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Institute on Religion and Public Policy Report GUATEMALA COUNTRY REPORTS 2019 Human rights Watch 2017/2018 Amnesty International The institute 2019 – Freedom House WORLD REPORT 2019 HUMAN RIGHTS WATCH Guatemala three branches of government, and prompting the resignation and arrest of the country’s then-president and vice-president in 2015, for their alleged participa- Progress in prosecuting corruption and abuse made in recent years is at risk due tion in a scheme to defraud the customs authority by collecting bribes instead of to serious obstruction from the government. This progress was the result of the customs duties. collaboration of the Attorney General’s Office with the United Nations-backed In- Prosecutors also pressed charges against scores of officials—including more ternational Commission against Impunity in Guatemala (CICIG), established in than a dozen current and former members of Congress from six different political 2007 to investigate organized crime and reinforce local efforts to strengthen the parties—for hiring people in Congress who never performed any work for the in- rule of law. At time of writing, CICIG and the Attorney General’s Office were pros- stitution (or already received a salary from another employer) and pocketing the ecuting more than a dozen current and former Congress members, as well as for- wages for those “phantom jobs.” mer President Otto Pérez Molina and former Vice-President Roxana Baldetti, who In October 2018, former Vice-President Baldetti was sentenced to 15 years and were arrested on corruption charges in 2015. six months in prison for her role in a scheme to defraud the state for US$18 mil- In August, President Jimmy Morales announced that he would not renew CICIG’s lion. At time of writing, other major corruption cases brought since 2015 were mandate when it expires in September 2019. In September, he prohibited CICIG still in pretrial proceedings. Commissioner Velásquez from re-entering the country. At time of writing, the Constitutional Court had ordered that Velásquez should be allowed to return, but Accountability for Past Human Rights Violations authorities indicated they would not comply with this order. In May 2018, three former military officers were sentenced to 58 years each for In August, the Guatemalan Congress approved in a preliminary vote a bill that the enforced disappearance of then 14-year old Marco Antonio Molina Theissen contains provisions that would discriminate against lesbian, gay, bisexual, and and the rape of his sister Emma in 1981. After Emma escaped from an army base transgender (LGBT) people and expand the criminalization of abortion. The bill where she was raped, officers went to her house and took away her younger remained pending in Congress at time of writing. brother in apparent retaliation. Among those convicted was Benedicto Lucas García, former top military officer and brother of former military dictator Romeo Public Security, Corruption, and Criminal Justice Lucas García. One officer was sentenced to 33 years for the rape. Violence and extortion by powerful criminal organizations remain serious prob- The trial against former Guatemalan dictator Efraín Ríos Montt and a former sol- lems in Guatemala. Gang-related violence is an important factor prompting peo- dier for their role in the 1982 Dos Erres massacre, in which Guatemalan army ple, including unaccompanied children and young adults, to leave the country. special forces killed around 200 civilians as part of their counterinsurgency pol- Guatemala suffers from high levels of impunity, partly because criminal proceed- icy during the armed conflict, had been scheduled for August 2018. It eventually ings against powerful actors often suffer unreasonably long delays due to exces- started in October and was ongoing at time of writing. However, Ríos Montt died sive use of motions by criminal defendants. Those delays are compounded by in April. In 2011 and 2012, five former members of the military were convicted for courts often failing to respect legally mandated time frames and sometimes tak- their roles in the massacre. ing months to reschedule suspended hearings. Intimidation against judges and In May 2013, Ríos Montt was found guilty of genocide and crimes against human- prosecutors and corruption within the justice system continue to be problems. ity for the assassination of over 1,771 Mayan Ixil civilians in 105 massacres, when Despite these obstacles, investigations by CICIG and the Attorney General’s Of- he was head of state in 1982 and 1983. He was sentenced to 80 years in prison, fice have exposed more than 60 corruption schemes, implicating officials in all but 10 days later the Constitutional Court overturned the verdict on procedural 248 249 WORLD REPORT 2019 HUMAN RIGHTS WATCH grounds. The retrial began in March 2016 but was suspended two months later which could mean that the provision of sexual and reproductive information, because of outstanding legal challenges. The trial restarted in October 2017 with counseling, or referrals might result in sentences of up to 10 years. The bill just one session per week. Ríos Montt died before the trial concluded. In Sep- needs to pass another round of votes, as well as an approval per article, before tember 2018, the other defendant in the case, the former head of intelligence, the president can sign it into law. was acquitted. Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity Violence Against Journalists The proposed “Life and Family Protection” bill that was approved in a prelimi- Journalists are targets of harassment and violence. In February 2018, the bodies nary version in August also contains provisions that discriminate against LGBT of journalist Laurent Castillo and radio worker Luis de León were found bound people. It prohibits same-sex marriage and defines marriage as a union between with gunshot wounds to the head outside the town of Santo Domingo, in people who were a man and a woman “by birth,” thus excluding many transgen- Guatemala’s southwestern Suchitepéquez department. In June 2017, TV journal- der people. The bill defines “sexual diversity” as “incompatible with the biologi- ist Carlos Rodríguez survived a gunshot to the head. In June 2016, radio journal- cal and genetic aspects of human beings.” ist Álvaro Aceituno was killed, and in March 2015, journalists Danilo López and The bill also establishes that “freedom of conscience and expression” protect Federico Salazar were assassinated. In January 2017, investigations by CICIG and people from being “obliged to accept non-heterosexual conduct or practices as the Attorney General’s Office implicated Congressman Julio Juárez from govern- normal.” This provision could be interpreted to mean that people can be denied ment party FCN-Nación in the latter crime. At time of writing, the case was in pre- services on the basis of sexual orientation or gender identity, in violation of in- trial proceedings. ternational human rights law. Women and Girls’ Rights Key International Actors In March 2017, 41 adolescent girls were killed in a fire in the Hogar Seguro gov- The UN-backed CICIG plays a key role in assisting Guatemala’s justice system in ernment-run shelter. Fifty-six girls had been locked up for the night in a space prosecuting violent crime. CICIG works with the Attorney General’s Office, the that could safely hold only 11, without access to water or a restroom, following a police, and other government agencies to investigate, prosecute, and dismantle protest against the poor living conditions and treatment received in the shelter— criminal organizations operating in the country. It is empowered to participate in including reports of sexual violence stretching back years. After at least six hours criminal proceedings as a complementary prosecutor, to provide technical assis- in those conditions, one of the girls set a mattress on fire so guards would open tance, and to promote legislative reforms. the door—but they didn’t. Three public officials were due to stand trial in Febru- ary 2019 for involuntary manslaughter and breach of duty, among other charges. In August 2018, CICIG and the attorney general presented a renewed request to At time of writing, proceedings against nine others were ongoing. strip President Jimmy Morales of his presidential immunity in order to investigate his role in illicit campaign financing. Two weeks later, Morales, flanked by mili- Under current law, abortion is legal in Guatemala only when the life of a preg- tary and police officers, announced that he would not renew CICIG’s mandate nant woman or girl is in danger. In August, Guatemalan Congress approved a when it expires in September 2019. The following week, he announced that he preliminary version of the “Life and Family Protection” bill, which would expand had prohibited CICIG Commissioner Iván Velásquez—who was on a work trip the criminalization of abortion and could subject women who have miscarriages abroad—from re-entering the country. to prosecution. It would also raise the maximum sentence for abortion from 3 to 10 years and would make it a crime to engage in “the promotion of abortion,” 250 251 European Court of Human Rights judgments. military, including the former head of the The judgments were regarding the violation of High Command of the Guatemalan Army, the right to freedom of association in relation were sent to trial charged with crimes against to the authorities’ refusal to register humanity and rape against Emma Guadalupe associations of Greece’s national minorities in Molina Theissen, and the enforced 2007, 2008 and 2015. The new provision disappearance of her younger brother, Marco amended the Code of Civil Procedure to allow Antonio Molina Theissen. the possibility of reopening proceedings in Criminal proceedings remained stalled these cases. However, the NGO Greek against former members of the military on Helsinki Monitor expressed concern over the charges related to multiple cases of enforced limitations placed by the law in relation to the disappearances and unlawful killings carried reopening of such proceedings, including on out in a military base, now known as grounds of national security and public order.
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