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Suggested Citation:"Conclusions." National Academy of Sciences, National Academy of Engineering, and Institute of Medicine. 2003. Guatemala: Human Rights and the Myrna Mack Case. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/10691.
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Page 21
Suggested Citation:"Conclusions." National Academy of Sciences, National Academy of Engineering, and Institute of Medicine. 2003. Guatemala: Human Rights and the Myrna Mack Case. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/10691.
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Page 22

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Conclusions The prospect of a civil society with a strong democracy and consistent rule of law seems increasingly unlikely In Guatemala. There is also a growing risk to any scientific worker investigating the events and aftermath of the civil war or working for the better- ment of civil society In the countryside. Close attention and sup- port by scientists, engineers, and health professionals interested In the plight of their colleagues who are hying to undertake such ~n- vestigations and projects is clearly needed. In consideration of what has been learned by the CHR In the course of its human rights work In Guatemala during the past decade, then findings of the 2002 mission undertaken by West- Eberhard arid Posh, and the disturbing increase In threats to the physical safety of scientific colleagues In Guatemala because of their scientific work, the Cow decided that it should undertake a number of specific initiatives to help protect and provide moral support to these Numerable scientific colleagues. To Hat end, He Cow arranged for Clara Arenas to travel to the 2003 biennial meeting of the International Human Rights Net- work of Academies and Scholarly Societies, to be held In May in Ascona, Sw~tzeriar~. The meeting is being hosted by the Council of Swiss Scientific Academies and watt be attended by representa- tives of several dozen national academies and scholarly societies 21

22 HUMAN RIGHTS AND THE MACH CASK affiliated with the Network. Clara Arenas wait present a paper, "Conducting Socially Relevant Research in a Politically Polarized Environment," that addresses the social relevance of scientific work done by a research center that has as its founding goal the conduct of research that is useful to the excluded sectors of soci- ety—including not only what is investigated but also how it is in- vestigated and how the results are used. In addition, the CHR decided to explore the possibility of organizing a filll-scale mission to Guatemala sometime In 2003, given the increased danger since the trial to Helen Mack and to the CHR!s colleagues working at AVANCSO and elsewhere in Gua- temala. The timing of such a mission would be decided after dis- cussions with colleagues in Guatemala. Of course, the CHR's staff arid correspondents have and will continue to remain in close contact with Guatemalan col- leagues as an expression of its colts ng support and readiness to act in their behalf. Additionally, given the importance of outside pressures in the progress of human rights in Guatemala, and the increasing role of the European community in this arena, it is hoped that the Inter- national Human Rights Network of Academies and Scholarly So- cieties, for which the CHR serves as secretanat, watt agree to be prominently involved in these and other efforts in Guatemala. .

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Two members of the Committee on Human Rights (CHR), NAS member Mary Jane West-Eberhard and NAS/NAE member Morton Panish, undertook a mission to Guatemala to observe the trial of two high-level Guatemalan military officials who were charged with ordering the murder of Guatemalan anthropologist Myrna Mack. She was stabbed to death in 1990, two days after a report for which she was principal researcher, "Assistance and Control: Policies Toward Internally Displaced Populations in Guatemala," was published by the Georgetown University Press. Ms. Mack had been doing research on and writing about the unjust treatment of the internally displaced people in Guatemala. Thirteen years after Ms. Mack's murder—after the case had gone through dozens of courts and countless delays—a general and colonel in the Guatemalan military intelligence apparatus were brought to trial, and one was convicted. This marked the first time in Guatemalan history that a high-level military official had been brought to justice for atrocities he committed during Guatemala's 30-year civil war. This report summarizes the one-month trial proceedings.

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