US embassy cable - 04GUATEMALA2180

UNCLAS GUATEMALA 002180 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PHUM, PGOV, KCRM, SNAR, ASEC, GT 
SUBJECT: GOG LOOKING TO KEEP CICIACS ALIVE 
 
 
1.  The Ambassador met with Guatemalan Transparency and 
Political Reform Commissioner Mario Fuentes-Destarac on 
August 20 to discuss the GOG,s plans to revise CICIACS.  The 
Constitutional Court,s August 6 decision eliminated the 
possibility for an entirely independent CICIACS.  Since that 
decision, Fuentes-Destarac, Vice President Eduardo Stein, and 
Attorney General Juan Luis Florido have developed a new 
vision:  a &super-unit8 within the Public Ministry, led by 
a civil society nominee and possibly staffed by international 
experts.  Though the Executive is still hammering out the 
details, Fuentes-Destarac described to the Ambassador an 
organization that would still have the power to effectively 
investigate organized crime and clandestine groups but also 
observe the confines of the Court,s decision. 
Fuentes-Destarac assured the Ambassador that such an 
organization, functioning within the Public Ministry, would 
be able to solicit judicial orders for wire-taps (a tool that 
the UN and other international representatives believe is key 
to successful investigation of organized crime). 
 
2.  Fuentes-Destarac also discussed the Cabinet,s current 
efforts to broaden the definition of conspiracy charges and 
strengthen the penal code on such crimes in observance of the 
Palermo Protocol on Organized Crime.  The Executive hoped to 
present proposed legislation to the Congress during the first 
week of September. 
 
3.  Earlier in the week, the Ambassador met with three 
representatives from the Coalition for CICIACS:  Helen Mack, 
Claudia Samayoa, and Orlando Blanco.  At that time (and to 
date), the CICIACS Coalition had not yet met with the GOG to 
review possibilities for reform to the agreement.  Members 
were discouraged by the Court,s decision.  The human rights 
defenders proposed discontinuing the fight for CICIACS and 
working directly with the UN High Commission of Human Rights 
(which has signed an agreement with the GOG to open a office 
locally) to develop benchmarks for public institutions, 
guided by the Palermo Protocols.  Though the Ambassador 
agreed with the premise of the benchmarks, he also urged the 
group to first analyze the government,s proposal before 
leaving CICIACS behind. 
 
4.  Comment:  Civil society and international consultants 
designed CICIACS with the capability to work independently of 
the Public Ministry in a large part due to lack of confidence 
in former Attorney General Carlos de Leon.  The appointment 
of better-esteemed Juan Luis Florido changed the equation, 
and a CICIACS-type institution could now more effectively 
function within the Public Ministry.  Civil society remains 
disheartened, but the GOG is strategizing on alternatives to 
the original CICIACS agreement and should be allowed time to 
formulate a proposal.  The GOG will approach civil society 
and the United Nations after developing a new strategy. 
 
 
HAMILTON