E/CN.4/1990/17 page 56 III. VISITS BY THE SPECIAL RAPPORTEUR A. Visit tP Guatemala 1. Introduction 173. The Special Rapporteur visited Guatemala from 18 to 24 September 1989, in response to an invitation extended to him on 31 August 1988 by the Government of that country. During his visit the Special Rapporteur was received by the President of the Republic, Mr. Marco Vinicio Cerezo Arevalo. He was also received by the Minister for Foreign Affairs, Mr. Alfonso Cabrera Hidalgo, and held discussions with the Minister of the Interior, Mr. Roberto Valle Valdizan, the Vice-Minister for Foreign Affairs, Mr. Ariel Ribera, the Vice-Minister of Defence, Brigade General Raul Molina Bedoya, the President of the Supreme Court of Justice, Mr. Edmundo Vasquez Martinez, the Attorney-General and head of the Public Prosecutor's Office, Mr. Rodolfo Cardenas Villagran, the Director General of the National Police, Colonel Giovanni Valerio Cardenas, the President of the Advisory Commission on Human Rights Matters (COPADEH), Mrs. Ileana del Rosaio Acuna, the President of the Human Rights Commission of Congress, Mr. Hector Mayora Dawe, and the Vice-Chairman of the Commission, Mr. Victor Hugo Godoy, and the Deputy Procurator for Human Rights, Mr. Angel Alfredo Figueroa. He also met with the Metropolitan Archbishop, Monsignor Prospero Penados del Barrio. 174. The Special Rapporteur also met with representatives of several non-governmental organizations and other organizations and groups concerned with the situation of human rights in Guatemala. Some of these organizations are based outside the country and, in order to be informed by them of their concerns, the Special Rapporteur held a series of meetings in San Jose, Costa Rica, on 16 and 17 September 1989. Such meetings were held with representatives of the Asociacion Centroamericana de Familiares de Detenidos Desaparecidos (ACAFADE) (Central American Association of Relatives of Disappeared Persons), the Comision de Derechos Humanos de Guatemala (Human Rights Commission of Guatemala), the Comision para la Defensa de los Derechos Humanos en Centroamerica (CODEHUCA), the Comite Pro Paz y Justicia Mexico, and the Unified Representation of the Guatemalan Opposition. In Guatemala, the Special Rapporteur met with representatives of the Grupo de Apoyo Mutuo (Mutual Support Group - GAM) (Mrs. Nineth de Garcia), the Centro de Investigaciones, Estudio y Promocion de Derechos Humanos (CIEPRODH) (Mr. Factor Mendez) and an indigenous population organization, the Consejo de Comunidades Etnicas "Runujel Junam" (Mr. Amilcar Mendez). He also met members of a delegation of the Human Rights Commission of Guatemala (Mrs. Ana Antonia Reyes), who had returned to the country to participate in the "National Dialogue for Reconciliation", members of the Peace Brigades International, and Mr. Sagastuma Gemmell, a United Nations Expert on education in the field of human rights. 175. On 22 September 1989 the Special Rapporteur visited the prison of Pavon (Granja Penal de Pavon). He was briefed by the Director of the prison and the Director-General of the national penitentiary system. The various wings of the prison were visited, including those destroyed in the fire during the prisoners' riot in March 1989 and those built to replace them. The Special Rapporteur visited class-rooms, the clinic and the solitary confinement cells, which were said not to have been used for quite some