The following information is in addition to that found in GTM31395.FE of 5 March 1999.

In a 6 May 1999 telephone interview with the Research Directorate, the general coordinator for the Alliance of Young Indigenous Conscientious Objectors of the National Coordination of Guatemalan Widows (CONAVIGUA) in Guatemala City stated that by law, the Military Code establishes the death penalty as a penalty for desertion during times of war, however, in practice, this penalty has not been imposed for several years. According to the general coordinator, a soldier who had deserted the Armed Forces in 1993 and then fled to Mexico in exile was assassinated upon his return home to the Department of Huehuetenango in 1994. He stated that this was the most recent case of a deserter being killed, but could not provide any additional information on this case.

Since the signing of the Peace Accords in December 1996, the general coordinator has not heard of any cases where deserters faced problems upon returning to Guatemala.

The director of the Training Program for Public Defence (Proyecto de Capacitación de la Defensa) at the Institute of Comparative Studies in Penal Sciences (Instituto de Estudios Comparados en Ciencias Penales) in Guatemala City provided the following information during a 10 May 1999 telephone interview.

Currently, there are no known cases of persons who had deserted the Armed Forces being prosecuted in Guatemala and the authorities do not seek deserters out.

It is difficult to generalize on the possible outcome of someone who had deserted because other factors could result in prosecution. Although, the issue of desertion is not covered under the Law of National Reconciliation, some types of war-related violent acts are. For example, soldiers who had committed torture and extrajudicial executions against unarmed civilians during the civil war are excluded from the protection of the law's amnesty, whereas, soldiers who fought against armed guerrillas are protected from prosecution.

This Response was prepared after researching publicly accessible information currently available to the Research Directorate 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. Please find below the list of additional sources consulted in researching this Information Request.

References

Alliance of Young Indigenous Conscientious Objectors, Guatemala City. 7 May 1999. Telephone interview with the general coordinator.

Instituto de Estudios Comparados en Ciencias Penales, Guatemala City. 10 May 1999. Telephone interview with the director of Training Program for Public Defence.

Additional Sources Consulted

Central America NewsPak [Austin]. 1999.

Central America Report [Guatemala City]. 1999.

Cerigua Weekly Briefs [Guatemala City]. 1999.

Guatemala Human Rights Update [Washington]. 1999.

La Prensa [San Pedro Sula]. 1999.

Latinamerica Press [Lima]. 1999.

Latin America Regional Reports: Caribbean and Central America Report [London]. 1999.

Electronic sources: IRB Databases, LEXIS/NEXIS, Internet, REFWORLD and WNC.