December 18, 2024 12:00AM EST
New Administration Targeted While Other Cases Languish
Guatemala's Attorney General Maria Consuelo Porras in Guatemala City, November 26, 2024. ©2024 JOHAN ORDONEZ/AFP via Getty Images
(Washington, DC, December 18, 2024) – Guatemala’s attorney general is carrying out politically motivated prosecutions against members of President Bernardo Arévalo’s administration, Human Rights Watch said today.
Since President Arévalo took office in January 2024, the Attorney General’s Office has moved forward with criminal investigations against the Arévalo administration that appear to be based on dubious evidence. In November, a judge ordered the cancelation of the president’s political party’s legal registration, as part of a case brought by the Attorney General’s Office. These decisions follow Attorney General Consuelo Porras’ efforts to prevent President Arévalo from taking office through a range of legal actions that the US government, the European Union, and members of the Organization of American States (OAS) criticized as efforts to undermine democracy.
“Attorney General Porras, who led an effort to unlawfully overturn the elections, is abusing the powers of her office to prosecute government officials through dubious evidence and legal maneuvers,” said Juanita Goebertus, Americas director at Human Rights Watch. “Instead of investigating the organized crime and widespread corruption in Guatemala, the attorney general appears to be bringing these selective prosecutions to undermine a government she opposes.”
Between August and November, Human Rights Watch interviewed 11 people, including senior government officials, former prosecutors, lawmakers, and others. These included Ligia Hernández, a former government official and lawmaker, whom Human Rights Watch researchers interviewed while she was in pretrial detention at Matamoros prison. Researchers reviewed court documents and public statements by officials from the Attorney General’s Office. Human Rights Watch sent a letter to the attorney general on December 2 requesting information on her office’s investigations into corruption; she has not responded.
The Attorney General’s Office has initiated at least 17 investigations against high-level government officials, and at least six times asked the Supreme Court to strip President Arévalo of his immunity, so that he can be criminally investigated.
More:
https://www.hrw.org/news/2024/12/18/guatemala-attorney-general-pursues-political-prosecutions
Attorney General Maria Consuelo Porras
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