UDEFEGUA releases its 2025 annual report on the situation of human rights defenders

This month, the Unit for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders of Guatemala (UDEFEGUA) released its report on the situation of human rights defenders in 2025. They recorded a total of 5,238 attacks, representing a 26.71% increase compared to 2024. More than 90% of the attacks recorded occurred digitally, primarily through social media. Other notable attacks include 12 murders, 11 attempted murders or homicides (mainly targeting land rights defenders), and more than 10 flawed judicial proceedings. Stigmatization, harassment, and defamation are the most common forms of attack on social media, with more than 80 percent committed by netcenters. These practices “seek to publicly discredit human rights defenders, undermine their social legitimacy, and create a hostile environment for their work.” The groups most frequently targeted are still journalists and justice officials, which “reflects the persistence of attacks directed at those who perform key roles in promoting freedom of expression, access to information, justice, and the rule of law.”

Thirty-one percent of the attacks were against women human rights defenders, although UDEFEGUA believes this figure is due to “underreporting, as many women face greater barriers to reporting incidents, stemming from structural sexism, fear of reprisals, and concern for the consequences for their families. In cases involving women, the most common forms of attack are also stigmatization and harassment.”1

Journalist Carlos Humberto Cal Ical murdered

Carlos Humberto Cal Ical was murdered on the night of April 26 in San Cristóbal Verapaz, in Alta Verapaz. This tragic incident was confirmed by the Association of Journalists and Social Communications Professionals of Alta Verapaz, of which Carlos Humberto was a member since 2008. A press release published2 by the association on its Facebook page noted that, “This crime is yet another example of the bleak situation facing journalism in Guatemala. Alta Verapaz has become a ‘hotspot’ for attacks, with journalists facing intimidation. The region is particularly dangerous for those covering social and environmental conflicts, which increases the vulnerability of those that work in communications.” The press release also calls for a thorough investigation into the crime, “which is part of a larger pattern of systematic persecution against independent journalism in Guatemala.”

Attempt to reopen the Hogar Seguro case fails

After a six-year wait, the Fourth Criminal Court, presided over by Mario Flores, was scheduled to begin the intermediate phase hearing for the last four individuals implicated in the Hogar “Seguro” case. In January 2020, Crucy María López, Ofelia María Pérez, Rolando Romeo Miranda, and Rocío Murillo were indicted, but a decision on whether they would face trial for the deaths of 41 girls at the Virgen de la Asunción “home” on March 8, 2017, remained unresolved. However, procedural challenges prevented the hearing from beginning.

On April 29, the representative from the Public Prosecutor’s Office (MP) requested that the hearing be rescheduled once again, arguing that he had only recently taken over the case—on a temporary basis, since the prosecutor in charge of the case was removed by MP officials—and had not had enough time to familiarize himself with the charges. The Prosecutor’s Office Against Femicide has not confirmed whether he will ultimately be the prosecutor in charge of the case, so he requested more time to settle these issues. With the agreement of the parties to the proceedings, the judge rescheduled the hearing for August 25 and 26, 2026.3

Last August, following a first trial that lasted seven years, six of the seven individuals charged were sentenced for their respective roles in the fire at the state-run “home” that claimed the lives of 41 girls and teenagers and left another 15 girls with varying degrees of injury.

Pacheco and Chaclán will remain in pretrial detention

On April 23, while dozens of indigenous and ancestral leaders from across the country protested in downtown Guatemala City, the Third Chamber of the Court of Appeals ruled to extend the pretrial detention of Luis Pacheco and Héctor Chaclán. The two former indigenous authorities of the 40 Cantones of Totonicapán were among those who led the 2023 demonstrations aimed at defending democracy in the country. They—along with Esteban Toc Tzay, an indigenous leader from Sololá who was arrested in August of last year, and Basilio Puac, former vice president of the 48 Cantones of Totonicapán, who was arrested in January 2026—have been indicted on charges of terrorism, obstruction of criminal proceedings, criminal conspiracy, sedition, and obstruction of justice. While Toc Tzay and Puac were granted alternative measures and remain under house arrest, Pacheco and Chaclán just completed a year in pretrial detention. The Third Chamber determined that the defendants should remain in pretrial detention to ensure that they appear in the criminal proceedings against them and permitted their detention to be extended until September 23, 2026.4

Intermediate phase in the Zolic case against former prosecutor Stuardo Campo

The intermediate phase hearing in the Zolic case against former prosecutor Stuardo Campo took place on April 27. At the hearing, the plaintiffs concluded their arguments and the Office of the Attorney General (PGN) also presented its case. The next hearing will be on May 6, when it will be the defense team’s turn to present their case. The defense argues that the prosecution’s case lacks legal merit, as there is no evidence to support the charges.5

In this third case, which is considered criminalization against the former prosecutor of the Anti-Corruption Prosecutor’s Office, the MP charged Campo following a complaint filed by individuals convicted of acts of corruption within the Free Zone for Industry and Commerce (Zolic) in Izabal, in connection with a case that Stuardo Campo handled while he was a prosecutor. The MP has accused him of dereliction of duty for allegedly concealing evidence, which led a court to find the current complainants against the former prosecutor guilty of corruption on two occasions.6 The judge in the case, Victor Cruz, is among the judges that the U.S. State Department has accused of promoting acts of corruption.

Plaintiffs in the Military Diary case reject MP prosecutors

On April 28, a public hearing was held on an injunction in the Military Diary case. The plaintiffs—relatives of the disappeared named in the Military Diary—challenged a decision by Regional Prosecutor Dimas Jiménez Jiménez, who rejected the recusal of prosecutor José Crisanto Gómez Meléndez from the case, as ordered by Section Prosecutor Noé Nehemías Rivera Vázquez of the Prosecutor’s Office on Human Rights. The plaintiffs argued that this decision was arbitrary and violates their rights to access to justice, due process, and legal certainty. The case involves crimes like forced disappearance, extrajudicial executions, and rape, for which the state has an obligation to investigate, prosecute, and provide reparations.

The plaintiffs accused the prosecutors of misconduct, including weakening or dropping charges, using procedural measures outside the scope of the law, improperly requesting alternative measures, making contradictory statements during hearings, omitting charges, and filing provisional dismissals late without informing the victims. Furthermore, the prosecutors have questioned the MP’s own evidence, as well as survivor testimonies, which, in the plaintiffs’ view, demonstrates a lack of objectivity and favors the defendants.

In this context, the plaintiffs argued that the prosecution’s actions have created uncertainty in the proceedings and could contribute to impunity. They have therefore requested that their injunction be granted, that the October 15, 2025, ruling be overturned, and that the prosecutors in question be recused. They have also requested the appointment of an impartial team—including a special prosecutor’s office—to ensure an effective investigation and respect for the victims’ rights.7