[Congressional Record Volume 165, Number 45 (Wednesday, March 13, 2019)]
[Senate]
[Page S1837]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                               GUATEMALA

  Mr. LEAHY. Mr. President, for the past dozen years, the International 
Commission against Impunity in Guatemala, with financial support from 
the United States and other countries, has worked in collaboration with 
Guatemala's Public Ministry. That partnership has enabled courageous 
Guatemalan prosecutors to investigate and bring to trial cases they 
never could have pursued without the international ``shield'' and 
assistance provided by CICIG. It has also enabled courageous 
constitutional court magistrates to defend Guatemala's weak judicial 
institutions. In a country where throughout its history high-ranking 
public officials, including senior military officers, and corporate 
elites have enjoyed near total impunity for corrupt acts and violent 
crimes, the Guatemalan people finally saw that justice is possible.
  Not surprisingly, that collaboration encountered fierce opposition 
from its inception. The same high-ranking officials and elites who 
feared becoming the targets of corruption investigations sought to 
curtail CICIG's role. Last year, that opposition culminated in 
President Morales expelling the CICIG commissioner and subsequently 
announcing that the agreement establishing CICIG would be terminated, 
effective immediately. That announcement was made, without warning, 
after months of negotiations between Guatemalan, UN, and U.S. officials 
on reforms requested by the Morales government, which would have 
established the position of Deputy Commissioner as well as certain 
reporting and oversight requirements.
  In response to that announcement, as well as other worrisome trends 
in Guatemala, last week Senator Cardin and I, along with 
Representatives Torres and McGovern, introduced legislation in the 
Senate and House entitled the ``Guatemala Rule of Law Accountability 
Act.'' Its purpose is to respond to the flagrant actions by the Morales 
government to subvert the rule of law, including its campaign against 
CICIG.
  In fact, the Morales government lacks authority to unilaterally 
curtail an agreement with the United Nations, a point that was made 
clear by the UN Secretary General. CICIG's mandate continues in effect 
until September 2019, at which point it may or may not be renewed. 
However, I am concerned that there are some, including at the UN, who 
believe CICIG should significantly reduce its activities and, for all 
intents and purposes, fade into the sunset. This would mean that, for 
the remaining 6 months of its current mandate, CICIG personnel would no 
longer attend trials or engage in further investigations. Essentially, 
CICIG would discontinue its public activities and its personnel would 
be limited to preparing for the shutdown that would presumably occur in 
September.
  This is extremely worrisome for several reasons. First, donors would 
be paying to simply keep the lights on. Second, CICIG would cease to 
function half a year before the end of its mandate. This would be an 
enormous waste of time and resources that could be used to continue 
pursuing important cases and to ensure their proper hand-off to the 
public ministry. Third, it would send a terrible message to the 
Guatemalan people, especially to the families of the victims.
  CICIG's work under Commissioner Ivan Velazquez has been important not 
only for Guatemala, but for all of Central America. There are still 
many cases under investigation. Abandoning these cases would be a grave 
mistake. It would signal that the Morales government's tactics of 
intimidation and obstruction of justice paid off. It would undermine 
future anticorruption efforts in Guatemala, as well as send a terrible 
message to anticorruption effort's in Honduras and fledgling efforts in 
El Salvador. The United Nations and the international community have a 
responsibility to do everything possible to prevent this result.
  On a related topic, the Guatemalan Congress is about to debate, for 
the third and final time, legislation to grant amnesty to former 
military personnel who are charged with or convicted of war crimes and 
crimes against humanity. If the amnesty legislation is approved, those 
serving prison sentences will reportedly be released within 24 hours. 
The Guatemalan Congress has long had a reputation for being corrupt, 
and absolving military officers who engaged in heinous crimes is 
clearly a payoff to obstruct justice and undermine the rule of law.
  We remember that Guatemala was ravaged by three decades of an 
internal armed conflict that included crimes of genocide. An estimated 
200,000 people, mostly rural Mayan villagers, were killed, and, 
according to the United Nations, more than 90 percent of those killings 
were committed by the army. The peace accords that ended that disaster 
were never implemented, and for decades, the victims of those crimes 
were denied justice. Now the Guatemalan Congress, with the support of 
President Morales, is on the verge of adding insult to injury by 
freeing the few army officers who were sent to prison. If that happens, 
the Guatemalan Government will join other pariah governments that fail 
to uphold their most sacred obligation to provide security and justice 
for their citizens.

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