Background
The misuse of criminal law against the president and vice president and other key actors in the 2023 electoral process continued, putting institutionality and the rule of law at risk.
In February, the government launched the Return Home Plan to support people returned or deported to Guatemala. The Guatemalan Migration Institute reported that more than 55,000 people had been returned from the USA and Mexico throughout the year.
Freedom of expression and assembly
In March, a judge ordered that journalist Jose Rubén Zamora be returned to prison, although the proceedings against him were riddled with irregularities.1 At the end of the year he was still in arbitrary detention.
The Public Prosecutor’s Office charged three Indigenous leaders with “terrorism”, “conspiracy” and “obstruction of justice” for their participation in the mass peaceful protests of October 2023 in defence of the rule of law. As of year’s end, two of these individuals – Héctor Chaclán and Luis Pacheco – had been in pretrial detention and deprived of procedural guarantees for more than eight months. The third, Esteban Toc, was under house arrest.
The criminalization of teachers, students and human rights defenders, accused of participating in protests and the occupation of the public University of San Carlos between 2022 and 2023, continued.
Right to a fair trial
In May, following a visit to the country, the UN Special Rapporteur on the independence of judges and lawyers expressed concern regarding the undue influence of “partisan actors and private interests” over judicial appointments. She also denounced the pattern of criminalization involving the Public Prosecutor’s Office and members of the judiciary against those seeking to end impunity and corruption, defend human rights or speak out against abuses of power.
In July, former anti-corruption prosecutor Stuardo Campo was acquitted of the “breach of duty” charge in the Alfa Siete case. As of year’s end, he was facing two other cases and had been in pretrial detention for more than two years. In August, after months of undue delays, a judge decided that Claudia González – a former employee of the International Commission Against Impunity in Guatemala – should be tried for the alleged crime of “dereliction of duty”, although she had never been a public official.
Human rights defenders
Human rights defenders faced violence and criminalization. In August, Leocadio Juracán, leader of the Altiplano Peasant Committee, was arrested for crimes allegedly committed during a forced eviction in Izabal department. Between January and September, the local organization Unit for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders in Guatemala recorded at least 4,520 attacks against human rights defenders.
In November, the government approved the Public Policy for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders. Guatemala had still not ratified the Escazú Agreement.
Impunity
Rubén Morales García, a fugitive for years, was arrested and put on trial for his alleged participation in the murder of Archbishop Juan José Gerardi in 1998. Former colonel Edgar Rolando Hernández Méndez was charged with crimes against humanity and aggravated rape in the Diario Militar case.
Very little progress was made in cases relating to the internal armed conflict (1960 – 1996), where impunity prevailed. The court ruling that granted house arrest to a high-ranking military officer convicted of serious human rights violations in the Molina Theissen case constituted a breach of international human rights standards.
Guatemala had not yet signed or ratified the 2023 Ljubljana-The Hague Convention on International Cooperation in the Investigation and Prosecution of Genocide, Crimes against Humanity, War Crimes and other International Crimes.
Right to a healthy environment
According to Human Rights Watch, access to safe water and decent sanitation was profoundly unequal, with Indigenous communities being disproportionately affected. In May, the government began a participatory listening process to prepare for the drafting of a water law.
Economic, social and cultural rights
Following a visit to the country, the UN Special Rapporteur on the right to adequate housing urged the authorities to end the widespread practice of violent forced evictions of Indigenous and peasant communities and implement measures to protect their rights.
The suspension of US aid to Guatemala had a negative impact on access to health services for marginalized groups such as survivors of violence.2
Gender-based violence
According to the Sexual and Reproductive Health Observatory, the authorities failed to guarantee girls’ rights, who faced high levels of sexual violence. In June, the UN Human Rights Committee determined that Guatemala had violated the rights of a 14-year-old girl who had been forced to continue her pregnancy after being raped.
UN experts expressed concern regarding draft bills 6453, 6473 and 6575, which put at risk the rights of women and girls, LGBTI people and those defending the rights of these groups, including the right to non-discrimination and sexual and reproductive health.
The Human Rights Observatory responsible for monitoring cases of violence apparently motivated by sexual orientation and gender identity recorded at least 29 killings of LGBTI people during the year. Same-sex marriage remained illegal.
