The United Nations Working Group on Arbitrary Detention considers that the deprivation of liberty of Guatemalan journalist José Rubén Zamora, detained for more than 700 days in a military prison in Guatemala City, is arbitrary and which contravenes six articles of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, and therefore calls on the Government of that country to adopt the necessary measures to remedy the situation “without delay.”
“The Working Group considers that, taking into account all the circumstances of the case, the appropriate remedy would be to release Mr. Zamora immediately and to grant him the effective right to obtain compensation and other forms of reparation, in accordance with international law,” the statement reads. opinion to which EL PAÍS had access. In addition, the UN agency urges the Government of Bernardo Arévalo “to carry out an exhaustive and independent investigation” of the case and to adopt “appropriate measures against those responsible for the violation of their rights.”
Zamora, 67, was arrested almost two years ago — on July 29, 2022 — on a money laundering charge that he has always denied and that various international organizations consider a clear attack on freedom of expression due to the dozens of publications in which he revealed acts of corruption during the government of former President Alejandro Giammattei.
According to the opinion approved on March 19 by four independent international experts, Zamora’s arrest is “the result of the legitimate exercise of the right to freedom of expression.” “The Working Group considers that the deprivation of liberty is discriminatory against Mr. Zamora on the grounds of his political opinion,” it reads.
The experts also acknowledge that “there is widespread concern within the international community about the criminalization and protection of judges, prosecutors, journalists (including the case of Mr. Zamora) and human rights defenders, in the context of the fight against corruption in Guatemala.” For this reason, they referred the case to the special rapporteur on the promotion and protection of the right to freedom of opinion and expression, as well as to the special rapporteur on the independence of judges and lawyers “so that they can take the appropriate measures.”
The Group of Experts’ opinion comes a week after a Guatemalan Court of Appeals annulled the conditional release granted to the Guatemalan journalist on May 15, a measure that, however, prevented him from leaving prison because that was only one of three judicial cases that the Public Prosecutor’s Office had opened against him.
“The decision of the Second Chamber of the Court of Appeals that revoked our father’s freedom, the multiple unjustified suspensions of hearings; the delay of the Criminal Court in deciding appeals filed by him; and the lack of a date for his release by the Government contradict the most essential principles of this opinion,” wrote Zamora’s children in a statement. Published this Tuesday in Medium.
The arrival of Bernardo Arévalo to the presidency of Guatemala last January meant an improvement in prison conditions for the journalist, who had reported being a victim of torture during Giammattei’s administration. The new president, who won the elections in August 2023 with the firm promise of fighting corruption embedded in the State, has described the case as “political persecution of the press” and has promised to ensure that his rights in prison would be respected. But for the moment he has not commented on this opinion of the United Nations that directly calls on him to take measures for a detention that they consider “arbitrary.”
José Carlos Zamora, one of the journalist’s sons, told EL PAÍS that the government should release him. “He should not have spent a single day in prison,” he said.
The news also comes in the week in which Zamora will be awarded the 2024 Recognition of Excellence by the Gabo Foundation for his tireless fight to “expose corruption and human rights abuses” for more than 30 years. Even in prison, the journalist will not be able to collect in person the award that, according to the foundation created by Colombian Nobel Prize winner Gabriel García Márquez, makes him “a symbol of the democratic crossroads that Guatemala and other Latin American countries are going through.”
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