The documents will likely include details on the role of the military and the presidential guards, both of which have been accused of carrying out atrocities during the war that ended in 1996 and killed some 200,000 people, mostly Mayan Indians.

"We hope the archives will serve to clarify the history surrounding these human rights violations," the commission's chief, Orlando Blanco told The Associated Press.

His panel will study which papers should be declassified under a constitutional requirement that government documents be made public automatically unless their release compromises national security.

A spokesman was not immediately available to comment for the military, which has historically kept its documents under lock and key and fought almost all public requests to see them.

Blanco said it could take months to locate and sort through all the files and determine which will be released.
Colom announced the new team at a ceremony marking the ninth anniversary of a U.N. report that found the army responsible for 95 percent of human rights violations during the war.

Army officials have called the report exaggerated and say they took actions that were necessary to fight a guerrilla uprising.