Peace process gathering new momentum.

Secretary-General Boutros Boutros-Ghali hailed the Agreement on Social and Economic Aspects and Agrarian Situation in Guatemala between the Government and the Unidad Revolucionaria Nacional Guatemalteca (URNG), signed on 6 May, and declared that the Guatemalan peace process was "gathering new momentum".

The cessation of hostilities announced by both parties in March had continued and the suspension, as of 6 May, of the practice of "war tax" by the URNG would broaden support for the peace process within Guatemala, he stated. Advances in negotiations would, in turn, "facilitate the difficult struggle against impunity" to which the Government of President Alvaro Arzu was committed.

Better prospects for an early peace, Mr. Boutros-Ghali said, would also greatly enhance the impact and effectiveness of the UN Human Rights Verification Mission in Guatemala (MINUGUA), established on 19 September 1994 by General Assembly resolution 48/267.

In congratulating the parties on their achievements, the Secretary-General encouraged them to "build upon these developments as they begin consideration of the next item on the negotiations agenda, namely `Strengthening civilian power and the role of the army in a democratic society'".

Based on a "shared perception that conflict resolution is inseparable from significant change in social and economic policy", the parties had agreed on measures to: permit wider participation in decision-making at all levels; increase and redirect government spending towards social development; promote a more efficient and equitable agrarian structure; modernize public administration; and produce a sustained increase in public revenue.

"At the heart of the strategies outlined in the Agreement is the concept, consistent with the thinking of the United Nations, that enhanced social participation in policy-making is key both to improved social justice and to sustainable economic growth", the Secretary-General stated.

The Agreement-would enter into force with the signing of an Agreement on a Firm and Lasting Peace, which was to culminate the process of negotiations held under UN auspices since January 1994. At the parties' request and subject to UN authorization, MINUGUA would expand its activities to cover verification of all agreements reached, Mr. Boutros-Ghali said.

Praiseworthy steps

In welcoming the 20 March announcement by the URNG that it was "suspending temporarily offensive military operations" and the response of President Arzu, who was "issuing instructions to the Army to cease counter-insurgency operations", Secretary-General Boutros-Ghali on 21 March said those were "praiseworthy new steps" towards a "strengthening of the rule of law and a gradual demilitarization of political life" in Guatemala.

Those "very positive developments" would alleviate the suffering of the civilian population--a goal to which both parties are committed under the 29 March 1994 Comprehensive Agreement on Human Rights--the Secretary-General stated. They would no doubt build further the sense of mutual confidence that had characterized relations between the Government and the URNG, and create a "climate conducive to democratic changes and the conclusion of a just settlement of the armed confrontation", he stressed.

Disturbing situation

MINUGUA Director Leonardo Franco on 24 February reported (A/50/878) that"serious and repeated human rights violations" had been committed in Guatemala from 21 August to 31 December 1995, and the overall human rights situation there was "disturbing". The continued high level of violence and lack of public safety--some 959 people had been killed and 1,455 injured--was "one of the issues of greatest public concern", he stated. The Mission had received nearly 3,000 complaints about human rights violations, a 39 percent increase over the previous three-month period.

The Mission believed that "impunity was the main obstacle to the enjoyment of human rights" and that its persistence was attributable basically to the "absence of a State policy for combatting it, which prevented the identification and punishment of those responsible and heightened the public perception that justice cannot be obtained".

Nevertheless, there had been some positive steps, Mr. Franco noted, among them: the virtual cessation of forcible recruitment for military service; moderation in the use of force by the police and security forces; the army's tendency to show restraint in the armed conflict and its respect for the law in detaining some URNG members and turning them over to courts; the Interior Ministry's greater determination to investigate crimes; and guarantees given by the Government for the Mission's presence and the normal exercise of its mandate.

MINUGUA extended

The General Assembly on 3 April, in encouraging the Guatemalan parties to "strive for the earliest conclusion of a final peace agreement", renewed the MINUGUA mandate until 31 December 1996.

In adopting resolution 50/220, the Assembly also called upon the Government and the URNG to adopt "all necessary steps to eradicate the suffering of the civilian population, as well as measures aimed at building confidence between them".