International Commission against Impunity in Guatemala

The International Commission against Impunity in Guatemala (Spanish: Comisión Internacional contra la Impunidad en Guatemala, CICIG) is an international body charged with investigating and prosecuting serious crime in Guatemala. It was created on December 12, 2006, when the United Nations and Guatemala signed a treaty-level agreement setting up CICIG as an independent body to support the Public Prosecutor's Office (Procuraduría General de la Nación), the National Civilian Police (Policía Nacional Civil) and other state institutions in the investigation of sensitive and difficult cases. The ultimate goal of CICIG's work, is to strengthen national judicial institutions, to allow them to continue to confront illegal groups and organized crime in the future. The Commissioner in charge is Iván Velásquez Goméz.[1]

Objectives

CICIG's mandate consists of three principal objectives:

CICIG has the legal ability to support the Public Prosecutor's Office in criminal prosecutions, and participate as a complementary prosecutor (querellante adhesivo), in conformity with Guatemala's Code of Criminal Procedure. CICIG also has legal standing to make administrative complaints against public officials, in particular when the officials have committed acts intended to obstruct its mandate, and it can act as an interested third party in disciplinary procedures initiated against such officials.

In 2008, the General Assembly of the United Nations expressed in its resolution, “The situation in Central America: progress in fashioning a region of peace, freedom, democracy and development”, its appreciation to member states that supported the CICIG and urged them to continue their support. Moreover, the General Assembly expressed its appreciation to Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon for his continued assistance to the Commission and request him “to continue to do so in order that the Commission may successfully carry out its mandate and address the challenges that it faces”.[3]

On March 24, 2009, Guatemala's Minister of Foreign Relations, Haroldo Rodas, requested, through a personal letter addressed to the Secretary-General of the United Nations, the extension of CICIG's mandate for an additional two years. The extension was confirmed on April 15, 2009 when Secretary General Ban Ki-moon sent a personal response to the Minister of Foreign Relations, expressing the UN's desire to have CICIG continue its work supporting national institutions for another two years. In January, Guatemala's president Otto Pérez Molina announced that he would extend CICIG's mandate until the end of his term.[4] The mandate was renewed again in April 2015. The CICIG’S current mandate runs through 2017.[1]

Notable investigations

CICIG was instrumental in investigating the death of Rodrigo Rosenberg Marzano in 2009, which almost brought down the government of Álvaro Colom.[5]

CICIG had a major role in the La Linea corruption case investigation, leading to the resignations and arrests of Guatemala's President Otto Pérez Molina and Vice-President Roxana Baldetti.[6]

See also

References

  1. 1 2 "CICIG (International Commission against Impunity in Guatemala)". United Nations. U.N. Department of Political Affairs.
  2. ↑ "CICIG - Comisión Internacional contra la Impunidad en Guatemala - Mandate". www.cicig.org. Retrieved 2016-09-28.
  3. ↑ "Resolution adopted by the General Assembly on 10 November 2008". United Nations.
  4. ↑ Nicholas Casey (February 8, 2012). "U.N. Investigative Body to Stay in Guatemala". The Wall Street Journal. Retrieved 25 February 2012.
  5. ↑ David Grann (April 4, 2011). "A Murder Foretold". The New Yorker. Retrieved 11 June 2011.
  6. ↑ "Bad apples everywhere". The Economist. ISSN 0013-0613. Retrieved 2016-09-28.

External links

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