Apr 3, 2020 | News
Millions of indigenous people in Guatemala (Mayas, Garífunas and Xincas) are at increased risk of falling victim to COVID-19 unless the government immediately provides them with necessary information and ensures they have access to adequate health care without discrimination, the ICJ said today.
“Guatemala’s indigenous people face an increased risk of suffering during this global pandemic because of the historic and systemic discrimination against them, which means that they don’t have access to proper information needed to protect themselves, nor to health care should they fall ill because of COVID-19,” said Ramón Cadena, ICJ’s Central America Director.
“The most suffering indigenous communities could be those very poor indigenous communities living at the border with México.”
The ICJ called on Guatemalan authorities to ensure that information about public health measures regarding COVID-19 be offered in the languages most used by indigenous communities (mayan languages such as ixil, quiché, mam, q´eqchí, kaqchikel; and garífuna and xinca languages).
During the pandemic the State of Guatemala has not taken into account the difficulties, such as financial, geographical, technological or linguistic barriers, that indigenous people face in accessing information.
On the other side, the ICJ has noticed that the information about the governmental measures to face the pandemic, has been disseminated in a very limited way.
Indigenous communities have been excluded from the official health system because of the discrimination against them and the lack of resources invested in the health system of Guatemala due to processes of privatization of social services, which have been implemented in Guatemala after the signature of the Peace Accords.
“The general weakness of the Guatemalan public health system, historic racism against the indigenous community and the tremendous general social inequality in the country all aggravate the potential impact of the pandemic on the indigenous community,” Cadena said.
The ICJ urges the State of Guatemala to take the necessary legislative, administrative, and judicial measures to protect Indigenous Peoples and preserve their human rights during the current emergency, specifically their right to health, food, and housing.
The ICJ also called on the Guatemalan government to avoid measures that threaten the life and dignity of people, including those from the indigenous community who are generally most subject to violations of their civil and political rights.
“Any measures taken in response to the pandemic must be limited to those that are strictly necessary, legitimate, and proportionate to the risk facing the community, and limited in time and subject to review,” Cadena said.
“There are certain guarantees, such as the right to an effective judicial remedy, that cannot be suspended or repealed and that are vital so that citizens, including indigenous people, can safeguard their rights, and even as the pandemic inevitably affects the legal system the government must do all it can to avoid discrimination against the indigenous community, which already suffers from racism and lack of access to justice.”
Feb 13, 2020 | News
The ICJ convened two workshops in Guatemala City from 11 to 13 February for more than 30 lawyers and more than 30 representatives of victims’ organizations on the international law and standards that apply to the investigation of unlawful death and enforced disappearances.
The workshops were conducted as part of the project under the ICJ’s Global Accountability Initiative entitled, Promoting justice for extrajudicial killings and enforced disappearances in Colombia, Guatemala and Peru, and supported by the EU European Instrument for Democracy and Human Rights (EIDHR). The project promotes accountability of perpetrators and access to effective remedies and reparation for victims and their families in cases of extrajudicial killings and enforced disappearances.
The workshop for lawyers was inaugurated by the President of the Board of Lawyers of Guatemala, Ovidio Orellana. The workshop with representatives of victims organizations was inaugurated by the Chief of Cooperation of the European Union Alberto Cortezón.
Participants in the workshops emphasized that the Guatemalan public authorities must respect and effectively impolement the the revised Minnesota Protocol on the Investigation of Potentially Unlawful Death, and that there was a need to reinforce advocacy strategies for the respect of the Protocol by the Guatemalan Human Rights Institutions.
The Presidential Commission on Human Rights (COPREDEH) and the Ombudsman´s Office participated during the workshop with victims’ organizations. They committed themselves to take the necessary actions to incorporate into their work the principles and content of the Minnesota Protocol, as a complementary tool to other conventions and binding law.
Contacts:
Ramón Cadena, Regional Director of ICJ’s Central America Office, email: ramon.cadena@icj.org
Kingsley Abbott, Senior Legal Adviser & Coordinator of the ICJ’s Global Accountability Initiative, email: kingsley.abbott@icj.org
Carolina Villadiego Burbano, ICJ Legal and Policy Adviser, Latin America, and Regional Coordinator of the Project, email: carolina.villadiego@icj.org
Jul 11, 2019 | Advocacy, Non-legal submissions
The ICJ today called on the Human Rights Council to seek to allow the International Commission Against Impunity in Guatemala (CICIG) to continue its essential work, and to promote similar initiatives elsewhere.
The statement, delivered during a general debate on technical cooperation, read as follows:
“The International Commission of Jurists (ICJ) welcomes the technical cooperation the United Nations has provided to the International Commission Against Impunity in Guatemala (CICIG).
For more than ten years, the CICIG has been essential to the fight against corruption and impunity in Guatemala. It has provided invaluable support to prosecutors and judges in the investigation and and trial of major crimes of corruption.
The combination of provision of technical assistance and actual participation in the proceedings as “querellante adhesivo” (“complementary prosecutor”) has been important to the CICIG’s effectiveness. For instance, the CICIG helped ensure that investigations took place into high-level officers from the Government and against people that had illegally financed their public campaigns. Several public officers have been brought to justice.
The ICJ therefore expresses its deepest concern that the Government of Guatemala has decided to allow the mandate of the CICIG to expire on the 3rd of September, despite its role remaining as essential as ever to the fight against corruption and impunity in the country.
We urge the Human Rights Council to seek to allow the work of the CICIG to continue, as well as to promote more generally the important potential of UN involvement in such mechanisms to strengthen the fight against impunity at the national level.”
Jun 29, 2019 | News
Between 26 and 29 June 2019, in Guatemala City, ICJ and its partner, Fundación de Antropología Forense de Guatemala (FAFG), with the support of the Asociación Guatemalteca de Jueces por la Integridad (AGJI) and the Bufete de Derechos Humanos (BDH), undertook trainings of more than 12 judges and 20 prosecutors on the international law and standards that apply to the investigation of unlawful death and enforced disappearances.
The workshops were conducted as part of the project under the ICJ’s Global Accountability Initiative entitled, Promoting justice for extrajudicial killings and enforced disappearances in Colombia, Guatemala and Peru, supported by the EU European Instrument for Democracy and Human Rights (EIDHR).
Opening remarks were given by Tomás Pallás Aparisi, Head of Cooperation at the EU Delegation to Guatemala, Delia Dávila, Magistrate from the Supreme Court of Guatemala and Haroldo Vasquez, President of the Asociación Guatemalteca de Jueces por la Integridad AJGI.
Ramón Cadena, Director of the ICJ’s Central America Office, addressed the international law and standards that apply to the investigation and prosecution of unlawful death and enforced disappearances and their relevance to Guatemala. Edgar Pérez, director of Bufete de Derechos Humanos (BDH) discussed the situation of enforced disappearances in Guatemala and the value and applicability of international law and standards. Marco García, a representative of FAFG, outlined the role of forensic science in the investigation of unlawful death and enforced disappearances.
Kingsley Abbott, Senior Legal Adviser & Coordinator of the ICJ’s Global Accountability Initiative, provided an overview of the revised Minnesota Protocol on the Investigation of Potentially Unlawful Death (2016), which formed the core of the materials used at the workshops.
The ICJ took the opportunity of the workshops to visit the office of its partner, the Asociación de Familiares de Detenidos-Desaparecidos de Guatemala (FAMDEGUA) and meet with Justice Delia Marina Davila Salazar of the Supreme Court of Justice of Guatemala.
Contacts:
Kingsley Abbott, Senior Legal Adviser & Coordinator of the ICJ’s Global Accountability Initiative, email: kingsley.abbott(a)icj.org
Carolina Villadiego Burbano, ICJ Legal and Policy Adviser, Latin America, and Regional Coordinator of the Project, email: carolina.villadiego(a)icj.org
Mar 20, 2019 | Advocacy, Non-legal submissions
The ICJ today joined other NGOs in addressing the UN Human Rights Council session in Geneva, on the situation for human rights in Guatemala.
The statement, delivered by Franciscans International on behalf also of ICJ and other NGOs, read as follows (translation of Spanish original):
“We welcome the High Commissioner’s Report concerning the activities of her Office in Guatemala. We share the concerns and recommendations in the report, especially those related to the indigenous peoples, migrants and legislative initiatives that would impact in the full enjoyment of human rights.
As it was highlighted in the report, we are also concerned by the current discussions on the initiative to reform the National Reconciliation Law. This reform would give amnesty to those who committed serious crimes during the armed conflict, including those who have already been convicted. This puts at risk not only the fulfillment of the state’s obligations to end impunity, but also the security and access to justice of hundreds of victims and witnesses. Guatemala should dismiss immediately the initiative and refrain from promoting any other initiative that would promote impunity.
Additionally, the political and social tensions are intensifying towards the upcoming elections, and the inclusion of various groups, especially indigenous peoples, is at risk. Currently there is a low participation and representation of indigenous peoples in the political scene of the country. Out of 178 seats in the Congress, only 18 are occupied by Mayans (from which only two are women). The State must guarantee free participation, without intimidation or threats, of indigenous peoples running for different positions.
Lastly, the regional human rights situation of migrants is aggravating and the response by Guatemala, as evidenced in the last months, shows the lack of an effective policy to deal not only with migrants in transit, but also to create conditions to prevent forced migration of Guatemalans.
We thank the work that the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights has done, and we stress the importance of its activities in the country.”
The full statement may be downloaded in English and the original Spanish, in PDF format, here: HRC40-OralStatement-GDitem2-Guatemala-2019-EN-ESP
