A United Nations knowledgeable has warned on the conclusion of her two-week go to that Guatemala’s prosecutor’s workplace is more and more utilizing prison regulation towards former prosecutors, judges, protection attorneys, journalists and others
GUATEMALA CITY — A United Nations knowledgeable warned Friday on the conclusion of her two-week go to that Guatemala’s prosecutor’s workplace is more and more utilizing prison regulation towards former prosecutors, judges, defense attorneys, journalists and others.
Margaret Satterthwaite, the U.N. Particular Rapporteur on the independence of judges and legal professionals, traveled the nation assembly with judges, legal professionals, lawmakers and others, together with Guatemala’s chief prosecutor.
“The instrumental use of prison regulation by the Prosecutor Common’s Workplace seems to quantity to a scientific sample of intentional and extreme deprivation of basic rights, focused at particular teams,” Satterthwaite wrote in her preliminary report. “This persecution seems to be intensifying, as those that have sought to finish impunity and corruption, defend human rights, or converse out towards abuses of energy more and more face digital harassment, threats, and prison costs.”
The workplace is led by Consuelo Porras, who has been sanctioned by the United States and different nations and accused of being an impediment to corruption investigations.
Satterthwaite met with Porras and her employees. They informed Satterthwaite that they acted inside the regulation, denied utilizing prison regulation to pursue opponents and mentioned they had been the true victims of assaults by the chief department and its allies, the U.N. knowledgeable mentioned.
“Legal costs have been directed at greater than 60 justice operators and protection or human rights legal professionals,” Satterthwaite mentioned, noting that greater than 50 “justice operators” have been pressured into exile by the prosecutor’s workplace.
Porras’ workplace mentioned later that it didn’t agree with Satterthwaite’s preliminary report, as a result of it didn’t replicate “the complicated work that we do, nor the exhaustive info that was supplied.”
“We energetically reject the thought of a ‘criminalization of sectors,'” the workplace mentioned. “Our actions are based mostly on severe, goal investigations that strictly adhere to the Guatemalan authorized framework.”
President Bernardo Arévalo has tried unsuccessfully to convince Porras to step down. His workplace didn’t instantly reply to a request for touch upon Satterthwaite’s observations.