Guatemala: Information on the practice of recruitment by the Guatemalan National Revolutionary Unity (URNG), 1991-96
| Publisher | Canada: Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada |
| Author | Research Directorate, Immigration and Refugee Board, Canada |
| Publication Date | 1 February 1996 |
| Citation / Document Symbol | GTM23017.E |
| Cite as | Canada: Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada, Guatemala: Information on the practice of recruitment by the Guatemalan National Revolutionary Unity (URNG), 1991-96, 1 February 1996, GTM23017.E, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/3ae6ab313f.html [accessed 17 September 2023] |
| Disclaimer | This is not a UNHCR publication. UNHCR is not responsible for, nor does it necessarily endorse, its content. Any views expressed are solely those of the author or publisher and do not necessarily reflect those of UNHCR, the United Nations or its Member States. |
Further to Responses to Information Requests GTM20159.E of 24 April 1995, GTM22268.E of 30 November 1995, GTM22269.E of 1 December 1995 and previous ones describing guerrilla activities, only one recent specific reference to forced collaboration with the Guatemalan National Revolutionary Unity (URNG) was found among the sources consulted by the DIRB. The second report of the United Nations Mission for the Verification of Human Rights and of Compliance with the Commitments of the Comprehensive Agreement on Human Rights in Guatemala (MINUGUA) states that on 10 April 1995 a group of peasants in Alta Verapaz was forced by armed URNG members to cut down trees to block a roadway (29 June 1995, 18). The peasants were "then obliged to listen to an hour-long talk and demanded a 'voluntary' donation" (ibid.).
Various sources, including the above-cited report (31), Country Reports 1993 (Feb. 1994, 453), the Human Rights Watch World Reports for 1993 and 1995 (1994, 100; 1996, 95) and the Guatemalan Human Rights Commission (Feb. 1994, 50-52), report the participation of minors in URNG guerrilla columns. However, none of these sources indicate whether the minors' recruitment was forced.
This Response was prepared after researching publicly accessible information currently available to the DIRB within time constraints. This Response is not, and does not purport to be, conclusive as to the merit of any particular claim to refugee status or asylum.
References
Country Reports on Human Rights Practices for 1993. February 1994. United States Department of State. Washington, DC: United States Government Printing Office.
Guatemalan Human Rights Commission. February 1994. Report to the Human Rights Commission of the United Nations Organization, 50th Session. Mexico D.F.: Guatemalan Human Rights Commission.
Human Rights Watch (HRW). 1995. Human Rights Watch 1996. New York: Human Rights Watch.
_____. 1993. Human Rights Watch World Report 1994. New York: Human Rights Watch.
United Nations. General Assembly. 29 June 1995. (A/49/929). The Situation in Central America: Procedures for the Establishment of a Firm and Lasting Peace and Progress in Fashioning a Region of Peace, Freedom, Democracy and Development.