[Congressional Bills 110th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. Res. 178 Introduced in Senate (IS)]







110th CONGRESS
  1st Session
S. RES. 178

  Expressing the sympathy of the Senate to the families of women and 
girls murdered in Guatemala, and encouraging the United States to work 
            with Guatemala to bring an end to these crimes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                              May 1, 2007

Mr. Bingaman submitted the following resolution; which was referred to 
                   the Committee on Foreign Relations

_______________________________________________________________________

                               RESOLUTION


 
  Expressing the sympathy of the Senate to the families of women and 
girls murdered in Guatemala, and encouraging the United States to work 
            with Guatemala to bring an end to these crimes.

Whereas, since 2001, more than 2,000 women and girls have been murdered in 
        Guatemala;
Whereas most of the victims are women ranging in age from 18 to 30, with many of 
        the cases involving abduction, sexual violence, or brutal mutilation;
Whereas, from 2001 to 2006, the rate at which women have been murdered in 
        Guatemala has almost doubled, increasing at a higher rate than the 
        murder rate of men in Guatemala during the same period;
Whereas, according to data from Guatemala's Public Prosecutors Office, few 
        arrests and fewer convictions have occurred, and prosecutors, forensics 
        experts, and other state justice officials have not brought the 
        perpetrators to justice;
Whereas, from 2001 to 2006, there were only 20 convictions for the murders of 
        women and girls;
Whereas the Human Rights Ombudsman of the Government of Guatemala has reported 
        that in 1 year alone police officers were implicated on 10 separate 
        occasions in the murder of women in Guatemala, and recommended that such 
        officers and other officials be held accountable for their acts;
Whereas an effective, transparent, and impartial judicial system is key to the 
        administration of justice, and the failure to ensure proper 
        investigations and prosecutions hampers the ability to solve crimes and 
        punish perpetrators;
Whereas inadequate financial, human, and technical resources, as well as a lack 
        of forensic and technical expertise, have impeded the arrest and 
        prosecution of suspects;
Whereas the Special Prosecutor for Crimes Against Women of the Government of 
        Guatemala has reported that her office has reviewed approximately 800 
        incidents of domestic violence per month, with some of those cases 
        ending in murder, and that deaths could have been prevented if the legal 
        system of Guatemala provided for prison sentences in cases of domestic 
        violence;
Whereas the murders of women and girls in Guatemala have brought pain to the 
        families and friends of the victims as they struggle to cope with the 
        loss of their loved ones and the fact that the perpetrators of these 
        heinous acts remain unknown to the proper authorities;
Whereas many countries in Latin America face significant challenges in combating 
        violence against women, and international cooperation is essential in 
        addressing this serious issue;
Whereas the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) has 
        provided assistance to the Government of Guatemala to implement judicial 
        reform and rule of law programs, and in fiscal year 2006, Congress 
        provided $1,500,000 for programs to combat impunity, corruption, and 
        crimes of violence, of which $500,000 is to be allocated to strengthen 
        the special prosecutorial units charged with investigating the murders 
        of women in Guatemala;
Whereas the Government of Guatemala has undertaken efforts to prevent violence 
        against women, as evidenced by its ratification of the United Nations 
        Convention Against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading 
        Treatment or Punishment, done at New York December 10, 1984, the United 
        Nations Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination 
        Against Women, done at New York December 18, 1979, the Inter-American 
        Convention on the Prevention, Punishment, and Eradication of Violence 
        Against Women, done at Belem do Para, Brazil June 9, 1994, and other 
        international human rights treaties, and the enactment of laws and the 
        creation of state institutions to promote and protect the rights of 
        women;
Whereas the Government of Guatemala has created special police and prosecutorial 
        units to address the brutal murders of women in Guatemala;
Whereas, in June 2006, the Government of Guatemala successfully abolished the 
        ``Rape Law'' which had absolved perpetrators of criminal responsibility 
        for rape and certain other crimes of violence upon the perpetrator's 
        marriage with the victim;
Whereas legislators from various parties in Guatemala have joined lawmakers from 
        Mexico and Spain to form the ``Interparliamentary Network against 
        `Femicide''';
Whereas the Government of Guatemala and the United Nations recently entered into 
        an agreement to establish the International Commission Against Impunity 
        in Guatemala (CICIG), which has a mandate to investigate and promote the 
        prosecution of illegal security groups and clandestine security 
        organizations that function with impunity and are suspected of attacking 
        human rights defenders, justice officials, and other civil society 
        actors; and
Whereas continuing impunity for crimes against women is a threat to the rule of 
        law, democracy, and stability in Guatemala: Now, therefore, be it
    Resolved, That the Senate--
            (1) expresses its sincerest condolences and deepest 
        sympathy to the families of women and girls murdered in 
        Guatemala, and recognizes their courageous struggle in seeking 
        justice for the victims;
            (2) expresses the solidarity of the people of the United 
        States with the people of Guatemala in the face of these tragic 
        and senseless acts;
            (3) condemns the ongoing murders of women and girls in 
        Guatemala, and encourages the Government of Guatemala to act 
        with due diligence in order to promptly investigate these 
        killings, prosecute those responsible, and continue to work 
        toward eliminating violence against women;
            (4) urges the Government of Guatemala to recognize domestic 
        violence and sexual harassment as criminal acts and to provide 
        the resources and commitment necessary to strengthen the 
        integrity of the prosecutorial and judicial systems;
            (5) urges the President and the Secretary of State to 
        incorporate the investigative and preventative efforts of the 
        Government of Guatemala regarding the murder of women and girls 
        into the bilateral agenda between the Governments of Guatemala 
        and the United States;
            (6) encourages the Secretary of State to support efforts by 
        the Government of Guatemala to train and equip the special 
        police and prosecutorial units of the Government of Guatemala 
        to conduct thorough and proper investigations of crimes of 
        violence against women, and to implement judicial reform and 
        rule of law programs;
            (7) encourages the Secretary of State and the Attorney 
        General to provide assistance in establishing a comprehensive 
        missing persons system and an effective state protection 
        program for witnesses, victims' relatives, and human rights 
        defenders;
            (8) urges the Government of Guatemala to hold accountable 
        those law enforcement and judicial officials whose failure to 
        investigate and prosecute the murders adequately, whether 
        through negligence, omission, or abuse, has led to impunity for 
        these crimes;
            (9) encourages the Secretary of State to support efforts to 
        identify perpetrators and unknown victims through forensic 
        analysis, including assisting the Government of Guatemala in 
        adequately funding the National Institute for Forensic Science 
        (INACIF) and training lab personnel in investigatory and 
        evidence gathering protocols;
            (10) urges the Secretary of State--
                    (A) to express support for the efforts of the 
                victims' families and loved ones to seek justice for 
                the victims,
                    (B) to express concern relating to any harassment 
                of these families and the human rights defenders with 
                whom they work, and
                    (C) to express concern with respect to impediments 
                in the ability of the families to receive prompt and 
                accurate information in their cases;
            (11) encourages the Secretary of State to continue to 
        include in the Department of State's annual Country Reports on 
        Human Rights Practices all instances of improper investigatory 
        methods, threats against human rights activists, and the use of 
        torture with respect to cases involving the murder and 
        abduction of women and girls in Guatemala;
            (12) recommends that the United States Ambassador to 
        Guatemala continue to meet with the families of the victims, 
        women's rights organizations, and the officials of the 
        Government of Guatemala who are responsible for investigating 
        these crimes; and
            (13) recommends that the Secretary of State develop a 
        comprehensive plan to address and combat the growing problem of 
        violence against women in Latin America.
                                 <all>