UN, Guatemala sign agreement to open human rights office

The United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights and Guatemala have agreed that a UN human rights office will be opened in the Central American country later this year to advise the government on strengthening civil liberties observance after decades of civil strife have left a legacy of social discrimination.

High Commissioner Louise Arbour and Foreign Minister Jorge Briz Abularach signed the agreement yesterday at UN Headquarters in New York and it will come into force after the Guatemalan Congress ratifies it, probably this spring, the High Commissioner's Office (OHCHR) said.

Guatemalan factions ended their conflict in 1996 and a team, the UN Verification Mission in Guatemala (MINUGUA), was put in place to monitor the peace process. It wrapped up its work last month, having stopped state-sponsored human rights violations and brought the military under control.

A report to the Security Council last September said, however, the country was beset by corruption, crime and a deep-seated legacy of social inequality and racism against the Maya, Xinca and Garifuna indigenous groups.

OHCHR said the office would assist with public education and training programmes for judges, law enforcement officers and lawyers, advise on how to adopt decisions by UN human rights bodies and help individuals and civil society understand what national and international recourse they had against abuses.