Guatemala: In light of the presidential inauguration of Bernardo Arévalo, we urge to guarantee the transition of power and stop the criminalization of human rights defenders

Publish Date:

Thursday, January 11, 2024

With this letter, addressed to the President of Guatemala and the presidents of the Constitutional Court and the Congress of the Republic, we demand to guarantee the transition of power in the country and to end the instrumentalization of the judicial power to undermine democracy.

In the letter, we strongly condemn the continued attempts by Guatemalan authorities to invalidate the election results of August 20, 2023 and to prevent the elected president, Bernardo Arévalo, from taking office on January 14, 2024.

We also demand that the government put an end to the criminalization of social struggles and guarantee the rights of human rights defenders in Guatemala. Human rights activists, human rights defenders, indigenous leaders, independent journalists, union leaders, prosecutors and judges continue to suffer serious violations of their rights and have been criminally charged without basis by the Guatemalan Public Prosecutor's Office.

The letter is addressed to Dr. Hector Hugo Perez Aguilera, Magistrate President of the Constitutional Court; Dr. Alejandro Giammatei, President of the Republic of Guatemala; and Shirley Joanna Rivera Zaldaña, President of the Congress of the Republic

With a copy to Dina Josefina Ochoa Escribá, Magistrate of the Constitutional Court; Néster Mauricio Vásquez Pimentel, Magistrate of the Constitutional Court; Roberto Molina Barreto, Magistrate of the Constitutional Court; Leyla Susana Lemus Arriaga, Magistrate of the Constitutional Court.

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Subject: Urgent need to guarantee the rights of human rights defenders, the integrity of the democratic process, and the rule of law

Mr. President, Judges of the Constitutional Court and Ladies and Gentlemen:

We write to you on behalf of ESCR-Net - International Network for Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, a global network of more than 300 NGOs, social movements and activists in more than 75 countries who work to guarantee economic and social justice through human rights. ESCR-Net aims to strengthen the scope of all human rights, with special attention to economic, social, environmental and cultural rights, and to continue developing the tools to achieve their promotion, protection and compliance.

We strongly condemn the continued attempts by power groups through the Attorney General’s Office and other Guatemalan officials to invalidate the election results held on August 20, 2023, arbitrarily suspend the legal status of the Semilla Movement party, and prevent the elected president, Bernardo Arévalo, from taking office onon JanuaryJanuary 14, 2024. According to the OAS electoral observation mission, the alleged irregularities committed during the first and second rounds of the Guatemalan presidential elections lack any factual basis. The Inter-American Commission on Human Rights, for its part, urged “all public powers to guarantee respect for the constitutional order and the preservation of the rule of law” and the cessation of “improper use of criminal law, including unfounded complaints for political-electoral purposes in accordance with inter-American standards.”

Guatemalan authorities must fulfill their legal obligations to prevent abuses of power and respect human rights. On September 12, 2023, the Attorney General’s Office raided the facilities of the Supreme Electoral Tribunal, opening ballot boxes in an affront to the law. We call on the relevant institutions of Guatemala to prevent the continued attacks on the right to vote and the subsequent instrumentalization of the judiciary to undermine democracy.

In October 2023, a new wave of protests emerged in response to the judicial proceedings initiated by the Public Ministry against the Supreme Electoral Tribunal and the Semilla Movement. Demonstrations across the country were reportedly peaceful and allowed the passage of ambulances and perishable products in many locations.

The Council of the Mayan People CPO, denounced on October 2 the physical attacks suffered by Mariola and Kelly Caal, members of its coordination team, by the National Civil Police in Alta Verapaz during the nationwide demonstrations. On October 4, 2023, Community Press Kilometer 169 denounced cases of police repression in the area of Puerto Quetzal, department of Escuintla, in which riot police and truck drivers attacked protesters. Alida Vicente, authority of the Indigenous Municipality of Poqomam in Palín, Escuintla, stated that the Commissioner of Escuintla authorized the use of violence to disperse citizens, which caused injuries. The same day, in Guatemala City, a group of people covering their faces with masks arrived at the headquarters of the Attorney General’s Office to forcibly evict hundreds of people who were carrying out a peaceful sit-in to demand the resignation of Attorney General María Consuelo Porras.

Furthermore, several human rights activists, women human rights defenders, indigenous leaders, independent journalists, union leaders, prosecutors and judges have been subjected to serious human rights violations and unfounded criminal accusations by part of the Attorney General’s Office. Numerous investigations against lawyers, prosecutors and judges appear to be acts of politically motivated retaliation for their efforts in the fight against corruption, as noted by the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights and the Special Rapporteur on the independence of judges and lawyers.

According to Prensa Comunitaria Kilómetro 169, this year there has been a notable increase in the frequency of attacks against journalists. As of September 2023, at least 215 incidents have been reported. Among these, there are 39 cases of judicial harassment, 49 cases of restrictions on public information, 29 cyber attacks, 13 physical attacks and four journalists have been displaced. Furthermore, the decision of October 11, 2023 by the Constitutional Court has meant a substantial restriction incompatible with the rights to freedom of expression, opinion, association and assembly and peaceful protest in accordance with international standards.

The United Nations Declaration on Human Rights Defenders expressly provides for "the protection by the competent authority of everyone, individually or collectively, against all violence, threats, reprisals, de facto or de jure discrimination, pressure or any other arbitrary actions resulting from the legitimate exercise of their rights".

Furtherore, as observed by the Special Rapporteur for Freedom of Expression of the Inter-American Commission, “[t]he right to free demonstration and peaceful protest are essential elements of the functioning and very existence of the democratic system, as well as a channel that allows people and different groups in society to express their demands, disagree and complain regarding the government, their particular situation, as well as access to and compliance with political rights and economic, social, cultural and environmental rights.” Therefore, “[i]t is essential that States at all levels and agencies respect and guarantee that no one will be criminalized for exercising the rights to freedom of expression, assembly and association in the context of demonstrations and protests; nor will they be subject to threats, harassment, violence, persecution or reprisals for participating in protests.”¹ The right to protest is based on the human rights to political participation and freedom of expression, association, opinion, and assembly, among others; Such rights are guaranteed in articles 18, 19, 21, 22 and 25 of the ICCPR and 13, 15, 16, and 23 of the American Convention.

The ICPR (art. 25) and the ACHR (art. 23) also guarantee every Guatemalan citizen the right to “vote and be elected in authentic periodic elections, carried out by universal and equal suffrage and by secret ballot that guarantees the free expression of the will of the voters.” As clarified by the UN Human Rights Committee, this right implies that “elections must be free and fair, and held periodically within the framework of legal provisions that guarantee the effective exercise of the right to vote” and “[t]he authentic election results must be respected and implemented.”²

These standards of international law, as part of the domestic law of Guatemala based on article 46 of the constitution, support the duty of the State, and all its agents and organs of each power, to respect and ensure the will of the voters, guarantee the rights of human rights defenders and prevent any coup attempt via criminalization and abuse of judicial instruments.

Therefore, ESCR-Net calls on the State Organizations of Guatemala to:

Guarantee the integrity of the democratic process in Guatemala, the transition of power and the constitutional order.
Put an end to the abuses of power and the instrumentalization of the Attorney General’s Office to undermine the electoral process, the right to free expression and the right to protest.
Guarantee the rights of human rights defenders, end the criminalization of social struggles and provide access to justice and reparation for violations suffered.

Respectfully,

Chris Grove, Executive Director, ESCR-Net - International Network of Economic, Social and Cultural Rights