The Ministry of Foreign Affairs (Minex) announced that the official visit of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, Volker Türk, will take place from July 16 to 19.
This activity is a follow-up to the meeting held with the President of the Republic, Bernardo Arévalo de León, last February in Geneva, Switzerland.
During his visit, the High Commissioner will meet with Arévalo to discuss “the main obstacles that prevent the consolidation of democracy” and the full implementation of human rights in the country, in favor of all Guatemalans.
During her stay in Guatemala, Türk will also hold meetings with the heads of the Presidential Commission for Peace and Human Rights, the Presidential Secretariat for Women, the Ministry of the Interior, the National Civil Police, the Penitentiary System and the Human Rights Ombudsman’s Office.
He will also meet with representatives of the different branches of government and hold meetings with activists, indigenous leaders, human rights defenders and justice operators.
In addition, we have met with civil society organisations and victims of human rights violations, as well as with representatives from academia, trade unions and business associations.
According to Minex, the High Commissioner’s visit is due to the country’s reopening to human rights control mechanisms, “derived from the unrestricted commitment to promote and respect human rights promoted by the Government of President Arévalo de León.”
He recalled that the last visit by a United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights to Guatemala took place in November 2017.
On January 15, the mandate of the Office of the High Commissioner in Guatemala was renewed for a period of three years, reinforcing the promotion, protection and guarantee of the aforementioned rights in the country.
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“Guatemala will continue to promote reforms and institutional changes to guarantee, expand and protect the rights of all people without discrimination,” according to Minex.
For his part, Türk said he was “happy” to begin his visit with a meeting with the president and to observe “his commitment to human rights.”
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