Dear Friends,
The crisis of the constitutional government in Guatemala, or technical coup, is moving at full steam. President Jimmy Morales and the networks of political influence that support him are undertaking a series of actions to reverse decades of concerted efforts by Guatemalan human rights and justice advocates to promote a functional justice system in Guatemala.
While President Jimmy Morales' administrations' illegal expulsion of the International Commission Against Impunity in Guatemala (CICIG) on January 7 grabbed international attention, it has become clear that the Constitutional Court, Guatemala’s highest court, is now the President’s target. The Executive branch’s direct disobedience of Constitutional Court rulings constitute a violation Guatemala’s constitution and the limits on the legitimate exercise of power according to the democratic principles enshrined in the Inter American Democratic Charter.
Constitutional Court decisions have become the principal obstacle for organized crime networks’ efforts to consolidate control over the upcoming elections, achieve impunity for war criminals, stop prosecution of corruption in government, ensure impunity for illegal operations of extractive industries and control the activities of non-governmental organizations. These efforts move forward, keeping pace with efforts to remove key Constitutional Court magistrates. Below is a detailed update of this week’s events.
Also, thanks in part to your strong response, on Thursday, Representatives Norma Torres (D-CA) and Jim McGovern (D-MA) presented a letter to President Trump on behalf of 45 other members of US Congress urging for immediate action, including suspending assistance and applying the Magnitsky Act sanctions, in response to the Jimmy Morales’ Administration’s recent actions that have “undermined the rule of law.”
Many Thanks,
Annie Bird
Monitoring Guatemala's Constitutional Crisis: January 13-18
January 21, 2019
Jackie McVicar
Guatemala City
Last week, indigenous ancestral authorities, human rights, environmental, LGBTQ and campesino organizations presented legal challenges against the January 8 resolution of the plenary of the Supreme Court of Justice (CSJ) to move forward with impeachment proceedings against three magistrates of the Constitutional Court, Guatemala’s highest court, in response an abuse of authority complaint by the Association of Dignitaries of the Nation.
On Thursday, January 17, ten members of the Association of Dignitaries of the Nation resigned from the organization, rejecting the “spurious and illegal” actions of attorney Guillermo Pellecer Robles who presented a legal complaint, purportedly on behalf of the organization, to strip immunity and charge Constitutional Court magistrates with abuse of authority in response to a ruling they made in May 2018 to strike down President Morales’ attempt to expel Swedish Ambassador Anders Kompass. Kompass was accused of meddling in the country’s affairs after he pledged continued economic support for the International Commission Against Impunity in Guatemala (CICIG). Kompass’ pledge followed a suspension of US contributions to CICIG enacted by Senator Marco Rubio through his position in the Foreign Affairs Committee.
In the public letter Association of Dignitaries members write that Pellecer Robles never consulted with the association and rejected that he represented them. The Association is largely made up constituents who drafted the 1985 constitution that was created through a National Constituent Assembly to re-establish constitutional order after a series of coup d’états that led to genocide in the early 1980s.
On Wednesday, January 16, Vice President Jafet Cabrera confirmed that the Executive would not obey orders of the Constitutional Court to reinstate CICIG. CICIG’s mandate is not set to end until September 2019, but their offices have effectively shut down and their foreign personnel have left the country. For more than a year, the Constitutional Court has repeatedly struck down unilateral and illegal decisions of President Jimmy Morales who has tried to rid the country of the CICIG. Justice advocates have urged the Attorney General to initiate proceedings against Executive branch officials who have openly defied Constitutional Court rulings.
On Thursday, January 17, the Guatemalan Congress approved the first reading of a proposed law that would make amendments to the National Reconciliation law, which formed part of the peace process in the early 1990s. The reforms would lead to the release of convicted war criminals from jail within 24 hours of passage of the law. Military officers would be judged by a military tribunal. Amnesty would be granted in all cases related to the internal armed conflict, regardless of who perpetrated the violence.
The reforms were promoted by Rep. Fernando Linares Beltranena, who, while a special prosecutor for the Nation’s Solicitor General (PGN), reportedly covered up and diverted the investigation into the case of Diana Ortiz, an American nun of the Ursuline Order who was kidnapped, raped and tortured in 1989 by the Guatemalan military. Beltranena represented military and economic interests as an attorney before becoming a congressman.
After the law proposal passed first reading, with 83 votes in favor (61 absent, 14 against), ex-military officers and their supporters cheered from the public gallery, including Maria Elena (Nana) Winter de Lucas, wife of retired General Manuel Benedicto Lucas Garcia. Lucas Garcia was convicted in May 2018 for his involvement in crimes against humanity, including charges of illegal detention, torture, and rape as well a separate charge of aggravated sexual assault for his involvement in the Molina Theissen case. He is also awaiting trial for war crimes related to the Creompaz case of forced disappearance. Congresswoman Sandra Moran (Convergencia) was booed when she spoke against the proposal and Walter Felix (URNG-Mais) had his microphone cut when he tried to speak.
If Congress approves the proposal in three readings, it will become law. Only the Constitutional Court could bar its implementation. A group of UN experts warned the Guatemalan government that investigating, prosecuting and sanctioning those responsible for serious human rights violations and war crimes is an international legal obligation.
On Thursday, January 17, President Jimmy Morales’ son and brother, facing fraud and corruption charges, attended a preliminary hearing on the charges, which CICIG was co-prosecuting together with the Public Prosecutor’s Office. In view of the crisis, CICIG’s prosecutors could not attend, and presented a formal explanation to the judges. Nonetheless, the judges found that CICIG prosecutors had abandoned the case, and removed them from participation in the prosecution. Notably, this is a key case that has been directly affected by the illegal expulsion of CICIG.
On Friday, the Mack Foundation distributed a communique expressing concern that the Supreme Court had committed illegal actions favoring impunity in relation to its review of an impeachment of a congressman, and urged the Public Prosecutors office to open an investigation. The communique explained that at least three of the Supreme Court judges, have been subject to criminal charges, and referred to Supreme Court corruption scandals, currently under prosection by CICIG. CICIG is currently prosecuting men they claim are members of criminal networks that bought off at least one commissioner in the 2014 Judicial Nominating Commissions. The 2014 Nominating Commission chose the judges now sitting on the Supreme Court.
On Friday, the Supreme Electoral Court officially called the general elections, scheduled for June 16, 2019, opening up the campaign season. President Morales reportedly did not participate in the official act that had over 400 people in attendance. These elections will be the first governed by the New Electoral Law, and preliminary social media reports indicate as many as seventy nine sitting congress members will be barred from re-election according to provisions of the new law. This year will also see the election of magistrates to the Supreme Court of Justice and Supreme Electoral Court. The Constitutional Court will play a decisive role in these process, as they will review injunctions related to the process.
