This Friday, a group of 16 international organizations defending human rights accused the Guatemalan Prosecutor’s Office of attacking democracy. and the rule of law by judicializing the electoral process in which Bernardo Arévalo was elected president.
The organizations, including the Center for Justice and International Law (Cejil) and the Washington Office for Latin American Affairs (WOLA), issued a statement in which express their “deep rejection of the recent criminalization actions of the Public Ministry of Guatemala against the political opposition, academics, journalists and human rights defenders”.
“This new abuse of power by the Public Ministry occurs in a context of persistent judicialization of the electoral process, whose “The final objective is to prevent the elected president Bernardo Arévalo, the elected vice president Karin Herrera, and elected deputies from taking effective office on January 14, 2024.”states the statement.
(Read also: Bernardo Arévalo denounces ‘assault on democracy’ after request to remove his immunity)
The organizations pointed out that “the interference of the Public Ministry once again attacks the rule of law and democracy in Guatemala, improperly applying criminal law to legitimate actions in defense of university autonomy.”
This week, the Prosecutor’s Office issued 27 arrest warrants against militants of the Semilla Movement party, to which Arévalo belongs, for allegedly having participated in a takeover of the facilities of the University of San Carlos (USAC), in 2022, causing destruction to its facilities and using these actions as a political platform.
According to the organizations’ statement, among the people with arrest warrants are the former human rights attorney Jordán Rodas Andrade, human rights defenders such as Ramón Cadena and Helmer Velásquez, USAC academics such as Hada Alvarado and Eduardo Velásquez, leaders students and journalists.
The Prosecutor’s Office, headed by the Attorney General, Consuelo Porras Argueta, also requested to withdraw Arévalo de León’s immunity. and its vice president, Karin Herrera.
(You may be interested: Court of Guatemala rejects appeal by president-elect to stop siege by the Prosecutor’s Office)
Since last July, the Prosecutor’s Office has tried to reverse the electoral results, through raids on the Supreme Electoral Tribunal and criminal prosecution against public officials and members of the Semilla party, which the president-elect has described as an attempted coup d’état.
“Guatemala is experiencing critical moments where greater international oversight is required and express statements to the authorities that Guatemala will not be accepted within the concert of nations if it continues in an authoritarian logic, manipulating the laws to circumvent the results of the elections,” concludes the statement issued this Friday by human rights organizations.
In addition to Cejil and Wola, other signatory organizations are the Due Process Foundation (DPLF), Guatemala Human Rights Commission (GHRC), Article 19 Office for Mexico and Central America, Lawyers Without Borders Canada (ASFC), RFK Human Rights, International Service for Human Rights (ISHR), International Commission of Jurists and the Mesoamerican Initiative of Women Human Rights Defenders.
This Friday, the Secretary General of the UN, António Guterres, also declared that he is “alarmed” by the latest actions of the Guatemalan Prosecutor’s Office.
(Also: Electoral Court disqualifies the party of the elected president of Guatemala)
Guterres “reiterates his call to the authorities to ensure that the democratic will expressed at the polls is respected,” said General Secretariat spokesman Stéphane Dujarric during his daily press conference in New York.
EFE
#organizations #accuse #Guatemalan #Prosecutors #Office #attacking #democracy