JOINT MOTION FOR A RESOLUTION
14.3.2007
- –José Ignacio Salafranca Sánchez-Neyra, Bernd Posselt and Charles Tannock, on behalf of the PPE-DE Group
- –Pasqualina Napoletano, Raimon Obiols i Germà, Elena Valenciano Martínez-Orozco and Emilio Menéndez del Valle, on behalf of the PSE Group
- –Marios Matsakis, Danutė Budreikaitė, Frédérique Ries and Arūnas Degutis, on behalf of the ALDE Group
- –Michał Tomasz Kamiński, Adam Bielan, Mirosław Mariusz Piotrowski, Hanna Foltyn-Kubicka, Ryszard Czarnecki, Mieczysław Edmund Janowski, Eugenijus Maldeikis and Wojciech Roszkowski, on behalf of the UEN Group
- –Raül Romeva i Rueda, Eva Lichtenberger, Alain Lipietz, Monica Frassoni and Friedrich-Wilhelm Graefe zu Baringdorf, on behalf of the Verts/ALE Group
- –Willy Meyer Pleite, André Brie, Giusto Catania and Marco Rizzo, on behalf of the GUE/NGL Group
- –PSE (B6‑0101/2007)
- –PPE-DE (B6‑0104/2007)
- –UEN (B6‑0106/2007)
- –GUE/NGL (B6‑0107/2007)
- –ALDE (B6‑0111/2007)
- –Verts/ALE (B6‑0116/2007)
European Parliament resolution on Guatemala
The European Parliament,
- having regard to its previous resolutions on Guatemala, and in particular those of 18 May 2000, 14 June 2001, 11 April 2002, 10 April 2003, 7 July 2005, and 26 October 2006 on the proceedings against Rios Montt,
- having regard to the agreement signed on 12 December 2006 between the Government of Guatemala and the United Nations aiming at the establishment of an International Commission of Inquiry against impunity in Guatemala (CICIG),
- having regard to its firm and permanent commitment to ensuring respect for the peace agreements and for human rights in Guatemala,
- having regard to the Framework Agreement for Political Dialogue and Cooperation between the EU and Central America,
- having regard to the position expressed by the Central American Parliament on the assassinations of three Central American parliamentarians,
- having regard to Rule 115(5) of its Rules of Procedure,
A. whereas, on 19 February 2007, three Members of the Central American Parliament, the Salvadoreans Eduardo D'Aubuisson, William Pichinte and Ramón González Rivas, as well as their driver, Gerardo Ramírez, were brutally murdered as they were driving towards the PARLACEN plenary meeting, and their charred and abandoned corpses were found near Guatemala City,
B. whereas the alleged authors of these crimes (Luis Arturo Herrera López, José Estuardo López, José Adolfo Gutiérrez and Marvin Escobar Méndez), who held positions of responsibility in the Division of Criminal Investigation (DINC) in the Police Department of Guatemala, were subsequently killed in the high-security prison where they were being held, in bizarre circumstances which have still not been clarified,
C. whereas there are suspicions that these killings responded to an attempt to hamper the investigations aimed at discovering the intellectual authors of the murder of the members of PARLACEN;
D. whereas television journalists who covered the murder of the four police officers have been receiving death threats after broadcasting their report,
E. whereas, according to human rights experts, several thousands of homicides are committed every year in Guatemala but arrests are made in only 2% of cases; whereas trade unionists (such as Pedro Zamora in Puerto Quetzal), peasant leaders and their families have also been killed earlier this year, and threats, breaking and entering and burglaries are being suffered by witnesses of the cases of genocide under investigation, as well as by the legal representatives of the victims of genocide and by different human rights organisations,
F. whereas Vice-President Eduardo Stein has admitted how difficult it is to fight organised crime when it is deeply entrenched in the public institutions themselves; whereas this case highlights the extent to which organised crime has penetrated the Guatemalan police, the growth of an atmosphere of impunity, and the deterioration of public safety, and this points to the need to assume political responsibility,
1. Expresses its total repudiation of all the murders concerned, and transmits its condolences to the victims' relatives;
2. Expects the Guatemalan government to guarantee full independence, liberty and security to the Guatemalan judicial authorities in their investigation of these crimes; calls for the full cooperation of the political, judicial and police authorities in Guatemala and El Salvador in the investigation of the events;
3. Urges the Parliament of Guatemala to ratify the agreement signed on 12 December 2006 by the Government of Guatemala with the United Nations setting up an International Commission of Inquiry against Impunity in Guatemala (CICIG);
4. Calls on the European Union and the Government of Guatemala to summon the Consultative Group with the donor countries in order to support the implementation of the CICIG and promote a national dialogue against impunity;
5. Urges the Parliament of Guatemala to ratify the Statute on the International Criminal Court and to adapt the internal legislation according to the obligations derived from the Rome statute and other relevant international legislation;
6. Calls on the Government of Guatemala to adopt measures to protect the judicial agents, the victims of crimes against humanity who are seeking justice, the human rights activists, and the witnesses who can help the trials progress;
7. Welcomes the restructuring and purge of the security forces introduced by the government;
8. Expresses its support for the Guatemalan people and authorities, with a view to their continuing to uphold the rule of law and foster economic, social and political development, which will contribute to peace and national reconciliation;
9. Urges the Commission to strengthen, in the cooperation strategy with Guatemala for the period 2007-2013, the promotion of the rule of law, the fight against impunity, full respect for human rights, and support for the Government of Guatemala in capacity building of its security forces on the basis of human safety criteria;
10. Stresses that it is absolutely necessary that the authorities in the country where PARLACEN has its seat should act to ensure the safety and guarantee the physical integrity of the Members of the Central American Parliament and its meetings;
11. Instructs its President to forward this resolution to the Council, the Commission, the Governmernts of Guatemala, El Salvador and the other countries of Central America, and the Central American Parliament.