US embassy cable - 03GUATEMALA1535

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 GUATEMALA 001535 
 
SIPDIS 
 
LIMA FOR WILL SMITH 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 06/16/2013 
TAGS: PHUM, PREL, KJUS, GT, UN, OAS 
SUBJECT: HELEN MACK'S TAKE ON JUSTICE, POLITICS, AND CICIACS 
 
REF: GUATEMALA 1191 
 
Classified By: Human Rights Officer Katharine Read, reasons 1.5 (b & d) 
. 
 
1. (C) Summary:  On June 13, Helen Mack had breakfast at the 
residence with the Ambassador and Human Rights Officer to 
discuss the Supreme Court appeal in her case set for June 19, 
the latest political alliance between Oscar Berger and 
Eduardo Stein, the mixed commission to investigate 
clandestine groups (CICIACS), and other reform-minded 
proposals.  End Summary. 
 
Mack Appeal Hits Supreme Court 
------------------------------ 
2. (C) Helen Mack informed us that on June 19 the Supreme 
Court will hear her appeal of the Fourth Appeals Court's May 
7, 2003, decision to annul the October 3, 2002 conviction of 
Juan Valencia Osorio for ordering the murder of Helen's 
sister Myrna Mack (reftel).  The Ambassador asked Mack if she 
would like him to attend the appeal, and she answered that 
she always appreciates his presence and support.  The 
Ambassador promised to attend the oral appeal on June 19, and 
to rally the international community's support by calling his 
Ambassadorial-level colleagues.  (Initial results of these 
calls indicate we can get a good turnout.) 
 
3. (C) Mack told the Ambassador that ret. General Rios Montt 
told her directly that her case would not result in a 
conviction, but that the Gerardi murder case would, 
ultimately.  Mack opined that this was because her sister's 
murder was part of the GOG's counterinsurgency policies 
during the internal conflict, while Bishop Gerardi was 
allegedly murdered by renegade Presidential Military Staff 
(EMP) officers in 1998, after the signature of the Peace 
Accords.  Comment: It seems strange that Rios Montt would 
speak so boldly about outcomes that imply FRG/Army influence, 
but Mack says he did. 
 
Political Shuffling 
------------------- 
4. (C) Mack told the Ambassador that she favored the 
incorporation of Eduardo Stein into the Alianza GANA with 
Presidential hopeful Oscar Berger.  She also said that the 
presence of retired General Otto Perez Molina in a Berger 
government might be an important inside ally in the cleansing 
of corrupt GOG institutions and clandestine structures. 
 
CICIACS 
------- 
5. (C) Mack said that Peruvian prosecutor Jose Ugaz, who 
visited here in May, offered three thoughts as to what's 
needed to make the CICIACS successful: political buy-in; able 
investigators and sources; and adequate anticorruption laws 
on which to base investigations and prosecutions.  The humans 
rights NGOs have pitched the idea to many of the opposition 
parties effectively, and believe that they will be able to 
obtain political support from the new GOG.  The technical 
team from the UN is slated to come to Guatemala in late June 
or early July, and the NGOs hope that they will recommend 
able experts. 
 
6. (C) Mack said Ugaz recommended that the Guatemalans should 
look at the new Peruvian anticorruption laws as potential 
models for the laws that would be necessary to support the 
CICIACS.  The Ambassador pledged to coordinate with Embassy 
Lima to obtain the legal texts and share them with the human 
rights community.  (See Hamilton email to WSmith.) 
 
Other Reforms 
------------- 
7. (C) Concerned with what she believes is Attorney General 
De Leon's corruption, Mack said the human rights community is 
considering mounting a case against him.  She said that in 
the case of De Leon, Guatemala is responsible for 
"prosecuting the prosecutor."  In a separate project, Mack 
also wants to work with the National Endowment for Democracy 
(NED) to study how to incorporate reforms into the long-term 
planning of judicial institutions and how to create oversight 
mechanisms that can monitor the budgets of the Public 
Ministry, Police, and Courts. 
 
Comment 
------- 
8. (C) We continue to believe that showing public support for 
justice in the Mack case is crucial to the respect of human 
rights in Guatemala, and the Ambassador will attend the June 
19 hearing.  We also believe Mack's proposal for establishing 
mechanisms to monitor implementation of the judicial sector 
budget could represent a major advance in promoting judicial 
integrity.  We will look for additional ways to assist local 
NGO's and the GOG in getting CICIACS up and running. 
HAMILTON