The Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) mission concluded its five-day visit to Guatemala on Friday, July 26, and reported on its preliminary observations at a press conference.
When the visit began, the commission indicated that the objective was to monitor the “impact” of the “weakening” of democracy in Guatemala.
“The purpose of this visit is to observe the impacts of the process of weakening democratic institutions and judicial independence in the country since the last visit,” in 2017, said the IACHR rapporteur for Guatemala, Andrea Pochak, at the beginning of the visit.
At Friday’s press conference, Pochak said that on this occasion, given the current context in Guatemala, the Commission decided to focus the presentation of its considerations and preliminary findings on democratic institutions and judicial independence.
He added that in various reports since the time of the internal armed conflict, the IACHR has stated that the fight against impunity and corruption must be a priority for democratic governance. It has also urged the Guatemalan State to commit to dismantling criminal networks and parallel structures and powers to ensure the full observance of human rights.
This Commission has documented in its monitoring work over the past 20 years that corruption in Guatemala is structural and endemic; furthermore, it is evident at all levels.
In its 2023 annual report, the IACHR documented that the electoral process by which President Bernardo Arévalo was elected was marred by “actions that posed serious threats to the constitutional order and the rule of law.”
He said that many of the people they met warned them of deep-rooted resistance to changing their vision and model.
He said that in this context, the struggle of victims of serious human rights violations and their families cannot advance.
“These setbacks in the fight against impunity generate a feeling of frustration and re-victimization of those who suffered serious human rights violations during the armed conflict,” he said.
The IACHR called for progress on a democratic legislative agenda based on the principles of equality and non-discrimination.
Pochak said that strengthening democratic institutions and human rights is the task of the entire Guatemalan population and falls on all its institutions.
Instrumentalization of justice
He noted that in Guatemala, the criminal justice system has been used against human rights defenders, as well as against those who participated or are participating in peaceful protests and social mobilizations in defense of democracy and the rule of law, or have been part of the fight against corruption and impunity.
“In particular, There is evidence of an abusive use of the penal system “against justice operators, human rights defenders, legislators, journalists, students, teachers, members of political parties, public officials and even against the President and Vice President of the Republic. Also against members of indigenous, peasant and trade union organizations,” said the rapporteur.
He also mentioned the meeting held with the Public Ministry (MP), which according to Pochak, indicated that it is “an autonomous and independent institution, which objectively applies the Constitution and Guatemalan laws.”
He said that the MP “denied the existence of a practice of criminalization, arguing that it has the legal mandate to investigate all complaints it receives without distinction of the person accused, their position or profession.”
He stressed that the IACHR is alarmed by “the enormous number of people who have been or are being investigated” by the MP, “in a practice that has intensified since the departure of the International Commission against Impunity in Guatemala (CICIG) in 2019.”
Listen to testimonies
He added that in the vast majority of meetings held during the visit, they received testimonies from people under investigation by the MP or who fear being investigated, simply for the legitimate exercise of their functions.
Some people told them having spent a long time in pre-trial detention for criminal charges arising from the defence of human rights or the exercise of freedom of expression, association and assembly.
“The Inter-American Commission is deeply concerned about the number of justice operators and their legal representatives who face criminal charges,” it stressed.
He said that many of these people were part of the CICIG and the Special Prosecutor’s Office against Corruption and Impunity (Feci). Likewise, former judges and prosecutors in cases related to the internal armed conflict and/or large-scale corruption are also in the same situation; as are magistrates of the Supreme Electoral Tribunal.
He mentioned the criminalization, harassment and disciplinary complaints that have been extended to lawyers who acted as plaintiffs in the defense of the people currently criminalized.
According to the organizations with which the IACHR met, there is a desire for retaliation for investigations and prosecutions of corruption cases.
Complaints against the same person
He pointed out that a large number of complaints were filed against the same person, in many cases for the same facts, with the intention of hindering his defense.
The Commission learned of cases of justice operators who face between 30 and 100 lawsuits for exercising their functions. It also heard of the presentation and processing of anonymous and/or unfounded complaints, with the aim of maintaining a climate of pressure, harassment and intimidation.
Ambiguous processes
Furthermore, the use of open, ambiguous or clearly inadmissible criminal types for the reported facts, for example, people who are not public officials are investigated for crimes typical of public officials; judges are prosecuted exclusively for the content of their sentences; defense attorneys are charged with the crime of obstruction of justice simply for carrying out their work.
Pochak pointed out the “abusive use of pretrial detention, including by charging them with serious crimes that do not qualify for alternative measures; or by imposing million-dollar bail bonds that are impossible to meet.”
There are also violations of due process and the right to defense through the use of delaying practices in criminal proceedings or the denial of access to files; in addition, information on the cases in which a person is being investigated is omitted in a timely manner and the production of exonerating evidence is prevented.
Regarding indigenous peoples and peasant communities, the Commission heard a large number of testimonies throughout the territory from indigenous leaders criminalized for their role in defending land and the environment.
For further reading: Court revokes alternative measures that benefited Jose Ruben Zamora
recommendations
- The IACHR recommends adopting and implementing public policies to address widespread poverty and eradicate structural factors of discrimination that affect people such as girls, boys and adolescents, women, Afro-descendants, indigenous peoples, people with disabilities, LGBTI, people on the move, and older people, incorporating a culturally appropriate and intersectional approach.
- Implement the necessary mechanisms to prevent, investigate and punish any form of corruption.
- Urge the MP to “stop criminalizing justice operators, human rights defenders, legislators, journalists, students, teachers, members of political parties, public officials, as well as members of indigenous, peasant and trade union organizations.
- Limit the use of pretrial detention in accordance with international standards on the matter, namely, exceptionality, legality, proportionality and reasonableness.
- Release all persons in pretrial detention who have been criminalized for exercising or defending human rights, and cease all forms of persecution and reprisals against them.
- Taking into account widely reported allegations of a lack of objectivity, “conduct an independent review of the functioning of the Public Prosecutor’s Office and its impact on human rights.”
- Create the conditions for the care and return of exiled persons, including a comprehensive reparation plan.
- To put into operation the nomination committees to integrate the list of candidates for the Supreme Court of Justice and the Court of Appeals so that they can begin the selection process and thus have sufficient time to effectively carry out the assigned work within the legally established period.
- Ensure that the selection and appointment processes for justice operators are carried out with transparency in accordance with inter-American standards, under criteria based on merit and professional capabilities, and free from undue interference of any kind.
- Restore the institutions created within the framework of the 1996 Peace Accords.
MP reacts
Regarding the IACHR report, the Public Prosecutor’s Office stated that, despite meeting with the Attorney General and head of the MP, Consuelo Porras, the information provided to them was “made invisible.”
“The Public Prosecutor’s Office regrets that the preliminary observations of the @IACHR rendered invisible the information that the institution made known to it,” the Prosecutor’s Office says on its X account.
They add that during the visit to the headquarters of the MP, the IACHR delegation was informed of the official information and “the Attorney General was emphatic in requesting the rapporteurs that the report of preliminary observations include the official information from the Public Ministry so that it would be objective and not biased.”
Government thanks visit
In a statement, the Government of Guatemala expressed its gratitude for the IACHR’s visit and affirmed that it supports and shares the challenges pointed out by the delegation.
He also shared the concerns of the IACHR regarding the criminalization of human rights defenders, as well as other groups such as journalists, students, teachers, public officials, among others.
#Announcement | The Government of Guatemala reports on the visit to Guatemala of the @IACHR. pic.twitter.com/HLV7BZrIVI
— Guatemalan Government (@GuatemalaGob) July 27, 2024
#IACHR #warns #abusive #penal #system #Guatemala #recommendations
