A/HRC/13/33/Add.4
sectors of society, including political parties, should accept responsibility for this
situation, and see it as their duty to move towards improving it.
87.
This report contains a number of recommendations, which the Government is
invited to consider. The Special Rapporteur believes that five issues deserve the
highest priority:
(a)
Unequal access to land remains a source of conflict. In the short term,
the government should abstain from carrying out forced evictions that are in violation
of international standards. It should adopt legislation protecting land users from such
evictions, and reform the 1997 Law on Mining, in particular in order to improve
respect for the rights of indigenous communities over their natural resources. The
possibility for landowners to claim up to 20 per cent of land in addition to the
documented size of their property, provided for under the 2005 Land Registry law,
should be removed immediately. The Policy for Integral Rural Development should
also be fully implemented, including as regards land redistribution, and it should be
adequately funded. The adoption of the Policy into legislation would be a welcome
step in this direction. Finally, the adoption of an agrarian code with objective criteria
for the resolution of land conflicts and the creation of institutions to solve conflicts
over land could significantly contribute to lessening tensions over land in the rural
areas;
(b)
The existing social programmes, and the Mi Familia Progresa cash
transfer programme in particular, could be improved by the integration of human
rights principles. This would require a more adequate mapping of poverty and food
vulnerability and insecurity; improved targeting until universal coverage can be
achieved; and prioritizing the food insecure. Beneficiaries, particularly within the
non-Spanish speaking communities, should be better informed about their rights
under the programmes. Additional efforts should also be made to develop and
improve mechanisms through which the beneficiaries can take part in the design,
implementation and evaluation of the programmes;
(c)
Consistent with the right of everyone to a decent standard of living, the
minimum salary should be raised. The capacity of the Labour Inspectorate should be
reinforced, particularly in the rural areas;
(d)
In order to improve its ability to react to emerging crises, Guatemala
should strengthen the System of Information and Communication on Food and
Nutrition Security (SICSAN) and have in place a well-functioning early warning
system and the corresponding emergency response. This could require reinforcing the
capacity of the Secretariat for Food and Nutritional Security of the Presidency of the
Republic (SESAN), and ensuring that all resources will be available to fund the
measures proposed by the National Food and Nutrition Security Council (CONASAN)
under the Food Contingency and Emergency Plan;
(e)
The low level of taxes on incomes is a major obstacle to the ability of
Guatemala to fulfil its obligations under the International Covenant on Economic,
Social and Cultural Rights. A structural reform of the taxation system, including
changes to the Solidarity Tax and increasing the income tax on the highest revenues,
will be essential if Guatemala is to deploy the “maximum of available resources” to
the realization of the right to food.
22
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