CAT/C/GTM/CO/5-6 The Committee recommends that the State party take effective measures to: (a) Ensure that impartial and effective investigations into all reports of torture and ill-treatment are carried out without delay, and that those responsible are tried and, if found guilty, punished in accordance with the seriousness of their acts; (b) Ensure that, in cases of alleged acts of torture or ill-treatment, the suspects are suspended immediately from their duties for the duration of the investigation; (c) Ensure that all persons deprived of their liberty enjoy in practice, and from the very beginning of their detention, all fundamental legal safeguards, including those set out in the Committee’s general comment No. 2 (2007) on the implementation of article 2 of the Convention by States parties; (d) Ensure that the police receive training on the obligations and responsibilities deriving from the Convention; (e) Ensure that all victims of torture or ill-treatment receive appropriate redress, including compensation and the means for their physical and psychological rehabilitation, in line with article 14 of the Convention and the Committee’s general comment No. 3 (2012) on the implementation of article 14 of the Convention; (f) Set up a centralized register of complaints, investigations, prosecutions and convictions in cases of torture or ill-treatment. Investigation of acts of torture and other serious human rights violations committed during the internal armed conflict 10. The Committee notes with interest the information provided by the State party about the investigations carried out and the convictions obtained in some of the actions brought for serious human rights violations committed during the internal armed conflict. However, it remains gravely concerned about the impunity which exists for most human rights violations carried out during this period, which include, according to the Commission for Historical Clarification, 626 massacres and the deaths or disappearances of over 200,000 people. The Committee highlights that, again according to the Commission, over 90 per cent of the human rights violations and acts of violence committed during this period appear to be attributable to the State and over 80 per cent to have been committed against the indigenous population. The Committee emphasizes that this impunity is a violation of international human rights law, the peace agreements and national legislation. The Committee highlights, in particular, the conviction of the former Head of State, Efraín Ríos Montt, for genocide and crimes against humanity on 10 May 2013, but cannot fail to note also that the decision was overturned by the Constitutional Court, reportedly on procedural grounds. In addition, the Committee is concerned that in the course of this trial certain parties, including high-ranking executive government officials, made statements to the effect that there was no genocide in Guatemala, which could have influenced the judiciary’s deliberations. The Committee is also concerned about reports that the Guatemalan army is not fully cooperating in the investigations. In addition, the Committee is concerned about reports of attacks and threats directed at people involved in the criminal proceedings, including those related to investigations into human rights violations (arts. 2, 12, 13, 14 and 16). The Committee reiterates its previous recommendation (para. 15) that the State party should fully apply the National Reconciliation Act, which, among other things, explicitly excludes any amnesty for perpetrators of the crimes of genocide, torture and enforced disappearance, as well as offences not subject to statutory limitations or extinction of criminal liability, in accordance with national legislation and the GE.13-44736 3

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