European Parliament resolution on Guatemala
The European Parliament ,
– having regard to its earlier resolutions on Guatemala, in particular that of 10 April 2003(1) ,
– having regard to its firm and permanent commitment to the peace process and to human rights in Guatemala,
– having regard to the Hague Convention of 29 May 1993 on Protection of Children and Cooperation in respect of Intercountry Adoption, adopted in the framework of the Hague Conference on Private International Law,
– having regard to the Memorandum of Understanding signed by the Governments of Guatemala and Mexico to address the crossborder trafficking issues that plague the region,
– having regard to the Final Act of the XVIIth European Union/Latin America Interparliamentary Conference, which took place in Lima from 14 to 16 June 2005,
– having regard to Rule 115(5) of its Rules of Procedure,
A. having regard to the UN special rapporteur's report on the sale and trafficking of children, which states that Guatemala's laws on adoption are among the least stringent in the region, while trafficking in children is not even classified as a crime,
B. whereas, according to the Office of the Counsel for Human Rights, the abuses occurring in Guatemala include forced or surrogate pregnancies, removal of children from their real mothers, substitution of documents, alteration of public records, and the existence of clandestine 'nurseries'; whereas abuses are also committed by those authorising adoptions, while an increasing number of international adoption agencies are offering children for sale,
C. whereas Guatemala is a source, transit and destination country for women and children from Guatemala and other Central American countries who are trafficked for purposes of sexual and labour exploitation,
D. whereas in 2004, according to official records, 527 women were murdered, 81% of them in deaths involving firearms....click here for article
