The Historical Clarification Commission (Spanish: Comisión para el Esclarecimiento Histórico, or "CEH") was Guatemala's truth and reconciliation commission. It was set up under the Oslo Accords of 1994 that sought to bring an end to the Central American nation's three decades of civil war, during which an estimated 200,000 lost their lives. Its mandate was to investigate the numerous human rights violations perpetrated by both sides in the armed conflict; succinctly put, to inform Guatemalan society about exactly what had happened within the country's territory between January 1962 and the signing of the Agreement on a Firm and Lasting Peace on 29 December 1996. In the terms used by the Agreement by means of which it was established: The Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) was a court-like body assembled in South Africa after the end of Apartheid. ... 1994 was a common year starting on Saturday of the Gregorian calendar, and was designated the International year of the Family. ... Central America is the region of North America located between the southern border of Mexico and the northwest border of Colombia, in South America. ... Human rights violation is a term used when a government violates national or international law related to the protection of human rights. ... 1962 was a common year starting on Monday (link will take you to calendar). ... December 29 is the 363rd day of the year (364th in leap years) in the Gregorian Calendar, with 2 days remaining. ... 1996 is a leap year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar, and was designated the International Year for the Eradication of Poverty. ...

1. To clarify with all objectivity, equity and impartiality the human rights violations and acts of violence that have caused the Guatemalan population to suffer, connected with the armed conflict.
2. To prepare a report that will contain the findings of the investigations carried out and provide objective information regarding events during this period covering all factors, internal as well as external.
3. Formulate specific recommendations to encourage peace and national harmony in Guatemala. The Commission shall recommend, in particular, measures to preserve the memory of the victims, to foster a culture of mutual respect and observance of human rights and to strengthen the democratic process.

The Commission was composed of three members: Christian Tomuschat, a German international lawyer, and the Guatemalans Alfredo Balsells Tojo, a jurist, and Otilia Lux de Cotí, an expert in indigenous affairs. The CEH's members heard testimony from thousands of survivors and attended exhumations of clandestine graves; they also interviewed former heads of state and ranking members of the armed forces and pored over thousands of pages of NGO reports. All this was used in the preparation of its final report, titled Guatemala: Memory of Silence, which was published in February 1999. The report identified a total of 42,275 named victims; of these, 23,671 were victims of arbitrary executions, and 6,159 were victims of forced disappearances. It found that Maya native Americans accounted for 83% of the victims, and that 93% of the atrocities committed during the conflict had been the work of the armed forces. International law deals with the relationships between states, or between persons or entities in different states. ... 1999 is a common year starting on Friday of the Common Era, and was designated the International Year of Older Persons by the United Nations. ... A forced disappearance occurs when an organization (usually a ruling government, and usually one that is a police state or dictatorship) forces a person to disappear from public view. ... This article will mostly concern itself with the Maya civilization after the conquest by Spain. ... Native Americans (also Indians, Aboriginal Peoples, American Indians, First Nations, Alaskan Natives, Amerindians, or Indigenous Peoples of America) are the indigenous inhabitants of The Americas prior to the European colonization, and their modern descendants. ...

External links

• Guatemala: Memory of Silence (summarised translation)
• Guatemala: Memoria del silencio (complete Spanish language original)
• Agreement on the establishment of the Commission to clarify past human rights violations and acts of violence that have caused the Guatemalan population to suffer ("CEH Accord") 23 June 1994
• Agreement on a Firm and Lasting Peace (29 December 1996)