US embassy cable - 04GUATEMALA2840

UNCLAS GUATEMALA 002840 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SENSITIVE 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PHUM, PGOV, GT 
SUBJECT: GUATEMALA:  UN OPEN TO PROPOSALS FOR AN ALTERED 
CICIACS 
 
REF: A. GUATEMALA 1929 AND PREVIOUS 
 
     B. GUATEMALA 2180 
 
1. (U) Summary:  Attorney General Juan Luis Florido met with 
UN/DPA representative Martha Doggett on October 28 to discuss 
his proposal for a new Special Prosecutor on Organized Crime 
and Clandestine Groups, designed to complement an eventual 
CICIACS.  According to Doggett, who spoke to PolOff November 
4, she referred Florido to other UN agencies for the type of 
technical assistance that he requested.  The UN remains open 
to Guatemalan plans to redesign CICIACS to work within the 
confines of the Constitutional Court's August 6 ruling (Ref 
A).   PolOff met with Frank LaRue, Chief of the President's 
Commission on Human Rights (COPREDEH) on November 5, who said 
that President Berger had authorized at least three 
Guatemalan institutions to develop alternative CICIACS 
proposals and that the President would choose the Executive's 
unified strategy from among these.  End Summary. 
 
2.  (SBU) Attorney General Florido proposed to Doggett that 
the UN offer technical assistance to a new CICIACS-model 
Special Prosecutor's Office on Organized Crime and 
Clandestine Groups (note:  the Public Ministry, i.e. Attorney 
General's Office, already has one office specifically 
dedicated to organized crime).  When asked how this new unit 
would differ from other existing units on human rights, 
corruption, and organized crime, Florido stated that it would 
investigate clandestine groups.  To Doggett, Florido did not 
clearly distinguish between the existing entities in the 
Ministry and his proposal.  Florido clarified to Doggett that 
he intended this assistance to eventually complement a 
redesigned CICIACS, not replace it, since CICIACS itself 
would take at least several years to negotiate and establish. 
 He made no proposed changes to CICIACS itself. 
 
3.  (U) Doggett told Florido that several UN bodies with 
specific expertise offer technical assistance, including the 
UNDP, UNODC (Office on Drugs and Crime), and UNHCHR.  She 
recommended that he speak further directly with these 
agencies about his idea.  (Comment:  DPA was originally 
designated to handle the UN negotiations on CICIACS because 
it oversees MINUGUA, but Doggett told PolOff that her office 
could not work on other technical projects.) 
 
4.  (SBU) The agreement between the UN and GOG to establish 
CICIACS will expire at the end of 2004.  In addition to 
Florido's proposal, the head of SAE (Secretariat of Strategic 
Analysis) called DPA and said that he had been tasked with 
redrafting CICIACS.  Overall, Doggett expressed confusion 
about who in the Government was in charge of CICIACS and 
frustration that, while Berger has expressed determination in 
several meetings with the UN to redesign CICIACS following 
the Court's decision, the Executive has not yet returned with 
a plan.  However, she tempered her frustration with the 
assertion that the UN would still be interested, at the 
political level, when the GOG did present a unified proposal. 
 
 
5.  (SBU) On November 5, head of COPREDEH, Frank LaRue, told 
PolOff that Florido's proposal to the UN was his alone and 
did not represent the Executive's position.  According to 
LaRue, Berger has authorized at least three agencies, 
including the Public Ministry, SAE, and COPREDEH, to develop 
new strategies for CICIACS.  Berger plans to evaluate the 
proposals in December.  LaRue will propose a Guatemalan 
Special Prosecutor who works within the Public Ministry, but 
is supported by international staff. 
 
6.  (SBU) Comment:  The UN can easily extend the deadline for 
CICIACS before year's-end or reopen it in 2005.  Even more, 
they're willing to do so if the Berger Administration 
continues to demonstrate determination to create CICIACS and 
presents a well thought-out and cohesive strategy for 
revising the proposal. 
HAMILTON