Attorney General María Consuelo Porras Argueta cancelled a meeting at the “last minute” with the United Nations (UN) High Commissioner for Human Rights, Volker Türk, who described the political criminalization in Guatemala as worrying and pointed the finger at the head of the Public Prosecutor’s Office (MP) for such actions.
During the closing of his visit on Friday, July 19, Türk described as “worrying” that the Guatemalan justice system continues to be used to criminalize lawyers, journalists or activists who “try to fight corruption or expose it,” being arrested or forced to leave the country in exile.
The High Commissioner was scheduled to meet with Porras last Thursday, but the meeting was called off at the “last minute,” according to Türk.
Türk urged Porras to stop the “persecution” launched in 2022 once morest dozens of judicial officials, journalists and activists who investigated high-profile corruption cases and who were critical of former President Alejandro Giammattei (2020-2024).
“I am deeply concerned regarding the misuse of criminal law for persecution purposes,” Türk added, saying it is “a pattern” that is “highly alarming.”
Porras is under sanctions by the United States and the European Union, who consider her “corrupt” for promoting these criminal cases, among other accusations.
Türk said he was scheduled to meet Porras on Thursday, but she cancelled the appointment at the “last minute.”
The MP posted a message on his social media with two letters related to the meeting with Türk.
“Due to an urgent situation, given that the Public Prosecutor’s Office receives approximately 52 complaints per minute and that many of the circumstances do not admit delay because the human rights of the victims must be prioritized, it was impossible for him to participate in the meeting,” says the message posted on the social network X.
The publication adds that “for this reason, the corresponding excuse was sent, accompanied by reports from the administration from 2018 to date, so that the High Commissioner @volker_turk has official information, which will allow him to issue statements that are true to reality.”
“It is important to note that it was the Public Prosecutor’s Office that requested the meeting with the High Commissioner so that he might have official and truthful information that would allow him to issue positions in accordance with reality,” says the message that was accompanied by photographs of the documents containing the invitation to the meeting and another detailing the functions of the Attorney General.
During a press conference concluding a three-day official visit to Guatemala, Türk said: “I am deeply concerned regarding the misuse of criminal legislation for the purposes of persecuting human rights defenders, which I find highly alarming at the moment.”
The High Commissioner added that it was “regrettable that those who try to combat corruption or expose it are being persecuted and forced to leave their families.”
One day before Türk’s conference, former Guatemalan anti-corruption prosecutor Virginia Laparra made public her decision to go into exile, in order to protect her safety, following receiving a second criminal conviction for a case that has been considered spurious by Amnesty International (AI) and other human rights organizations.
Regarding this case, Türk said he regrets “that Laparra has to leave his home and his family, but his exile can show internationally the need to address the cases of exiles and the urgency of creating conditions for their return to Guatemala.”
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