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2nd UPR session
Date of review: 6 May 2008
Date of report adoption: 29 May 2008
Document number: A/HRC/8/38
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SUMMARY SOGIESC issues during Guatemala’s 1st UPR review |
I. SOGIESC issues/recommendations identified by NGOs
Right to life, liberty and security of the person
14. […] HRW [Human Rights Watch] mentioned a case in December 2006 where one transgender woman was murdered and another was critically wounded, when gunned down on the street in the centre of Guatemala City by men wearing police uniforms and riding police motorcycles. HRW quotes information from a local NGO working on LGBT rights stating that there have been no prosecutions in any of these cases to date.
Right to privacy, marriage and family life
29. HRW mentioned that in 2007 Guatemalan legislators proposed a bill that would bar single parents as well as same-sex couples from the definition of “family”, and which threatens the legal status of children conceived through reproductive technologies. The “Integral Protection for Marriage and Family Act” would declare that the nearly 40 per cent of Guatemalan families that are not nuclear – consisting of father, mother, and children – are not families at all. A congressional vote on the bill remains pending.
II. Excerpts on SOGIESC issues from the national report
No references.
III. Excerpts on SOGIESC issues by UN agencies
Right to life, liberty and security of the person
11. The Special Rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary and arbitrary executions reported, inter alia, that a number of violent phenomena afflict Guatemala, including social cleansing, the rapidly rising killing of women, lynching, the killing of persons for their sexual identity or orientation and the killing of human rights defenders and prison violence.
IV. References to SOGIESC issues during the Working Group review
28. Slovenia […] recommended that Guatemala put an end to impunity for reported attacks against members of marginalized communities, including on the grounds of sexual orientation and gender identity, and put in operation awareness-raising efforts in that respect, targeted particularly at law enforcement officials and the judiciary.
43. The Czech Republic asked about specific measures to ensure protection against violence for human rights defenders and people under attack because of their sexual orientation and gender identity. It asked about measures to strengthen the investigative capacity of police and the independent functioning of the judiciary to eliminate impunity. The Czech Republic recommended the adoption of further measures to end impunity for attacks against human rights defenders and against persons because of their sexual orientation or gender identity. It recommended that the measures include specific education and awareness raising programmes for law enforcement, judicial and other authorities, which focus, inter alia, on protection of enjoyment of human rights by persons of minority sexual orientation and gender identity.
62. Australia noted with concern reports by the Special Representative of the Secretary General that the number and intensity of attacks against human rights defenders had increased significantly, and referred to the reports of the Special Rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary and arbitrary executions that a number of violent phenomena afflict Guatemala, including the killing of women and persons for their sexual identity or orientation. Australia recommended that the Government ensure that reports of killings, threats, attacks and acts of intimidation against human rights defenders are thoroughly and promptly investigated and those responsible brought to justice. It also recommended to the Government to ensure the effective and independent investigations into all reports of torture and extrajudicial executions by members of the security forces.
64. [Switzerland] further recommended that a law be developed that would criminalize discrimination based on social origin, racial hatred and acts of violence against indigenous; that the national human rights commission commit itself fully to the improvement of indigenous rights; and that Guatemala take all necessary measures to fight against femicide and the lynching and killings of persons based on their sexual orientation
V. Conclusions and/or recommendations
Guatemala accepted the following recommendations:
16. Take all the necessary measures to fight against femicide and the lynching and killings of persons based on their sexual orientation (Switzerland);
35. Put an end to impunity for reported attacks against members of marginalized communities, including on the grounds of sexual orientation and gender identity, as well as to put in operation awareness-raising efforts in that respect, targeted particularly at law enforcement officials and the judiciary (Slovenia);
36. Adopt further measures to end impunity for attacks against human rights defenders and against persons because of their sexual orientation or gender identity, including specific education and awareness raising programmes for law enforcement, judicial and other authorities, which focus, inter alia, on protection of enjoyment of human rights by persons of minority sexual orientation and gender identity (Czech Republic).
VI. Further information
You will find all documents relating to Guatemala’s first review at UPR-Info and OHCHR’s websites.