MSG141G/01E GUATEMALA: Peace Talks Grind on as U.N. Prepares Observer Mission
GUATEMALA CITY, Nov 11 (IPS) - The United Nations Mission for the Verification of Human Rights in Guatemala will begin operations in coming weeks, while peace talks between the government and rebels continue without significant advances.
With more than 220 observers, the mission is designed to investigate violations of individual and civil rights since the Global Human Rights Agreement was signed on Mar. 29.
The mission was created within the framework of the U.N.- brokered peace talks between the government of President Ramiro de Leon and the Guatemalan National Revolutionary Unity (URNG).
The negotiations, held in Mexico, seek to end more than three decades of armed conflict that have left 150,000 people dead and forced more than one million to flee their homes.
Begun in April 1991, the talks were reinitiated in January of this year after being stalled for eight months.
Since then, both sides have agreed to sign the human rights agreement, as well as another on resettlement of displaced persons. In addition, a commission was created to investigate human rights violations committed during the war.
A major obstacle to consensus so far has been the government's refusal of a URNG demand for substantial changes in the state's relationship with and attitude toward indigenous groups.
Before the next round of talks, to be held Nov. 27-30, URNG and government representatives will hold preliminary meetings to analyse certain issues and seek possible points of agreement.
Debate has revolved around the political, social and economic rights of Guatemala's indigenous groups, which constitute 60 percent of the population of the Central American nation.
Indigenous rights are one of the fundamental points on an agenda established on Mar. 28, defining the issues still to be discussed. The agenda was developed in hopes of reaching an agreement before the end of the year, but both sides have since acknowledged that this is unlikely to occur.
The rebels' demands include demilitarisation of indigenous communities and the right of ethnic groups to political autonomy within Guatemala and participation in government decisions.
Other points to be discussed include agrarian issues, the role of the army, constitutional and electoral reform and the reintegration of former combatants into the political sphere.
The URNG has claimed that the government's failure to comply with the Global Human Rights Agreement has kept the talks from progressing, denouncing recent increases in legal and human rights violations.
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