93
D.4.1. Training for members of the Guatemalan Army
310. The Commission asked the Court to order the State to implement permanent programs on
human rights and international humanitarian law in the training schools of the Armed Forces. The
representatives did not refer to this point in their pleadings and motions brief. 364
311. The State pointed out that the Ministry of National Defense of Guatemala is member of the
Conference of Central American Armed Forces (CFAC), created in 1997 by a Presidential
Agreement of the Presidents of Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras and Nicaragua, as an
international military organization. CFAC participates in the Graduate School on Human Rights
and International Humanitarian Law (EGDHDIH), which is a dependency of the Secretariat of
State of the Armed Forces of the Dominican Republic and imparts courses on these subjects. In
turn, the Ministry of National Defense of Guatemala, as a member of the CFAC, participates in
this School. It also mentioned the participation of “members of the Advanced Warfare Course of
the Guatemalan Army,” of the Polytechnic School of the Guatemalan Army and of senior officers
of the High Command of Army Education, in courses on human rights and humanitarian law. In
its final written arguments, it also indicated that “personnel of the Committee of the Red Cross,
in coordination with the General Directorate of Human Rights and International Humanitarian Law
of the Ministry of National Defense,” implement a workshop for commanding officers in the Army.
312. In this case, the serious human rights violations established by the Court were perpetrated
by the Guatemalan Army and other members of the State security forces (supra paras. 148 and
160). In this regard, the Court considers it pertinent to recall that it is crucial that human rights
education programs are implemented effectively within the security forces and have an impact in
order to create guarantees of non-repetition of events such as those of the instant case. Such
programs must be reflected in preventive actions and results that demonstrate their
effectiveness, and should be evaluated using appropriate indicators. 365
313. In the instant case, the State reported on the courses imparted to members of the
Guatemalan Army; however, it did not provide documents to support this information, to establish
the duration of the courses or to indicate how many members of its armed forces receive such
training. Therefore, the Court orders the State to include training in human rights and
international humanitarian law on a permanent basis in the curricula of the different centers for
vocational and professional training of all branches of the Guatemalan Army. This training must
be implemented within one year and be directed at all ranks of the Guatemalan Army, with the
requirement to eradicate racial and ethnic discrimination, racial and ethnic stereotypes, and
violence against indigenous peoples, in light of international standards on the matter and the
Court’s jurisprudence on serious human rights violations, particularly in Guatemalan cases.
D.4.2. Strengthening the capacity of the judiciary and the Public Prosecutor’s Office to
investigate the facts and punish those responsible
314. The Commission asked the Court to order the State to strengthen the capacity of the
judiciary to adequately and efficiently investigate the facts and punish those responsible, including
the material and technical resources necessary to ensure the proper conduct of the proceedings.
The representatives did not refer to this point in their pleadings and motions brief. 366
364
In their final written arguments, the representatives extemporaneously requested that the Court order the State to
strengthen its institutional capacities through the training of members of the armed forces.
365
Cf. Case of Goiburú et al. v. Paraguay. Monitoring Compliance with Judgment. Order of the Inter-American Court of
Human Rights of November 19, 2009, Considering paragraph 49, and Case of Massacres of El Mozote and Nearby Places
v. El Salvador, para. 368.
366
In their final written arguments, the representatives extemporaneously requested that the Court order the State
strengthen its institutional capacities through the training of judges and prosecutors.