[Congressional Record Volume 153, Number 121 (Thursday, July 26, 2007)]
[Senate]
[Page S10140]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




         INTERNATIONAL COMMISSION AGAINST IMPUNITY IN GUATEMALA

  Mr. LEAHY. Mr. President, last week, I spoke in this Chamber about 
the current debate underway in Guatemala concerning the International 
Commission Against Impunity in Guatemala, CICIG. In my brief remarks I 
recalled the 30 years of civil war that caused widespread atrocities 
against civilians, particularly Guatemala's Mayan population. A 
substantial majority of those killings and disappearances were 
perpetrated by Guatemalan security forces.
  Since the signing of the Peace Accords in 1996, most Guatemalans have 
tried to put the past behind them and rebuild their country. The United 
States and other donors have supported that effort.
  But key aspects of the Peace Accords remain unfulfilled, and there 
has been no justice for the families of the war's many victims. 
Meanwhile, gang violence, drug trafficking, brutal killings of women, 
and attacks against human rights defenders and others who speak out 
against corruption and impunity have increased exponentially and 
threaten the very foundations of Guatemala's fragile democracy.
  In recent years, the Guatemalan Government has worked with officials 
of the United Nations to draft the CICIG agreement, the latest version 
of which has been upheld by Guatemala's constitutional court.
  The CICIG is necessary to expose the truth about clandestine groups 
and to bring accountability for the violence. Far from weakening 
national sovereignty, CICIG will support Guatemala by helping to 
strengthen the capacity of the country's dysfunctional judicial system.
  On July 18, a majority of members of the International Relations 
Committee of the Guatemalan Congress, for reasons that only they can 
explain, voted against the CICIG agreement. Since then, several have 
changed their votes and I understand that on August 1 the full Congress 
will approve or reject the CICIG agreement or refer it to another 
committee.
  The question of whether to approve CICIG is, of course, a decision 
solely for Guatemala's Congress to make. But the importance of this 
historic decision cannot be overstated for U.S.-Guatemalan relations 
and for Guatemala's future.
  Guatemala, like many impoverished countries emerging from years of 
civil conflict, faces immense social, economic and political 
challenges. Without the support of countries like the United States in 
building its economy, promoting foreign investment and trade, and 
strengthening the institutions of democracy, Guatemala will lag behind 
its neighbors.
  Today, that support hangs in the balance.
  The Bush administration has voiced strong support for CICIG. The U.S. 
Congress has linked a resumption of U.S. assistance for the Guatemalan 
Armed Forces, in part, on approval of CICIG. In addition, I would be 
reluctant to support assistance for Guatemala to take part in any 
regional security initiative with the United States, unless CICIG is 
approved and supported. There is little point in trying to work with a 
government that fails to demonstrate a strong commitment to ending 
impunity and to combating gang violence and corruption, which have 
infiltrated the very institutions that would participate in such a 
strategy.
  CICIG is nothing less than a choice between the past and the future. 
Rejecting this historic initiative an outcome most Americans would find 
inexplicable would signal that the Guatemalan Congress is more 
interested in protecting the forces of evil, and in covering up the 
truth, than in ending the lawlessness that is taking Guatemala 
backwards.

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