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Indigenous and Tribal Peoples Convention, 1989 (No. 169) - Guatemala (RATIFICATION: 1996)

The Committee notes the statistical data obtained in 2011 submitted by the Government in its report, disaggregated by area, illiteracy rate in Spanish and Maya, and employment and poverty indicators. The Committee invites the Government to continue providing updated statistical data disaggregated by the indigenous communities covered by the Convention (Article 1 of the Convention) and copies of court rulings involving matters relating to the application of the Convention (Part IV of the report form).

Parts I and VIII of the Convention. General policy. Administration. Articles 2 and 33. The Committee notes the activities of the various public bodies, such as the Judicial Administration, the National Council of the Peace Agreements and the Guatemalan Indigenous Development Fund intended to promote programmes for the application of the Convention. The Committee invites the Government to continue making efforts, in collaboration with indigenous peoples, for the establishment of a mechanism ensuring coordinated and systematic action through public policies, as required by the Convention. Please indicate the resources available to the various bodies mentioned for the appropriate discharge of their functions.

Part II. Lands. Article 14. The Committee once again requests the Government to indicate the impact of the rural development and agrarian policy measures adopted to ensure recognition of the right of indigenous peoples to ownership and possession of the lands that they traditionally occupy. In this regard, the Committee reiterates its request to the Government to provide information on the application in practice of Decree No. 41-2005 and its implementing Regulations of 2009 on communal lands. The Committee once again expresses interest in examining updated information on developments in the land disputes at the estates referred to in its 2011 and 2012 observations.

Part III. Recruitment and conditions of employment. Article 20. The Government provides information on the annual specific and regional plan for 2014 of the General Labour Inspectorate by production sector. The Committee requests the Government to provide information enabling it to assess the manner in which the measures adopted by the General Labour Inspectorate have ensured that indigenous workers, including seasonal, casual and migrant workers in agriculture, are not subjected to exploitative or abusive recruitment or conditions of work. The Committee requests the Government to provide information on the specific measures adopted by the General Labour Inspectorate to ensure the effective protection of the labour rights of indigenous peoples.

Part V. Social security. Health. With reference to the Committee’s previous comments, the Government indicates that the activities of the Guatemalan Social Security Institute (IGSS) benefit all the inhabitants of the country without distinction. The infrastructure of the IGSS has been extended with a view to expanding coverage in regions in which indigenous peoples are concentrated. The Committee requests the Government to include updated information on the social security schemes that protect the peoples concerned and the health services that exist in the regions inhabited by these peoples.

Part VI. Education. Article 27. The Committee notes with interest the measures in force enumerated by the Government which are intended to ensure that the peoples concerned benefit from bilingual education at all levels. The Government also provides data on schools disaggregated by the type of establishment, number of teachers per department and educational level. The Committee invites the Government to continue providing statistical and documentary information illustrating the manner in which the activities carried out in the field of bilingual education address the special needs of indigenous peoples.

[The Government is asked to reply in detail to the present comments in 2016.]