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7 J. Transnat'l L. & Pol'y 77 (1997-1998)
United States' Responsibility for Gross Levels of Human Rights Violations in Guatemala from 1954 to 1996

handle is hein.journals/jtrnlwp7 and id is 83 raw text is: UNITED STATES' RESPONSIBILITY FOR GROSS LEVELS OF HUMAN RIGHTS VIOLATIONS IN GUATEMALA FROM 1954 TO 1996 MARK GIBNEY* Table of Contents I. Introduction ............................................................................................... . 77 II. An Overview of United States/Guatemalan Relations ....................... 82 III. Supporting an Unjust Regime ............................................................... 87 IV. A Special Duty Owed to Guatemala .................................................... 94 I. INTRODUCTION After decades of brutal civil war, which brought about the killing of up to 200,000 unarmed civilians, the arrest and torture of tens of thousands, and the forced displacement of more than a million people, Guatemala is now attempting to achieve some measure of peace.1 Culminating in an agreement signed December 29, 1996, government officials and guerrilla forces have entered into a series of peace accords ranging from the guarantee of Indians' rights to the reform and reduction of the country's armed forces and the resettle- ment of refugees and displaced persons.2 As severe as the war has been, it is likely that any efforts at peace will also be a battle. Undoubtedly, the most controversial aspect of the peace process has been the amnesty law passed by the Guate- malan Congress in mid-December 1996, which exempts both soldiers and guerrillas from prosecution for the killings, kidnappings, and acts of torture committed during the conflict.3 Beyond questions of truth and accountability, however, Guatemala will struggle to achieve any form of stability because the same phenomena that brought about the civil conflict in the first place, particularly the enormous differences between rich and poor, remains entrenched.4 * Belk Distinguished Professor in the Humanities at the University of North Carolina- Asheville. Ph.D., University of Michigan, Political Science, 1985; J.D. Villanova Univ. School of Law, 1977; B.A., Boston College, Political Science, 1974. Special thanks to my dear friends at the Danish Centre for Human Rights. 1. See Susanne Jonas, Dangerous Liaisons: The U.S. in Guatemala, FOREIGN POL'Y 144, 146 (1996). 2. See Larry Rohter, Guatemala Braces for Complications of Peace, N.Y. TIMEs, Dec. 29, 1996, at Al. 3. See Larry Rohter, Huge Amnesty is Dividing Guatemala as War Ends, N.Y. TIMEs, Dec. 18, 1996, at Al. 4. To get some sense of these extremes, it would be useful to quote at length from Susanne Jonas, perhaps the world's leading authority on Guatemala:

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