Press Statement

November 11, 2003

Former Guatemalan Dictator, Ríos Montt, Third Place in Elections; Will Lose Immunity; Candidates in Run-Off Must Promise to Fulfill Peace Accords and End Impunity.

On November 9th, over half the voting population turned out for Guatemala’s general elections and rejected the Guatemalan Republican Front’s (FRG) presidential candidate, former military dictator Efraín Ríos Montt. By early Tuesday evening, the Supreme Electoral Tribunal (TSE) had tallied 96% of the vote. Based on the TSE’s figures, presidential candidates Oscar Berger, of the Great National Alliance party (GANA), and Alvaro Colom, of the National Unity for Hope party (UNE), will move forward to the second round on December 28th, having obtained 35% and 27% of the vote, respectively.

“Despite FRG attempts to guarantee Ríos Montt’s election through bribery, vote buying, and intimidation, on November 9th, the Guatemalan people said ‘Enough.’ It’s time Ríos Montt pays for the atrocities that took place under his leadership twenty years ago. His electoral defeat finally makes his prosecution for genocide and crimes against humanity viable,” said Sarah Aird, Executive Director of NISGUA.

Nevertheless, Guatemala’s future remains uncertain. “For the last four years, State personnel at the highest levels have been involved in rampant corruption, abuse of State funds, and the burgeoning of organized crime. With crime and human rights abuses on the rise, and more than half the Guatemalan population living below the poverty line, the incoming president will need to focus on meeting the needs of the Guatemalan people if he wants to avert complete social chaos,” explained Aird.

It will be particularly important to keep a sharp eye on the entering government to ensure it addresses longstanding issues of impunity. In this respect, the second round of elections is worrisome. “The two leading candidates have ties to the military, organized crime, and ‘parallel powers,’” noted Matthew Kennis, National Organizer at NISGUA. “The international community, in cooperation with Guatemalan organizations, must be vigilant so that Guatemalan State promises to dismantle the notorious Presidential General Staff (EMP) and uphold the Peace Accords are not reneged,” said Kennis. “It is also vital that the incoming administration support the creation of a special United Nations investigative commission (CICIACS) to identify and prosecute individuals involved in human rights violations, drug trafficking, organized crime, and corruption,” he added.