{"id":115970,"date":"2023-04-27T11:25:08","date_gmt":"2023-04-27T09:25:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.justiceinfo.net\/?p=115970"},"modified":"2023-04-27T11:25:09","modified_gmt":"2023-04-27T09:25:09","slug":"guatemalan-judges-and-prosecutors-under-fire","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.justiceinfo.net\/en\/115970-guatemalan-judges-and-prosecutors-under-fire.html","title":{"rendered":"Guatemalan judges and prosecutors under fire"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p><strong>In the past months the attack on independent judges and prosecutors in Guatemala has broadened from those fighting corruption to those combating impunity for grave crimes committed during the internal armed conflict. The last example is the arrest in March of Orlando L\u00f3pez, the prosecutor who brought former dictator Efra\u00edn R\u00edos Montt to trial for genocide. In June, R\u00edos Montt\u2019s daughter has a chance to become president and further dismantle the rule of law, warns human rights researcher Sanne Weber.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<!--more-->\n\n\n\n<p>Last March, Guatemalan human rights prosecutor Orlando L\u00f3pez was <a href=\"https:\/\/elpais.com\/internacional\/2023-03-16\/detenido-en-guatemala-el-exfiscal-que-llevo-a-juicio-al-dictador-efrain-rios-montt.html\">arrested<\/a> on charges of abuse of power and illegal acts. L\u00f3pez is a well-known prosecutor, as he brought former dictator Efra\u00edn R\u00edos Montt to trial for genocide in March 2013. Montt was convicted, but the verdict was annulled less than two months later, allegedly for procedural reasons but in reality because Guatemala\u2019s economic and military elites opposed the prosecution of high-level military. L\u00f3pez was arrested based on accusations of Ricardo M\u00e9ndez Ruiz, leader of the extreme right wing Anti-Terrorism Foundation created to defend the military. In recent years this Foundation has dedicated itself to denouncing and persecuting anti-corruption judges and prosecutors. M\u00e9ndez Ruiz applauded L\u00f3pez\u2019s arrest on <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/RMendezRuiz\/status\/1636377466678964226\">Twitter<\/a>, stating that he was responsible for the \u2018illegal capture of our veterans\u2019.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Unfortunately, L\u00f3pez\u2019s arrest is not an incident, but only the latest development in <a href=\"https:\/\/www.justiceinfo.net\/en\/103279-universal-jurisdiction-belgian-justice-guatemalan-victims.html\">a systematic process of undermining of the rule of law<\/a> and judicial independence in Guatemala. The Attorney General\u2019s Office, led by Consuelo Porras, has worked systematically to prosecute anti-corruption judges and prosecutors. It has done so hand in hand with M\u00e9ndez Ruiz\u2019s Anti-Terrorism Foundation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Chronicle of a backlash foretold<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>In Guatemala, a country which experienced a bloody internal armed conflict from 1960 until 1996, impunity was long the norm. Both cases of serious human rights violations committed during the conflict and cases of later crime and corruption went largely unpunished. This changed dramatically in 2007, with the creation of the UN-sponsored International Commission to Combat Impunity in Guatemala (CICIG). The internationally acclaimed <a href=\"https:\/\/www.wola.org\/analysis\/wola-report-on-the-international-commission-against-impunity-in-guatemala-cicig\/\">CICIG<\/a>, composed of international and Guatemalan jurists, managed to&nbsp;investigate and prosecute illegal security groups and clandestine organisations in Guatemala, including networks of corrupt politicians up to the highest level. In fact, the CICIG became too successful, threatening those elites who had long deemed themselves untouchable. Its investigation of then-President Jimmy Morales led to his decision to end the CICIG\u2019s mandate in 2019.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>This was the start of a process in which the work of independent judges and prosecutors became increasingly difficult. The economic elites and corrupt politicians managed to take control of the justice institutions, and started a witch hunt against those who had investigated the cases of the CICIG. They targeted both those directly <a href=\"https:\/\/www.newyorker.com\/news\/dispatch\/the-exile-of-guatemalas-anti-corruption-efforts\">investigating and sentencing<\/a> cases and those defending CICIG\u2019s work as a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.opendemocracy.net\/en\/democraciaabierta\/attacks-against-women-justice-defenders-threaten-rule-law-in-guatemala\/\">Constitutional Court judge<\/a>. A common pattern is evident in these cases, where justice operators are falsely accused with fabricated evidence, or are outright fired based on invented complaints of lack of subordination to superiors in the Attorney General\u2019s Office, abuse of power and the like. M\u00e9ndez Ruiz and his Foundation have been responsible for some of the accusations and requests to strip judges and prosecutors of their immunity \u2013 requests acted upon enthusiastically by the Attorney General\u2019s Office. Its head, Consuelo Porras, was re-elected for another term last year, in spite of being included in the United States\u2019 State Department\u2019s \u2018<a href=\"https:\/\/www.state.gov\/united-states-announces-actions-against-seven-central-american-officials-for-undermining-democracy-and-obstructing-investigations-into-acts-of-corruption\/\">Engels List\u2019<\/a> of public officials considered to be responsible for undermining democracy and obstructing investigations into acts of corruption. Her re-election showed how the President and Attorney General work closely together, supported by extreme right-wing actors like M\u00e9ndez Ruiz.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Close to 30 judges and prosecutors have seen themselves forced to go into exile to avoid being arrested, while ten prosecutors face lawsuits in Guatemala, like L\u00f3pez. Among them is also anti-corruption prosecutor Virginia Laparra, who was arrested in February 2022 on unfounded charges of \u2018ongoing abuse of authority\u2019. She was sentenced to four years in prison for these \u2018crimes\u2019 in December 2022, while a parallel process against her is still ongoing. Laparra, considered a prisoner of conscience by <a href=\"https:\/\/www.amnesty.org\/en\/latest\/news\/2023\/02\/guatemala-presa-de-conciencia-virginia-laparra-cumple-un-ano-detenida-arbitrariamente-en-la-carcel\/\">Amnesty International<\/a>, is detained in conditions that are not dignified, and has no access to timely health care. On 20 April, former head of the Tax Agency, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.prensalibre.com\/guatemala\/justicia\/capturan-a-juan-francisco-solorzano-foppa-y-justino-brito-torres-senalados-de-supuesta-obstaculizacion-a-la-accion-penal-breaking\/\">Juan Francisco Sol\u00f3rzano Foppa<\/a>, was also arrested on charges of obstruction of justice. While heading the Tax Agency, Foppa tried to combat tax evasion, another action harming powerful actors in Guatemala.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Human rights as new battlefield<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Most recently, this battle in which the law is used as an instrument to undermine judicial independence and the rule of law, has broadened from those fighting corruption to those combating impunity for serious human rights violations during the internal armed conflict. Prosecutor L\u00f3pez is a key example of this development, but he is not the only one. In November, judge <a href=\"https:\/\/elfaro.net\/en\/202304\/centroamerica\/26801\/with-the-death-squad-dossier-i-understood-that-guatemala-is-designed-for-impunity\">Miguel \u00c1ngel G\u00e1lvez, who has been key to holding some of the perpetrators of those crimes accountable,&nbsp;<\/a>left the country. From exile, he resigned from his position as judge in one of Guatemala\u2019s high-risk courts which deal with high-level cases.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>G\u00e1lvez too played a role in bringing former dictator R\u00edos Montt to justice, and most recently he led the so-called <a href=\"https:\/\/www.justiceinfo.net\/en\/79440-guatemala-diario-militar-case-desperate-times-call-precautionary-measures.html\">Death Squad Dossier case<\/a>. This case is a major example of the systematic terror during Guatemala\u2019s internal armed conflict. It is based around a military dossier which contains the photographs of 195 Guatemalans who suffered serious human rights violations, including forced disappearance, extrajudicial execution, arbitrary detention, torture and sexual abuse. In 2021, fourteen retired military and police officials and one civilian were arrested for this. In the following year judge G\u00e1lvez sent nine of them to trial, including senior military officials connected to criminal networks. Touching upon the interests of high-level military and veterans unleashed an intense harassment and intimidation campaign led by M\u00e9ndez Ruiz, eventually forcing G\u00e1lvez into exile.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The judges who replaced G\u00e1lvez have already released three of the accused from pretrial custody. Similar requests have been made by the other accused and it is feared that the case will be further dismantled. Several injunctions in other high-profile cases are awaiting decisions by the Constitutional Court, a court with no smooth track record in defending human rights. Two of its current judges voted in 2013 to annul the genocide verdict against R\u00edos Montt, and in 2019 one of these magistrates was in fact vice-presidential candidate of R\u00edos Montt\u2019s daughter <a href=\"https:\/\/elpais.com\/internacional\/2023-02-09\/zury-rios-y-el-pasado-sangriento-en-guatemala-de-su-padre-el-dictador-efrain-rios-montt.html\">Zury R\u00edos<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-a-crucial-election-time\">A crucial election time<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>In June of this year, Zury R\u00edos will again <a href=\"https:\/\/www.hrw.org\/news\/2023\/01\/24\/human-rights-concerns-guatemalas-2023-general-elections\">run for president<\/a>. R\u00edos stands a good chance of becoming the next president, being backed by the economic elites, military and the Anti-Terrorism Foundation. Several progressive candidates have instead been barred from running. Her election is a worrying prospect for the situation of human rights and rule of law in Guatemala. R\u00edos has already pushed for an <a href=\"https:\/\/www.prensalibre.com\/guatemala\/politica\/asi-busca-el-partido-valor-exculpar-a-militares-por-crimenes-de-guerra\/\">amnesty initiative law<\/a>, euphemistically called \u2018Law for the Consolidation of Peace and Reconciliation\u2019 which would end all lawsuits and annul all sentences for crimes committed between 1960 and 1996. This would mean a return to full-scale impunity for the country, and a situation of intense insecurity for those involved in earlier lawsuits, both as judges, prosecutors and witnesses. Whereas judges and prosecutors may have the chance to go into exile, with all the emotional and economic toll this takes on personal lives, most of the often poor indigenous witnesses have no such options. Without effective institutions protecting the rule of law, indigenous grassroots human rights defenders are left defenceless. Between 2012 and 2022, <a href=\"https:\/\/pbicanada.org\/2022\/09\/29\/global-witness-200-land-and-environmental-defenders-killed-worldwide-in-2021\/\">80 environmental activists<\/a>, many of them Indigenous, were killed in the country.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>If R\u00edos indeed wins the elections, an even bleaker future awaits Guatemala. It is shocking that those who for a decade were at the forefront of a successful, internationally supported process of combating impunity and corruption, are now facing the consequences through exile, arrest and detention. At this crucial moment, the international community must do all that is in its power to prevent the situation from worsening. It must support those that were so crucial for the temporary break in Guatemala\u2019s landscape of impunity and the hundreds of witnesses in these cases, through legal and political support. It should also denounce in much clearer words what is happening in Guatemala and make sure that the ruthless dismantling of the rule of law does not stay without consequences. Finally, close monitoring of the upcoming elections should make sure that they are transparent and fair and that some hope remains for Guatemala\u2019s future.<\/p>\n\n\n<div class=\"articleLink articleLink--editorRecommanded articleLink--textInImage articleLink--textTop\" style=\"\">\r\n\t\t\t\t\t\r\n\t\t\t<div class=\"articleLinkSurTitle\">Recommended reading<\/div>\r\n\t\t\t<a class=\"articleLinkImageLink\" href=\"https:\/\/www.justiceinfo.net\/en\/103279-universal-jurisdiction-belgian-justice-guatemalan-victims.html\"><div class=\"articleLinkImageContainer \"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"540\" height=\"360\" src=\"https:\/\/www.justiceinfo.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/Guatemala_Memorial-Mass-forced-disappearance_@Asociacion-Memoria-Dignificacion-y-esperanza-540x360.jpg\" class=\"articleLinkImage backgroundImageTag w-100 wp-post-image\" alt=\"A priest and musicians celebrate a mass in memory of 3 victims of enforced disappearances in Guatemala in the 1980s.\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.justiceinfo.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/Guatemala_Memorial-Mass-forced-disappearance_@Asociacion-Memoria-Dignificacion-y-esperanza-540x360.jpg 540w, https:\/\/www.justiceinfo.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/Guatemala_Memorial-Mass-forced-disappearance_@Asociacion-Memoria-Dignificacion-y-esperanza-730x487.jpg 730w, https:\/\/www.justiceinfo.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/Guatemala_Memorial-Mass-forced-disappearance_@Asociacion-Memoria-Dignificacion-y-esperanza-1110x740.jpg 1110w, https:\/\/www.justiceinfo.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/Guatemala_Memorial-Mass-forced-disappearance_@Asociacion-Memoria-Dignificacion-y-esperanza.jpg 1200w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 540px) 100vw, 540px\" \/><\/div><\/a>\r\n\t\t\t<a href=\"https:\/\/www.justiceinfo.net\/en\/103279-universal-jurisdiction-belgian-justice-guatemalan-victims.html\" class=\"articleLinkTitle articleLinkTitle--default\">\r\n\t\t\tUniversal jurisdiction: what can Belgian justice bring for Guatemalan victims?\r\n\t\t<\/a>\r\n\t\t\r\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\n\n<div class=\"content-encadre\">\n<p><strong><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\" wp-image-103258 alignleft\" src=\"https:\/\/www.justiceinfo.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/Sanne-Weber.jpg\" alt=\"Sanne Weber (Impunity Watch)\" width=\"200\" height=\"200\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.justiceinfo.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/Sanne-Weber.jpg 500w, https:\/\/www.justiceinfo.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/Sanne-Weber-150x150.jpg 150w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 200px) 100vw, 200px\" \/>SANNE WEBER<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Sanne Weber is a senior programme officer for <a href=\"https:\/\/www.impunitywatch.org\/\">Impunity Watch<\/a>, where she undertakes research and lobby on issues related to the rule of law, reparations for victims, and gender. She is also an academic researcher connected to the University of Birmingham. Her academic research explores how conflict affects gender relations, and how transitional justice mechanisms can transform gendered and other structural inequalities. Her work focuses particularly on Latin America (Colombia and Guatemala).<\/p>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>In the past months the attack on independent judges and prosecutors in Guatemala has broadened from those fighting corruption to those combating impunity for grave crimes committed during the internal armed conflict. The last example is the arrest in March of Orlando L\u00f3pez, the prosecutor who brought former dictator Efra\u00edn R\u00edos Montt to trial for [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":64,"featured_media":115959,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[567],"tags":[2933,2935],"ji_location":[2253],"class_list":["post-115970","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-opinion","tag-corruption-en","tag-impunity","ji_location-guatemala"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v25.3.1 (Yoast SEO v25.3.1) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Impunity in Guatemala: judges and prosecutors are facing justice<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"In Guatemala, independent judges and prosecutors or those committed to fighting impunity are persecuted. Orlando L\u00f3pez and Virginia Laparra are two of them.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.justiceinfo.net\/en\/115970-guatemalan-judges-and-prosecutors-under-fire.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Guatemalan judges and prosecutors under fire\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"In Guatemala, independent judges and prosecutors or those committed to fighting impunity are persecuted. Orlando L\u00f3pez and Virginia Laparra are two of them.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.justiceinfo.net\/en\/115970-guatemalan-judges-and-prosecutors-under-fire.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"JusticeInfo.net\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/JusticeInfo\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2023-04-27T09:25:08+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2023-04-27T09:25:09+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.justiceinfo.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/Guatemala_Virginia-Laparra-arrested-justice-impunity_@Johan-Ordonez-AFP.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1200\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"800\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Sanne Weber\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@justiceinfonet\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@justiceinfonet\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Sanne Weber\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"8 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"NewsArticle\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.justiceinfo.net\/en\/115970-guatemalan-judges-and-prosecutors-under-fire.html#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.justiceinfo.net\/en\/115970-guatemalan-judges-and-prosecutors-under-fire.html\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"solivri\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.justiceinfo.net\/en\/#\/schema\/person\/6e53cba1629e2e66f3fc1821d3091865\"},\"headline\":\"Guatemalan judges and prosecutors under fire\",\"datePublished\":\"2023-04-27T09:25:08+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2023-04-27T09:25:09+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.justiceinfo.net\/en\/115970-guatemalan-judges-and-prosecutors-under-fire.html\"},\"wordCount\":1526,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.justiceinfo.net\/en\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.justiceinfo.net\/en\/115970-guatemalan-judges-and-prosecutors-under-fire.html#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.justiceinfo.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/Guatemala_Virginia-Laparra-arrested-justice-impunity_@Johan-Ordonez-AFP.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"corruption\",\"impunity\"],\"articleSection\":[\"Opinion\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.justiceinfo.net\/en\/115970-guatemalan-judges-and-prosecutors-under-fire.html\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.justiceinfo.net\/en\/115970-guatemalan-judges-and-prosecutors-under-fire.html\",\"name\":\"Impunity in Guatemala: judges and prosecutors are facing justice\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.justiceinfo.net\/en\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.justiceinfo.net\/en\/115970-guatemalan-judges-and-prosecutors-under-fire.html#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.justiceinfo.net\/en\/115970-guatemalan-judges-and-prosecutors-under-fire.html#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.justiceinfo.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/Guatemala_Virginia-Laparra-arrested-justice-impunity_@Johan-Ordonez-AFP.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2023-04-27T09:25:08+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2023-04-27T09:25:09+00:00\",\"description\":\"In Guatemala, independent judges and prosecutors or those committed to fighting impunity are persecuted. 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