j) To give priority attention in the post-literacy period to graduates of the initial stage from regions with a higher illiteracy rate.
39. The global strategies are as follows:
(a) Priority attention and service for:
(i) rural and urban-fringe areas with the highest proportion of graduates of the initial stage;
(ii) women;
(iii) the indigenous population;
(iv) migrants, refugees and displaced persons;
(v) those between 10 and 15 years of age who are not covered by the formal education system because no service exists;
(b) Strengthening of the inter-institutional coordination machinery at national, regional and local level;
(c) Joint planning of the post-literacy process by the sectors involved;
(d) Qualification of 70% of those enrolled in the post-literacy stages during the period 1992-2000;
(e) Promotion of the enrolment of 50% of the post-literacy group in various vocational training programmes run by organizations, thereby enabling them to improve their quality of life.
Literate and illiterate populations (by Department, 1993)
Family education centres for development (NUFED)
40. The family education centres for development began work in 1978 in the village of San José Chirijuyu, municipality of Tecpan Guatemala, Chimaltenango, as a result of the agreement signed between the Guatemalan Ministry of Education and the French Embassy in Guatemala.
41. The NUFED are educational centres whose fundamental purpose is to provide young people in rural areas who have completed primary schooling with general training based on the needs, problems and concerns of the population, together with vocational instruction. They also receive training equivalent to the three years of the basic secondary cycle.
42. The general objectives of the NUFED are:
(a) To enable young people in rural areas to participate consciously in the local development process through a methodology which allows them to reflect on their situation with respect to the family and the community and to take action to improve it;
(b) To facilitate and support thoughtful analyses of the young in order to promote local development activities and projects with community participation;
(c) To obtain the active and systematic participation of parents in the process of drawing up and developing the curricula for their children's education, as a function of their own experience combined with modern technology transferred by the instructors and other specialists;
(d) To offer the country a new kind of education which combines the formal and informal systems for the benefit of Guatemalan youth and the rural family;
(e) To encourage greater interest in agriculture and study among young people in rural areas, thereby preventing an increase in the already high levels of migration from the country to the cities.
43. Eight NUFED centres, distributed as follows, are currently operating in Guatemala:
1. San José Chirijuyu, Tecpan Guatemala, Chimaltenango
2. Sacala, Las Lomas, San Martin Jilotepeque, Chimaltenango
3. Ojer Caibal, San José Poaquil, Chimaltenango
4. Tulumajillo, San Agustin Acasaguastlan, El Progreso
5. Cuyuta, Masagua, Escuintla
6. San José Chicalquix, San Carlos Sija, Quetzaltenango
7. Los Horcones, Atescatempa, Jutiapa
8. Patzun, Chimaltenango
Mayan Documentation and Research Centre (CEDIM)
44. The Mayan Documentation and Research Centre is a private non-profit service institution which began operating in 1990. Organized and managed by Mayans, it is interested in documenting, investigating and disseminating various currents of thought on ethnic questions of the cultural, social and economic development of the Mayan people. Its objectives are:
(a) To collect documentation on the Mayans and other indigenous peoples of America;
(b) To preserve the historic memory of the Mayan people;
(c) To contribute to the dissemination of knowledge concerning the historical and human rights of the Mayan people;
(d) To contribute to knowledge of the ethnic realities of Guatemala and of the native peoples of the continent;
(e) To promote the spiritual, cultural and scientific development of the Mayan people and the Ladino people through study and research.
45. CEDIM:
(a) Provides references, extracts and other data relating to documents containing information about Mayan culture and other ethnic questions concerning the continent;
(b) Conducts scientific studies and research in connection with phenomena relating to the Mayan people;
(c) Prepares and publishes monographs on Mayan sciences, art, technology, history, religion, education and culture;
(d) Organizes and conducts studies, conferences, meetings, congresses, seminars and exhibitions of a scientific nature;
(e) Provides documentation and information for educational institutions and Mayan development organizations;
(f) Furthers the advancement of Mayan women through university grants;
(g) Promotes the Mayan schools being set up in various regions of the country by providing technical and administrative advice.
Other institutions
46. The University of San Carlos de Guatemala includes the Language Learning Centre (CALUSAC), which for years has been giving courses in kiché and kakchiquel, and the Folklore Study Centre (CEFOL), which for some time has been engaged in studying Mayan folklore. Moreover, in 1988, the School of Anthropology and the Research Department began holding seminars on ethnic questions and, over the course of time, these have turned into forums for the exchange of ideas on the ethnic population of Guatemala and the problems of minorities.
47. Mariano Galvez University offers two courses which could help with the training of students of the Mayan languages, one in linguistics and the other in socio-linguistics. The official review of the School of Linguistics regularly publishes studies of the Mayan languages.
48. Rafael Landivar University has a Mayan language and literature programme which was first introduced in 1970. Kiché, kakchiquel, mam, quekchi, achi, pocoman and kanjobal are all taught. In addition, under the Programme for the Integral Development of the Mayan People (PRODIPMA), it is proposed to offer grants for various courses to between 650 and 700 Mayan youngsters.
49. The Ixchel Museum has been featuring and making a serious academic study of the traditional native costumes of Guatemala.
50. The Santiago Institute is dedicated to the education of the indigenous young. Its study programme is based on Mayan culture.
51. Since before 1980, the Guatemalan Broadcast Education Institute has been providing adult education by radio. Programmes are broadcast in the quekchi, quiché, kakchiquel, ixil, pocoman and awakateka languages. There is a daily radio programme called "Mayab Winak" for people of Mayan origin.
52. The Francisco Marroquin Language Project produces grammars, dictionaries and first readers in the Mayan languages, in addition to making translations and studies of the language situation in the Mayan-speaking regions. It also gives courses in the Mayan languages.
53. The Permanent Seminar for Mayan Studies has arranged lectures, courses and congresses on aspects of the real life of the Mayans of today. Its basic philosophy is that Mayans and Ladinos should have equal rights and opportunities.
54. There are various education centres, organized by Mayan parents, whose main objective is to prepare the children to become citizens of a multi-ethnic country, but on the basis of their own culture. These centres include:
Kajib Nob, in Momostenango, Totonicapan (kiché);
Luz del Saber, in Patzun, Chimaltenango (kakchiquel);
Colegio Maya, in Palin, Escuintla (pocoman);
Colegio Maya de San Luis Jilotepeque, Jalapa (pocoman);
Colegio Maya de Comitancillo, San Marcos (mam);
Colegio Maya de Cabrican, San Marcos (mam).
55. In the Congress of the Republic there are 30 congressional committees, one of which is the Indigenous Community Committee.
56. Similarly, among the 116 members of Congress there are 5 of Mayan ancestry. These do not necessarily represent the interests of the Mayan people, but, on the contrary, defend the interests of the party which nominated them.
57. In 1990, there was a housing shortage amounting, in total, to 861,000 dwelling units.
58. On the basis of the projected population growth, it is estimated that every year 81,973 housing requirements are generated, of which 63.4% are for new housing and 36.6% for repairs. To alleviate this situation, the Government is redirecting its activities with a view to offering a realistic solution to the problem and improving the provision of basic services.
59. Housing policy is focussed on the following aspects:
(a) Facilitation of individual efforts to obtain housing by regularizing title deeds;
(b) Adoption of a comprehensive approach for the purpose of improving human settlements and formulation of specific programmes for dealing with housing problems, including in the informal sector;
(c) Concentration of State support on low-income groups through explicit and transparent subsidies granted directly to the beneficiaries;
(d) Precedence for low-cost solutions and self-help programmes;
(e) Encouragement of alternative building technologies;
(f) Elimination of counterproductive procedures and regulations;
(g) Promotion of the development of long-term financing for housing;
(h) Support for the initiatives launched by local authorities, non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and the organized community.
60. The organizational structure of the majority of the movements working on behalf of the population of Mayan ancestry is simple, minimal, specific and schematic. In most cases, there is a secretary general or the like to represent the organization, a treasurer to keep the books, a secretary to record the minutes, and someone, or possibly a committee with two or three members, responsible for training.
61. However, when problems of concern to the Mayan population are being discussed, it has been found possible to bring together as many as 10,000 people, as at the second continental meeting in Quetzaltenango, when the indigenous organizations represented held a rally attended by at least that number. Indeed, on some occasions the peasant movements which have organized public meetings have attracted more than 12,000.
62. This points up an obvious fact, namely that the indigenous movements are élite groups, although on occasion they are able to call up and coordinate large bodies of people, and, moreover, the leadership is élitist and minimal, though in general it is soundly, efficiently and rationally organized. These are organizations for the masses rather than mass organizations. In short, the social movements of this population are characterized by an élite which conceives, plans, implements and arranges activities occasionally emanating from mass meetings or general assemblies. The latter are sometimes informed of the results, but in most cases the decisions remain recorded in the minutes or in the memories of the leaders and forgotten by or unknown to the majority of the members.
63. For example, individualism often induces the members to act on their own account, over the head of the organization, to plan activities without coordinating them and to seek personal acclaim. Egoism attributes the successes of the organization to the actions of individuals, while amateurish enthusiasm often gives priority to easy but inappropriate action which frequently leads to the break-up or disappearance of the movement. At the same time, anarchism reveals weak or poor control over the movement's activities, signifying the duplication or multiplication of disorganized effort, and in the presence of these attitudes it is often possible to observe a state of paralysis which affects the mass of sympathisers and collaborators who, being unable to participate because inhibited by the "leadership" of the élite, restrict themselves to "participating by observing" or often simply to observing without participating. Other prevailing ills are sectarianism (the result of taking dogmatic positions which leave no room for opposition to the decisions of the élite) and, above all, the frequent insistence on self-sufficiency expressed in sayings such as "only Indians can solve Indian problems" or "the Ladinos don't understand the problems of the Indians".
64. These defects, ills or symptoms of ideological behaviour bring out another feature typical of the present state of the indigenous movements: the lack of a stable, unified, recognized leadership. In fact, each organization has its own leadership, each movement forming around one or more individuals who then attract others, but only at the local level. Occasionally, in some rural communities (with three or four thousand people) two movements which ignore or oppose each other may spring up, thereby splitting the indigenous movement as a whole. In larger communities, four or five organizations with similar positions may emerge, fragmenting local support and leaving the members unable to unite and accept a single leadership. This lack of unity is attributable precisely to the predominance of individualism within these organizations.
65. There follows a more detailed description of some carefully chosen organizations, selected not at random but because they are considered to typify various of the above-mentioned fundamental characteristics present in the majority of Guatemala's indigenous organizations in general.
Peasant Unity Committee (CUC)
66. In its choice of title, the CUC defines itself not as a peasant federation or union but as a "committee" and, according to its manifesto, all it requires of its members is total commitment, with integrity, determination, sacrifice and steadfastness, to the common cause of defending the interests of agricultural workers, and readiness to fight for the interests of other exploited groups in Guatemala.
67. The CUC began to organize in 1976, but it was not until 27 April 1978 that it emerged as an independent body, immediately after the appearance of internal disagreements within the National Central of Workers (CNT), given the latter's tendency to "reformism" and its distinctive mode of operation, contrary to the ideology of its own parent organization, the Latin American Central of Workers (CLAT).
68. The members of the organization are indigenous peasants, mainly from the departments of El Quiché, Huehuetenango, Quetzaltenango, Solola, Totonicapan, Suchitepéquez and San Marcos, although it has sympathisers in other departments such as Izabal, Las Verapaces and Escuintla.
69. Almost all its members are of indigenous stock with Ladinos, all peasants, representing (according to the CUC's own leaders) approximately 10% of the membership. The "Ladino" members (as they call themselves) are actually natives of the Altiplano who for 15 or 20 years or more have been permanently settled in the southern coastal region of the country as tenant farmers on the cotton, coffee and sugar-cane plantations, where initially they formed part of the gangs of seasonal labourers. Regardless of the uncertainty of this socio-cultural distinction, the "Ladino" members graphically express not only the demographic composition of the CUC but also one of the objectives of the organization which argues that both Ladinos and indigenas should join it, as peasants belonging to a social sector uniformly exploited by the landowners.
70. The founders of the CUC developed their organizational activities in the guise of parishioners belonging to Catholic Action, one of the proselytizing activities undertaken at national level by the church, although they also sheltered behind bible study groups in the case of sympathisers or comrades of the Protestant faith. In both cases, the peasants' initial organizational meetings were concerned with the socio-economic problems they faced, not with their religious convictions.
71. On the other hand, although the internal organization of the CUC initially resembled the organizational models prevailing in the cooperatives which flourished in the region, El Quiché, where it first emerged, it was later modified as a result of adaptation to the forms peculiar to the traditional culture of its member ethnic groups.
72. In any event, with respect to their emergence (both origin and motivation), mode of organization and, in some cases, the formulation of objectives, the CUC model was the inspiration for certain other peasant-indigenous organizations, even though their social practice as a social movement may have differed from that of the CUC. From this one can deduce the importance of the CUC as an organizational model for the peasant social movements in the indigenous sector as a whole.
73. It is also necessary to add that the CUC was one of the first peasant organizations to be established (effectively in 1978) and has been one of the most active in defending itself, one of the most belligerent and one of those that has lasted longest without breaking up and disappearing, even though the present infighting provoked by ideological disagreements indicates that a serious rupture may lie ahead for the organization. Why then, after almost 15 years of existence, is the CUC still able to keep its place among the ranks of the country's peasant movements? Presumably because of its claiming land and proclaiming peasant unity.
National Coordinating Committee of Guatemalan Widows (CONAVIGUA)
74. This organization emerged from various groups which mutually support each other's claims, these being directed, according to one of its objectives, essentially towards the "unity and dignity of women". It was set up predominantly and basically for indigenous women, widows and orphans, but also in general for those who have lost a family member in the course of the armed conflict taking place in Guatemala, particularly in the north-western departments of the country.
75. The objectives of the National Coordinating Committee of Guatemalan Widows include, for example, alleviating the distress of those families which have lost members, by providing food, medicine, accommodation and clothing for the survivors in order to meet their most urgent needs and also by providing a minimum of education for orphaned children.
76. Since its members come mostly from the Departments of Quetzaltenango, El Quiché, Huehuetenango, Solola, Totonicapan, Chimaltenango and Guatemala, it is a genuinely rural, indigenous and peasant organization with a stable and well coordinated organization which appeared on the national scene in September 1988 and is currently coordinating its activities with those of the other popular organizations to which it belongs, such as the Union of Trade Union and People's Action (UASP) and the 500 Years Movement.
77. As the national "coordinating" committee of Guatemalan widows, it directs the activities of similar groups in the above-mentioned departments, on the basis of organizational models with "representation" (in its own words) in municipal and departmental centres and also at village and municipal canton level, which, by demonstrating the breadth of its field of action, also suggests a solid organization, considering the steady rhythm of its activities.
78. It can be said that CONAVIGUA is an organization conceived, organized, guided and run by women, all of them indigenous peasants, even though some women identified as Ladinos, but also widows, may have drawn close to it.
The Ranujel Junam Ethnic Communities Council (CERJ)
79. This is a Quiché organization established in August 1988, at the same time as CONAVIGUA, as the Ranujel Junam Ethnic Communities Council under the banner of "respect for the indigenous cultural identity". The first impression given by CERJ is that of a one-man movement since its best known leader is the only member of the group. It is one of the indigenous peasant organizations that best typifies and characterizes the particular forms of leadership of the indigenous movements. Apparently, the ethnic "community council" is nothing more than he who represents it.
The Mayan Coordinating Committee Majaw'il Q'ij and the National 500 Year Movement (MN-500)
80. Both movements are of recent origin (1990 and 1991, respectively) and both are well organized, certainly among the best organized. The former is currently suffering from internal disputes, perhaps due to the dynamics of its own growth, while the latter is in the process of being reformed because of the nature of the movements which promoted its initial organization. In fact, it was set up in connection with the events surrounding the quincentenary of the arrival of the Europeans on the American continent on 12 October 1492 and began to disappear as such in the immediate aftermath of those events, being transformed, as a product of its own evolution and development, into the National Indigenous and Peasant Coordinating Committee (CONIC) at the end of October 1992. As products of the activities programmed and developed in connection with the quincentenary, the two organizations generally work together, as well as with other organizations with which they join forces: UASP, CUC, CONAVIGUA, CONDEG, etc.
81. The Majaw'il Q'ij, New Dawn in the Mam language, resulted from the coming together of members of various ethnic groups (Ladinos included) and proclaims its intention of fighting for the rights of the indigenous peoples. Like those of many other indigenous movements, its leadership, mainly women, expresses concerns common to all Guatemala's ethnic groups, in particular the concern that all should unite in the struggle for social equality, banding together at the request of other ethnic groups at the continental level. The Majaw'il Q'ij embraces a group of a dozen or so organizations such as the Representatives of Mayan Priests, the Northern Union of Peasants, the Peasant Committee of the Altiplano, the Southern Peasant Workers Union and the Farmers Association. Against the general background of Guatemala's indigenous peasant movements, the Coordinating Committee Majaw'il Q'ij stands out as more of a specialized "arm" than an independent organization, considering its links and joint activities with other organizations such as the National 500 Year Movement, UASP, CUC, CONAVIGUA and CONDEG.
82. The National Movement 500 Years of Indigenous, Black and Popular Resistance sprang from the Majaw'il Q'ij, being its "spokesman and the reflection of our feelings and bringing news of the Continental Campaign" launched in early 1989. The primary objective of the MN-500 was to unite the indigenous movement around the quincentenary event and it could be said that it succeeded in founding the National Indigenous and Peasant Coordinating Committee.
National Council of Displaced Persons of Guatemala (CONDEG)
83. CONDEG was set up as a result of hundreds of Guatemalans having been displaced from their homes, some because they feared for their safety, others for economic reasons. The organization was founded on 3 September 1989.
Comunidades de Poblacion en Resistencia de la Sierra y del Ixcan (CPR-S/1)
84. On 27 and 28 September, there appeared in the national newspapers the "Declaration of the First Assembly of the Comunidades de Poblacion en Resistencia de la Sierra" which explained that at a general assembly held earlier, on 24 March, the group had decided to make itself known to the public. On 10 October of that year, in a paid advertisement published in the local press, the Ad Hoc Committee for Aid to Returnees (CEAR), an official government body, addressed the CPR de la Sierra, pointing out that "the Government has provided basic support for the displaced".
85. The internal legislation relating to Article 2 of the Convention is as follows.
(a) The Constitution
...
(b) Migration Act (Decree-Law No. 22-86)
(a) Transients
(b) Tourists
(c) Immigrants
(d) Residents
(e) Asylum seekers
(f) Refugees
(g) Stateless persons.
(c) Urban and Rural Development Council Act (Congressional Decree No. 52-87)
(a) To organize and coordinate the public services;
(b) To formulate urban and rural development and land-use planning policies. Where territorial boundaries are affected, the competent authority shall be the Congress of the Republic;
(c) To promote national economic, social and cultural development;
(d) To promote the effective participation of the population in the identification and solution of its problems;
(e) To promote and coordinate the system of Urban and Rural Development Councils;
(f) Regularly to evaluate the implementation of national development plans and programmes and to propose remedial measures to ensure the achievement of their goals and objectives;
(g) To monitor the organization and coordination of the public services to ensure the fulfilment of the national development plans and programmes;
(h) To promote the decentralization and devolution of the public services.
(a) To promote the economic, social and cultural development of the region;
(b) To promote the effective participation of the population in the identification and solution of its problems;
(c) To promote and coordinate the departmental councils which form part of its region;
(d) To propose regional development plans, programmes and projects;
(e) To establish the financing requirements for the implementation of its regional development plans and programmes;
(f) Regularly to evaluate the implementation of its regional development plans, programmes and projects and to suggest remedial measures to ensure the achievement of their goals and objectives;
(g) To follow up regional development programmes and projects and to ensure that the activities of the public services are coordinated.
(a) To promote the economic, social and cultural development of the department;
(c) To propose departmental development plans, programmes and projects;
(d) To establish the financing requirements for the implementation of its departmental development plans, programmes and projects;
(e) Regularly to evaluate the implementation of its departmental development plans, programmes and projects and to suggest the measures necessary to achieve their goals and objectives;
(f) To follow up departmental development programmes and projects and to ensure that the activities of the public services are coordinated.
(a) To promote the economic, social and cultural development of the municipality;
(b) To prepare, approve and execute local urban and rural development plans, in coordination with the National Development Plan;
(c) To promote the participation of the inhabitants in the identification of local problems, the formulation of proposals for their solution and their prioritization for implementation;
(d) To develop a collective sense of participation at the various political and administrative levels, especially in the Urban and Rural Development Councils established under the Constitution;
(e) To identify and make an inventory of the needs of the municipality and to determine the corresponding priorities for formulating plans, programmes and projects;
(f) To propose to the Departmental Council the cooperation measures necessary for the implementation of programmes and projects when its own resources are insufficient to carry them out;
(g) To recognise and register legally constituted Local Development Councils organized within its jurisdiction;
(h) Such other functions as may pertain to the autonomy of the municipality or may derive from the application of other laws."
(d) Regulations of the Urban and Rural Development Councils Act (Government Order No. 1041-87)
(a) Encourage and strengthen the permanent participation of the population in the various stages of the development process, through coordination between the public and private sectors;
(b) Strengthen within the population the ability to identify and prioritize its needs, to propose possible solutions to its problems and to participate in their implementation;
(c) Promote the country's integral development through the identification, formulation and implementation of development programmes and projects at the regional, departmental, municipal and local levels.
(a) Issue the directives and supplementary provisions necessary to regulate the operation of the National Urban and Rural Development Council System at its various levels;
(b) Know and study the regional development plans and reconcile them with the national plans;
(c) Set up and operate the machinery necessary to incorporate the proposals for programmes and projects received by the National Urban and Rural Development Council System in the General State Budget of Revenue and Expenditure and in that of the decentralized bodies;
(d) Formulate, coordinate and implement training programmes for those belonging to the various levels of the National Urban and Rural Development Council System;
(e) Determine the site of each of the Regional Councils;
(f) Promote and support the preservation of the environment;
(g) Any other activity which its functions may require, in accordance with the purposes for which it was established.
(a) Issue the directives and supplementary provisions necessary to regulate the operation of the Departmental Councils within its administrative area;
(b) Know and approve the departmental development plans, reconcile them with the regional plans and submit them to the National Council for its information and approval;
(c) Inform the National Urban and Rural Development Council of the progress made with development measures and of any practical problems encountered which cannot be solved at its own level;
(d) Promote and support the preservation of the environment;
(e) Any other activity stemming from its plans and programmes of work.
(a) Make additional suggestions to improve the functioning of the Municipal Councils and concerning their territorial limits, and provide them with advice at their request;
(b) Know and approve the municipal urban and rural development plans, reconcile them with the departmental plans and submit them to the Regional Council for its information and approval;
(c) Inform the Regional Urban and Rural Development Council of the progress made with development measures, programmes and projects and of any practical problems encountered which cannot be solved at its own level;
(a) Issue directives and supplementary provisions to regulate the operation of the Local Development Councils within its administrative area;
(b) Know and approve the municipal urban and rural development plan, reconcile it with the requirements and priorities at the local level and submit it to the Departmental Council for approval;
(c) Inform the Departmental Council of the progress made with the development measures, programmes and projects and of any practical problems encountered which cannot be solved at its own level;
(d) Know and rule on the proposals made at meetings with the chairmen of the executive committees of the Local Development Councils;
(e) Encourage inter-institutional cooperation in support of the decisions and measures taken by the Council;
(g) Any other activity stemming from its plans and programmes.
(a) Join forces with other Local Development Councils to solve common problems;
(b) Inform the Municipal Urban and Rural Development Council of the progress made with development measures, programmes and projects and of any practical problems encountered which cannot be solved at its own level;
(c) Ensure that the locally available renewable and non-renewable natural resources are preserved and rationally employed."
(e) Labour Code
Commentary (Article 2)
86. Article 2 of the Convention coincides with the Guatemalan internal legislation cited above which guarantees due compliance with sub-paragraphs (a), (b), (c), (d) and (e) of Article 2.
87. Thus, in Guatemala, in accordance with the internal legislation, no form of racial discrimination may be practised against persons, groups of persons or institutions. International human rights legislation, which takes precedence under the Constitution, is also respected.
88. Through the Congress, Guatemala is currently promoting laws tending to prevent any act which might be interpreted as discriminatory while opposing initiatives in favour of laws which might foster or encourage racial discrimination.
89. However, any natural or legal person who considers that his rights have been infringed may have recourse, without any restriction, to the relevant bodies in order to have those rights recognised and respected, in conformity with the legislation cited above.
90. Furthermore, the intentions of the State of Guatemala with regard to respect for and observance of human rights are also clearly expressed in the comprehensive agreement on the subject, signed in Mexico City on 29 March 1994, between the Government of the Republic of Guatemala and the National Revolutionary United Front, which reads:
91. The internal legislation relating to Article 3 of the Convention is as follows:
The Constitution
Commentary (Article 3)
92. Notwithstanding the fact that, in Guatemala, in accordance with the Constitution, all human beings are born equal in dignity and rights, the majority of the population is deprived of access to the minimum essential services required for a decent life, because central government lacks the resources that would enable it to provide such services.
93. However, in its Government Plan 1994-1995, the Office of the President of the Republic of Guatemala sets out the Government's commitments with respect to the political integration of society, respect for cultural traditions, sustainability and social justice. These commitments involve the strengthening of democracy and the rule of law, combatting poverty, the transformation of the productive sector, the preservation of the environment, the rational use of renewable natural resources and institutional modernization.
94. Doctrines of superiority or discrimination are prohibited in Guatemala as morally condemnable, socially unjust and an infringement of the human rights of the individual. In this connection, Guatemala is aware that racial discrimination is a scourge which must be eradicated from its territory, being a deliberate and utterly abominable affront to the conscience and dignity of mankind.
95. Consequently, the State of Guatemala, respectful of the observance of the rights of the individual, officially reaffirms that:
(a) Every people and human group has contributed to the advancement of the civilization and cultures which constitute the common heritage of mankind.
(b) Any form of discrimination constitutes a violation of basic human rights.
(c) Those who help to maintain the system of apartheid are accomplices in the perpetuation of that crime.
(d) The banning of racism and racial discrimination by the law must be accompanied by a vigorous effort to ensure equality in the economic, social and cultural spheres and, in particular, special affirmative action programmes must be organized to combat violations of human rights.
(e) Apartheid, racism and systematic racial discrimination are obvious violations of human rights resulting from and leading to gross inequalities in the political and economic spheres as well as in education, health, nutrition, housing, prospects for employment and cultural development. Accordingly, the action required to combat such policies and practices must include measures at the national, regional and international levels to improve the political, economic, social and cultural living conditions for men and women of all nations.
(f) Full use must therefore be made of national, regional and international educational resources to foster mutual understanding among all human beings and to demonstrate and teach the scientific grounds for equality and the value of cultural diversity, with a view to destroying the basis for racist activities and practices.
96. The internal legislation relating to Article 4 of the Convention is as follows:
(b) Penal Code (Congressional Decree No. 17-73)
Commentary (Article 4)
97. It follows from the internal legislation cited above that there is a contradiction between the provisions of the Constitution and those of the Penal Code concerning free association and assembly and demonstration. In this respect, the Constitution requires the recognition of the right of peaceful unarmed assembly and, moreover, stipulates that the rights of assembly and public demonstration may not be restricted, limited or curtailed (Article 33). However, according to the Penal Code, anyone promoting the organization or operation of associations which act in concert with or in subordination to international organizations advocating the Communist ideology or any other totalitarian system, or are formed for the purpose of committing crimes, or take part in crimes shall be liable to from two to six years' imprisonment (Article 396). Likewise, the Penal Code stipulates that anyone organizing or promoting an assembly or public demonstration in infringement of the provisions which regulate that right or participating in such an assembly or demonstration shall be liable to from six months' to two years' imprisonment (Article 397).
98. Thus, the Constitution requires that there be no restriction on the right of association, assembly or demonstration. Accordingly, irrespective of the fact that it is contradicted by the Penal Code, this right is respected within the territory of the State of Guatemala, since it arises from international conventions and treaties approved and signed by the Guatemalan nation.
99. In another context, all forms of discrimination constitute a violation of fundamental human rights. Consequently, government policies based on the theory of ethnic superiority or on ethnically motivated exclusion or hatred are neither pursued nor find any legal support within the territory of the State of Guatemala.
100. It is important to note that the last part of Article 4 of the Constitution stipulates that human beings should behave fraternally towards each other and, in this sense, the State is constantly promoting and implementing policies of reconciliation and understanding among the groups which make up Guatemalan society.
101. The internal legislation relating to Article 5 (a) of the Convention is as follows:
(a) Prisoners must be treated as human beings; they must not be discriminated against on any grounds nor may they be subjected to cruel treatment, physical, moral or psychological torture, coercion or harassment, labour incompatible with their physical condition, or treatment of a degrading nature. Nor may they be made victims of extortion or subjected to scientific experiments;
(b) They must serve their sentences in places intended for that purpose. Penal institutions shall be civilian in character and staffed by specialized personnel; and
(c) Prisoners shall have the right to communicate, at their request, with their relatives, defence counsel, a chaplain or doctor and, where appropriate, with the diplomatic or consular representative of their country.
....
(b) Act on the Judicial Branch
(d) If a new law extends or restricts the conditions necessary to perform certain acts or acquire particular rights, that law shall be applied immediately to all concerned.
(e) Any right acquired under and in conformity with one law shall continue to exist under the rule of another; however, the provisions of the new law shall take precedence with regard to the exercise of the right and the corresponding obligations and with respect to its extinction.
(f) The legal position created under a prior law shall be preserved under the rule of another later law.
(c) Migration Act (Decree-Law No. 22-86)
102. The internal legislation relating to Article 5 (b) of the Convention is as follows:
(b) Constitutional amendments
(d) Migration Act (Decree-Law No. 22-86 of the Head of State)
(e) Minors Code (Congressional Decree No. 78-79)
(f) Comprehensive Agreement on Human Rights (signed by the Government of the Republic and the National Revolutionary United Front in Mexico City on 29 March 1994)
3. Undertaking against impunity
103. The internal legislation relating to Article 5 (c) of the Convention is as follows:
(a) To serve and defend the country;
(b) To comply with the Constitution of the Republic and to ensure that it is complied with;
(c) To work for the civic, cultural, moral, economic and social development of Guatemalans;
(d) To contribute to public expenditure in the manner prescribed by the law;
(e) To obey the laws;
(f) To maintain due respect for the authorities; and
(g) To do military and social service in accordance with the law.
(a) To enrol themselves in the Register of Citizens;
(b) To elect and be elected;
(c) To guard the freedom and effectiveness of the ballot and the purity of the electoral process;
(d) To seek public office;
(e) To participate in political activities; and
(f) To defend the principle of alternance and non-re-election in the exercise of the office of President of the Republic.
(b) Electoral and Political Parties Act (Decree No. 1-85 of the Constituent National Assembly)
(a) To respect and defend the Political Constitution of the republic;
(b) To enrol themselves on the Register of Citizens;
(c) To elect and be elected;
(d) To exercise the right to vote;
(e) To seek public office;
(f) To guard the freedom and effectiveness of the ballot and the purity of the electoral process;
(g) To defend the principle of alternance and non-re-election in the exercise of the office of President of the Republic;
(h) To perform electoral functions, for those so appointed.
104. The internal legislation relating to Article 5 (d) (i) of the Convention is as follows.
(b) Civil Code (Decree-Law No. 106)
(c) Migration Act (Decree-Law No. 22-86 of the Head of State)
105. The internal legislation relating to Article 5 (d) (ii) of the Convention is as follows.
(b) Act on the Judicial Branch (Congressional Decree No. 2-89)
106. The internal legislation relating to Article 5 (d) (iii) of the Convention is as follows.
107. The internal legislation relating to Article 5 (d) (v) of the Convention is as follows.
(c) Act on the Judicial Branch (Congressional Decree No. 2-89)
(d) Migration Act (Decree-Law No. 22-86)
108. The internal legislation relating to Article 5 (d) (vi) of the Convention is as follows.
109. The internal legislation relating to Article 5 (d) (vii) of the Convention is as follows.
110. The internal legislation relating to Article 5 (d) (viii) of the Convention is as follows.
(b) Constitutional Law on the Expression of Opinion (Decree No. 9)
(a) Publications involving treason;
(b) Publications which offend morality;
(c) Publications which this law deems to be seditious;
(d) Publications which fail to respect the privacy of others;
(e) Publications which contain libels or grievous insults.
111. The internal legislation relating to Article 5 (d) (ix) of the Convention is as follows.
(b) Electoral and Political Parties Act (Decree-Law No. 1-85 of the Constituent National Assembly)
(a) Political parties and the civic committees for establishing them;
(b) Civic electoral committees;
(c) Associations with political objectives.
(c) Labour Code (Congressional Decree No. 1441 and Amendments)
112. The internal legislation relating to Article 5 (e) (i) of the Convention is as follows.
(a) The right to free choice of work and to satisfactory economic conditions which will guarantee a dignified existence for the worker and his family.
(b) There shall be equitable remuneration for all work, except as otherwise provided by law.
(c) Equal pay for equal work performed under equal conditions, with equal efficiency and equal seniority.
(d) The worker must be paid in legal tender. However, a farm worker, by choice, may receive food products for up to 30 per cent of his wages. In this case the employer must furnish these products at a price not exceeding their cost.
(e) Non-attachability of wages in the cases specified by law. Personal worker's tools may not be attached for any reason. However, for the protection of a worker's family and by judicial order, a part of the wages may be withheld and remitted to the person who should receive it.
(f) Periodic fixing of the minimum wage in accordance with the law.
(g) The regular effective day-time working day may not exceed eight hours, nor the working week 44 hours, equivalent to 48 hours solely for the purposes of payment of wages. The regular effective night-time working day may not exceed six hours nor the working week 36 hours. The regular effective mixed working day may not exceed seven hours nor the working week 42 hours. All work actually performed outside the regular working day constitutes overtime and must be remunerated as such. The law shall determine the very special situations in which, as an exception, the provisions relating to the working day are not applicable.
Anyone who, under a provision of the law, by custom or by agreement with an employer, works less than 44 hours per week during the day-time, 36 hours per week during the night-time or 42 hours per week of mixed working days, shall be entitled to receive a full weekly wage.
Actual or effective working time shall be understood to mean all the time during which the worker remains under the orders or at the disposal of the employer.
(h) The right of the worker to a paid day of rest for every regular week of work or six consecutive days of labour. Holidays, recognized by law, shall also be paid.
(i) The right of the worker to 15 working days of paid leave annually for each completed year of continuous service, except in the case of workers in agriculture or livestock-raising who shall be entitled to 10 working days of paid leave. The leave must actually be taken and the employer may not provide special compensation in lieu of this right, except when the labour relationship has ceased after the right was acquired.
(j) Obligation of the employer to grant each year a bonus amounting to not less than 100 per cent of the monthly wage, or a previously established amount, if larger, to those workers who have worked without interruption for one year prior to the granting of the bonus. The manner of payment of the bonus shall be regulated by law. The bonus shall be paid pro rata to the time they have worked to workers who have furnished less than one year of service.
(k) Protection of women workers and regulation of the conditions under which they are employed. No distinction must be made for purposes of employment between married and single women. In the case of women workers, the law shall regulate the protection to be given to maternity, and no woman worker shall be required to do any work necessitating physical effort that might endanger her pregnancy. A working mother shall be entitled to mandatory leave on full pay during the 30 days preceding childbirth and for 45 days thereafter. While nursing, she shall be entitled to two special rest periods during each working day. The pre-natal and post-natal leave periods shall be extended by medical prescription if her physical condition so warrants.
(l) Minors under 14 years of age may not be employed in any kind of work, with certain exceptions provided by law. The employment of minors in work beyond their physical capacity or which endangers their morals is prohibited.
(m) Protection and encouragement of work by the blind, the disabled and persons with physical, mental or sensory impairment.
(n) Other things being equal, preference to Guatemalan workers over foreigners, in the percentages specified by law. In the same circumstances, no Guatemalan worker may earn a lower wage than a foreigner, or have inferior working conditions or receive less financial reward or other benefits.
(ñ) Establishment of rules with which employers and workers must comply in individual and collective labour contracts. Employers and workers shall seek the economic development of the enterprise for their common benefit.
(o) Obligation upon the employer to indemnify a worker whom he dismisses unfairly or indirectly by paying him one month's wages for each continuous year of service, unless there is a more suitable statutory system providing greater benefits. In computing continuous service, account shall be taken of the date of commencement of the employment relationship, whatever it may be.
(p) Obligation of the employer to grant to the spouse or cohabitant, and to the minor or disabled children, of a worker who dies while in his employ a benefit equivalent to one month's wages for each year worked. This benefit shall be paid in monthly instalments in arrears, and its amount shall not be less than the last wage received by the worker.
If the death results from a cause that is a risk fully covered by the social security system, this obligation upon the employer shall cease. If the system does not fully cover the benefit, the employer must pay the difference.
(q) The right of workers freely to form and join trade unions. They may exercise this right without any discrimination and without having to obtain prior authorization, the sole requirement being that they fulfil the conditions established by law. Workers may not be dismissed for participating in the formation of a trade union and they shall enjoy this right from the time they notify the General Inspectorate of Labour.
Only persons who are Guatemalan by birth may participate in the organization, management and advising of trade unions. Exceptions shall be made in the case of government technical assistance and as provided in international treaties or inter-union agreements authorized by the Executive Branch.
(r) The establishment of economic and social welfare institutions granting workers' benefits of all kinds, especially sickness, retirement and survivors' benefits.
(s) If the employer fails to prove that a dismissal was justified, he must pay the worker, as compensation, one month's wages if the case is heard by a court, two months' wages if the judgment is appealed, and, if the proceedings in the case last more than two months, 50 per cent of his wages for each further month of the proceedings, up to a maximum in this case of six months.
(t) The State shall become a party to international and regional conventions and treaties on labour matters which grant workers better protection or conditions.
In such cases the provisions of such conventions and treaties shall be deemed to form part of the minimum rights enjoyed by workers in the Republic of Guatemala.
(b) Labour Code (Congressional Decree No. 1441)
(c) Civil Service Act (Congressional Decree No. 1748)
1. All Guatemalan citizens have the right to apply for public posts, and no one may be prevented from exercising that right if he possesses the qualifications and qualities required by law. Such appointments shall be made solely on grounds of competence, ability, efficiency and integrity.
2. In making appointments to public posts there shall be no discrimination based on race, sex, civil status, religion, birth, social or economic situation, or political opinions. A physical defect or ailment of the psycho-neurotic type shall not be an obstacle to holding a civil service post, provided that, in the opinion of the National Civil Service Council, the condition does not interfere with the applicant's ability to do the work for which he is intended.
3. The national Civil Service system must promote the efficiency of the service and give its employees guarantees with regard to the exercise and defence of their rights.
4. Civil Service posts must be awarded on the basis of the competence, ability and integrity of the applicants. It is therefore necessary to establish a public competition procedure for making appointments to such posts, by establishing a civil service career. The law must specify those posts which, while their nature and purpose, must remain outside the public competition process.
5. There shall be equal pay for equal work performed under the same conditions, with equal efficiency and equal seniority. Consequently, civil service posts must be organized in accordance with a classification and evaluation system which takes into account the duties, responsibilities and requirements of each post by establishing a fair and uniform pay scale.
6. Civil service employees must be guaranteed against dismissal not based on legal grounds. Moreover, they must be subject to appropriate disciplinary rules and receive fair economic and social benefits.
1. Not to be removed from their post except on the basis of duly substantiated grounds for dismissal provided for in this Act.
2. To be granted an annual period of 20 working days' paid leave after each year of continuous service.
Leave may not be accumulated and must be taken in continuous periods. There shall be no compensatory payment in lieu of leave except where the right has been acquired and remains unexercised when for any reason the employment relationship comes to an end.
3. Thirty days for public servants exposed to risks of occupational disease, as listed in the corresponding regulations.
4. To leave, paid or unpaid, for sickness, pregnancy, study, military training, etc., in accordance with the corresponding regulations.
5. To be informed of the periodic reports on his performance.
6. To receive each year, in the first half of December, a cash bonus, to be paid in accordance with the Act and the corresponding regulations.
7. To receive compensation for the suppression of the post or unfair dismissal, direct or indirect, equivalent to one month's salary for each year of continuous service or, if the length of service is less than one year, a sum proportional to the period worked. The amount of compensation must be calculated in accordance with the average salary received during the last six months reckoned from the date of suppression of the post. In no case shall there be a right to more than five months' salary.
The compensation shall be paid in successive monthly instalments, starting from the suppression of the post and continuing until the appropriate number of instalments has been paid. It is understood that if, in connection with the prior right provided for in Article 46 of this Act, the public servant dismissed returns to the Civil Service at a salary equal to or greater than that which he was earning, the payment of compensation shall be suspended, starting from the day on which he takes up the new post. If the salary is less than before, compensation shall continue to be paid for the time necessary to cover the difference over the number of months for which there is entitlement to compensation. Public servants who choose to take up a retirement or other pension are excluded from this right but shall benefit from the above-mentioned compensation until the corresponding pension order is issued. The bodies responsible for these formalities must complete them within a maximum period of four months.
8. To benefit from the system of retirement, survivors' and other pensions in accordance with the corresponding law.
9. To receive a family allowance when fiscal conditions permit, in accordance with the corresponding law.
10. To be promoted to a higher-ranking and/or better paid post on the basis of proven efficiency and merit, in accordance with the provisions of this Act.
11. To a fair salary sufficient to ensure a decent life, in accordance with the functions he performs and the value of his work."
(d) State Civilian Inactive Classes Act (Congressional Decree No. 63-88)
(a) For retirement.
(b) For disability.
(c) For widowhood.
(d) For orphanhood.
(e) In favour of parents.
(f) In favour of minor or handicapped brothers and sisters, grandchildren, nephews and nieces who at the death of the deceased were legally in his care, except where there are third parties with a superior right.
(a) Workers with at least twenty (20) years of service, whatever their age.
(b) Anyone who has reached the age of fifty (50) and has accumulated at least ten years of service.
Workers who have reached the age of sixty-five (65) and have accumulated at least ten (10) years of service, provided that during those ten years they have contributed to the scheme.
(e) Regulations of the State Civilian Inactive Classes Act (Government Order No. 1220-88)
(f) Civil Service Wages Act (Congressional Decree No. 11-73)
(g) Order No. 788 of the Board of Management of the Guatemalan Social Security Institute
113. The internal legislation relating to Article 5 (e) (ii) of the Convention is as follows.
(a) The direct channel shall be obligatory for the conciliatory negotiation of pacts or collective agreements concerning working conditions or any other matter provided for by law, the legal possibilities of the budget of revenue and expenditure of the State or the autonomous and decentralized bodies involved in the socio-economic dispute always being taken into account in the request. The said channel shall be considered to be exhausted if within thirty days of the submission of the request by the interested party no agreement has been reached, unless the parties agree to extend this period.
(c) Labour Code (Congressional Decree No. 1441)
(d) Amendments to the Labour Code (Congressional Decree No. 64-92)
114. The internal legislation relating to Article 5 (e) (iii) of the Convention is as follows.
(b) Banco Nacional de la Vivienda Organization Act (Congressional Decree No. 2-73)
(a) Helping to overcome the existing national housing shortage.
115. The internal legislation relating to Article 5 (e) (iv) of the Convention is as follows.
116. The internal legislation relating to Article 5 (e) (v) of the Convention is as follows.
(b) The Constitution (Transitional and Final Provisions)
117. The internal legislation relating to Article 5 (e) (vi) of the Convention is as follows.
118. The internal legislation relating to Article 5 (f) of the Convention is as follows.
(c) Municipal Code (Congressional Decree No. 58-88)
(a) By the municipalities and their administrative departments and service units and the enterprises they organize.
Commentary (Article 5)
119. The right to equal treatment before the tribunals and all other bodies administering justice is fully regulated by the State of Guatemala.
120. As regards compliance with the law, to some extent it could be said to be partial, since in specific cases the administration of justice responds favourably to family and political ties, presents and influence peddling, between plaintiffs and judges, which prevents cases tried by the judicial branch being conducted in accordance with due process, so that the rights of the less well-off may be infringed.
121. With reference to the rights to security of person and political rights protected by the State, they are regulated by the internal legislation of the Guatemalan State. However, within the context of common and political violence cases arise which do not involve the State but are dealt with by the legal means available for the purpose.
122. Likewise, all citizens enjoy freedom of political participation and organization, without restrictions other than those laid down by law, to such an extent that there are now 78 popularly elected mayors, 8 popularly elected deputies in the Congress of the Republic, one minister and one deputy-minister of state and various public officials, all of Mayan ancestry, without their necessarily displaying any discriminatory attitude towards the Ladino or Mestizo population.
123. With respect to other civil rights, in particular those relating to freedom of movement and residence, leaving the country, nationality, marriage, property, inheritance, freedom of thought, freedom of opinion and expression and freedom of peaceful assembly and association, there are no restrictions or discrimination for any of the inhabitants of Guatemala. Furthermore, these rights are duly regulated in the positive laws in force in Guatemala.
124. With respect to economic, social and cultural rights, in particular the rights to work, to form and join trade unions, to housing, to public health, medical care, social security and social services, to education and training, to equal participation in cultural activities and the right of access to any place or service intended for use by the general public, there are no restrictions for the inhabitants of Guatemala, in accordance with the internal legislation in force.
125. However, it should be mentioned that the availability of housing, public health, medical care and education depends on the ability to pay and as most of the population is of slender means these services are selective.
126. The State of Guatemala is aware of these problems which affect most of the population and, consequently, is seeking ways of alleviating the situation prevailing in the country to the greatest possible extent.
127. The internal legislation relating to Article 6 of the Convention is as follows.
(b) Amparo, Habeas Corpus and Constitutionality Act (Decree 1-86 of the Constituent National Assembly)
(c) Code of Penal Procedure (Congressional Decree No. 52-73)
Commentary (Article 6)
128. In the State of Guatemala, everyone under its jurisdiction is protected and accordingly has the right to challenge or appeal whenever his fundamental rights and freedoms are positively or presumedly infringed.
129. Moreover, those who lack the means to pay for professional services may turn to the people's law offices sponsored by the departments of legal and social sciences of the universities operating in Guatemala.
130. However, there are cases in which inhabitants, through ignorance of the law and the institutions involved in the administration of justice, do not make use of the official remedies to obtain restoration of the rights they say have been infringed.
131. The internal legislation relating to Article 7 of the Convention is as follows.
(b) National Education Act (Congressional Decree No. 12-91)
(c) Anti-Illiteracy Act (Congressional Decree No. 43-86)
(d) Regulations of the Anti-Illiteracy Act
(1) Persons between 15 and 30 years of age.
(2) Persons between 31 and 45 years of age.
(3) Persons 46 years of age or over.
(e) Constitutional Law on the Expression of Opinion (Decree No. 9 of the Constituent Assembly of the Republic)
Commentary (Article 7)
132. The State of Guatemala fully recognizes the need for greater dissemination of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the United Nations Declaration on the Elimination of all Forms of Racial Discrimination. To this end, plans and programmes are currently being pushed forward at all levels of the population for the purpose of propagating and fostering education in human rights with a view to upholding tolerance of the social organization, linguistic expression and identity and respect for the traditions and customs of the various ethnic groups which make up Guatemalan society.
133. Similarly, the State of Guatemala is promoting and implementing policies of a cultural nature, such as folklore festivals and craft markets, intended to encourage the fraternal coexistence of the various ethnic groups which make up Guatemalan society. These events are accordingly the responsibility of institutions such as the Departmental Governor's Office, the Ministry of Culture and Sport, the Institute of Anthropology and History, the municipalities and the social and cultural organizations which sponsor events of this kind.
Whether the provisions of the Convention can be invoked before, or directly enforced by, the courts, other tribunals or administrative authorities or whether they must be transformed into internal laws or administrative regulations in order to be enforced by the authorities concerned
134. The pertinent internal legislation is as follows.
(l) Approve treaties, conventions or other international arrangements, before ratification, when:
(b) Amendments to the Constitution
Enactment of legislation
'Article 176. Introduction and discussion. After a draft law has been introduced, the procedure laid down in the Legislative Branch Organization and Rules of Procedure Act shall be followed. It shall be discussed at three meetings held on different days and may not be put to the vote until it is considered to have been sufficiently discussed at the third meeting. This shall not apply to cases which the Congress declares to be of national urgency by a favourable vote of two thirds of all the deputies members of the Congress.'
(a) To obey, and to secure obedience to the Constitution and the laws;
(c) To approve, promulgate and execute all laws and cause them to be executed, to issue decrees on subjects authorized by the Constitution, as well as decisions, regulations and orders with a view to the strict enforcement of the law, without modification of its spirit;
(g) To present draft laws to the Congress of the Republic;
(h) To exercise the right of veto with respect to laws passed by the Congress except in cases where the approval of the Executive is not required in conformity with the Constitution;
(i) To submit treaties and conventions of an international character and contracts and concessions relating to public services for the consideration or approval of the Congress before their ratification ...'."
Consequently, the provisions of the International Convention on the Elimination of all Forms of Racial Discrimination can be invoked before the courts, other tribunals or administrative authorities, but these provisions of international law must first be subjected to the process of enactment of legislation by the Congress of the Republic which, under the Constitution, must approve treaties, conventions and other international arrangements, before ratification, when they are to the advantage of the State of Guatemala. Once accepted and ratified, international legal instruments in the field of human rights become ipso facto part of Guatemalan internal legislation, constituting positive and relevant national law which can be invoked in accordance with Article 46 of the Constitution of the Republic and, in particular, takes precedence over internal law where human rights are concerned.