President of the Republic of Guatemala
Alejandro Giammattei
Guatemala City
Guatemala
From the International NGO Forum in Guatemala FONGI, composed of more than 30 organisations and the CIVICUS alliance, a global alliance of more than 10,000 civil society organisations (CSOs) and activists from 175 countries around the world, we write to express our deep concern about the escalating repression of peaceful protests and to ask you to act urgently.
We urge you and the Guatemalan authorities to take the following actions as a matter of priority:
- Investigate all complaints of excessive use of force or cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment by police when dispersing protests;
- Create a safe and enabling environment for activists, human rights defenders and other members of civil society in Guatemala to peacefully exercise their rights to freedom of expression, association and peaceful assembly without intimidation, harassment, detention and prosecution;
- Preserve the integrity of the electoral process and democracy in Guatemala by putting an end to actions by state institutions that seriously jeopardize respect for the will of the people as expressed in the election results;
- To put an end to the continuous measures to criminalize independent judicial operators and the instrumentalization of judicial and procedural institutions to undermine the rule of law;
- Fully respect the constitutional order and create an enabling environment in which people participate in protests without fear of reprisals.
According to reports from civil society groups, several people have suffered physical violence since October 4, 2023 [1].
- On August 20, 2023, the second round of presidential elections was held in an atmosphere that sought to undermine the rule of law, questioned the independence of the judiciary, and severely restricted the work of journalists and human rights defenders.
- On September 29, prosecutors from the Special Prosecutor's Office Against Impunity (FECI), headed by prosecutor Rafael Curruchiche, seized the minutes of the general election results held by the Supreme Electoral Tribunal [2].
- On October 2, indigenous authorities from 48 Cantons, the Indigenous Mayor's Office of Sololá, Santa Lucía Utatlán, San Cristóbal Totonicapán, the Xinka Parliament, the Ixiles and other indigenous peoples began to protest peacefully in different parts of the country.
- On October 4, on the third day of the national strike demanding the resignation of Attorney General Consuelo Porras, Prosecutor Rafael Curruchiche and Judge Fredy Orellana, an incident occurred in front of the central headquarters of the Public Prosecutor's Office (MP), when a group of people covering their faces with masks violently confronted with sticks against the people who were holding a peaceful sit-in there [3].
- On Thursday, October 5, the Constitutional Court issued a resolution in favor of the Coordinating Committee of Agricultural, Commercial, Industrial and Financial Associations (CACIF) for the authorities to guarantee freedom of transit and mobility [4].
In July 2022, the organizations CIVICUS, Acción Ciudadana and Redlad presented the UN Universal Periodic Review of Guatemala, which highlighted the extreme violence against human rights defenders and journalists, who continue to suffer attacks, harassment, stigmatization and assassinations. State and non-state actors have intensified attacks with impunity. The report also denounces cases of judicial harassment against justice officials and journalists and the gradual reduction of space for a free and independent press.
As a result of these developments, civic space in Guatemala is currently classified as "repressive" by the CIVICUS Monitor, which is an online platform that tracks threats to civil society in countries around the world.
We call for measures to be taken to put an end to aggressions against human rights defenders and journalists, as well as the human rights violations noted above, to hold those responsible accountable, and to protect the well-being of Guatemalan citizens and their democracy.
Sincerely,
- ARTICLE 19 Mexico and CA Office
- CIVICUS: World Alliance for Citizen Participation
- International NGO Forum in Guatemala FONGI
