Current political situation September 2025

Criminalization and prosecution of justice operators

Guatemala is one of the most dangerous countries for justice operators. According to the 2024 report by the Unit for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders in Guatemala (UDEFEGUA),1 attacks against justice operators rose from 211 in 2021 to 2,048 in 2024.2 This data demonstrates the increased violence against those who perform their work seriously by investigating and filing complaints, and the level of risk they face for doing their job properly. Similarly, in a report,3 United Nations Special Rapporteur on the independence of judges and lawyers, Margaret Satterthwaite, highlighted the co-optation of the justice system in Guatemala and emphasized that there is a consistent and alarming pattern of criminalization against specific groups in the country.4

Some egregious examples of this situation include the criminalization of Virginia Laparra, Claudia González, and Paola Pimentel, among others. Former anti-corruption prosecutor Laparra was arrested in 2022 for reporting corruption by Judge Lesther Castellanos. The accusation Laparra made earned her a four-year prison sentence, of which she served nearly half. In 2024, after a second case of legal persecution, Laparra was forced into exile. Despite efforts by the Public Prosecutor’s Office (MP) to reactivate an arrest warrant against her, the Second Appeals Court rejected the request on September 5.5

Meanwhile, Claudia González, a human rights lawyer and former representative of the International Commission Against Impunity in Guatemala (CICIG), was arbitrarily detained in 20236 for alleged influence peddling. After several months in pretrial detention, she is currently being held under house arrest and is prohibited from leaving the country without authorization, while court officials continue to drag out her case. Her case is before the Seventh Sentencing Court, and the oral and public trial phase has been scheduled for September 2026.7

Paola Pimentel, a former prosecutor with the Special Prosecutor’s Office Against Impunity (FECI), has faced charges and prosecution for more than a year for the alleged crime crime of disclosing confidential information in the Manipulation of Justice case. On September 17, Pimentel was acquitted, with the judge ruling there was not enough material evidence to prove her guilt.8

These are just three examples, among dozens of cases, of criminalization and prosecution of those who work against corruption and impunity in a context of judicial co-optation.9 Such processes are accompanied by a series of elements that fit into a pattern of criminalization of justice operators, including: exile, arbitrary detentions, trials without due process, social media campaigns to smear and stigmatize, multiple complaints, online attacks, improper criminal prosecutions, etc. According to Amnesty International, “This particularly affects women, who make up a significant proportion of professionals working in the justice sector.”10

Memory against impunity: Gerardi case reopened

In September, significant steps were taken to reopen the case of the 1998 assassination of Monsignor Juan José Gerardi Conedera. Gerardi was murdered two days after the publication of the Guatemala Never Again report. The report was produced by the Project for the Recovery of Historical Memory (REMHI), spearheaded by Gerardi, who served as auxiliary bishop and coordinator of the Human Rights Office of the Archdiocese of Guatemala (ODHAG) at the time. In 2001, four people were convicted in connection with this case. According to the Special Prosecutor’s Office, a total of 17 suspects were identified, of whom only five were civilians; the rest were employees of the state. At that time, the Third Criminal Court determined that Gerardi’s murder was politically motivated because of the publication of the report, which compiled information on human rights violations committed during the internal armed conflict (IAC) in Guatemala.11 This information was included in “Guatemala: Memory of Silence,” a report published by the Commission for Historical Clarification (CEH) in 1999, which attributed 93% of the human rights violations it documented to state forces.

On September 16, 2025, High Risk Court D sent Darío Morales García, a former specialist with the now-defunct Presidential High Command (EMP), to trial, finding that there was sufficient evidence against him to warrant an oral and public trial. The court will determine whether or not he participated in Monsignor Gerardi’s murder. Morales García is charged with perjury and conspiracy to commit extrajudicial execution. According to Judge Abelina Cruz, there is evidence indicating that Morales was at the scene of the crime and may have altered parts of the crime scene in order to cover up for those responsible.12 The evidentiary hearing was scheduled for September 22 but was suspended because the defendant’s defense team recused the judge. The recusal was sent to the Second High Risk Court, which will decide whether the judge will remain on the case or be transferred to another court.13 It is important to note that, in late 2024, this court ruled in favor of the military personnel implicated in the CREOMPAZ case. That decision nullified all the proceedings in the CREOMPAZ case since it began in 2016 and ordered the release of the accused military personnel.14

Dario Morales is the fifth person charged with the murder of Monsignor Gerardi. In 2001, three military personnel (Byron Lima Estrada, Byron Lima Oliva, son of the former, and Obdulio Villanueva) and priest Mario Orantes were convicted. Morales was arrested in late April 2025 after being deported from the United States. He was a fugitive and had a warrant out for his arrest since 2014.15

The recovery and recognition of historical memory is a fundamental part of the fight against impunity. Monsignor Gerardi accepted this commitment and, in his role as bishop and spiritual leader, promoted the dignity of victims through the REMHI. He said just that in his speech to present the report in April 1998: “We want to contribute to the construction of a different country. That is why we recover the memory of the people. This path was and continues to be full of risks, but the construction of the Kingdom of God has risks and only those who have the strength to face them are its builders.”16 The Gerardi case is a national reference point in the search for justice to guarantee non-repetition and the recognition of the state’s responsibility in this terrible chapter of Guatemalan history.

“Without archives, there is no democracy”: Friends of UNESCO raises alarm over deterioration of the AHPN

Twenty years after the discovery of the National Police Historical Archive (AHPN) on July 6, 2005, several experts have sounded the alarm about the risks facing the archive due to a failure to comply with conservation standards. The AHPN, which is unique in Latin America in terms of its importance and size and whose existence was denied and concealed by the National Civil Police (PNC) for decades, provided evidence that Guatemalan authorities had committed political assassinations, kidnappings, torture, and forced disappearances during the IAC.17

Monitoring carried out by the Association of Friends of UNESCO in Guatemala reveals that documents held in the old archive’s documentary collection are at risk of deterioration. Juan Pablo Muñoz, president of the Association, described numerous risks related to the “physical environment” in which the documents are stored, including pests, water leaks, and scrap metal left behind by the police around the premises. He also mentioned a recent fire near the building.18

Beyond its physical deterioration, the AHPN has suffered a number of attacks because it is an essential source of information for historical memory and transitional justice in the country. In 2019, Jimmy Morales’ administration threatened to take control of the archive in order to return it to the PNC. In response, the Human Rights Ombudsman’s Office (PDH) filed an injunction, which allowed the AHPN to be declared National Cultural Heritage and the documents to remain in the custody of the Ministry of Culture and Sports (MICUDE).19

In 2021, the Constitutional Court ordered the implementation of a plan to preserve and safeguard the Archive. According to Juan Pablo Muñoz, the plan is not being followed. He also says that, since 2024, authorities have failed to share the information needed to monitor the AHPN. Nonetheless, he explains that the archive “must operate in accordance with the 2005 United Nations principles for the protection and promotion of human rights through the fight against impunity.”20

In light of this situation, the Association of Friends of UNESCO in Guatemala is urging the government to resume work on the national archives bill, which would standardize archival conservation protocols nationwide. “In Guatemala, the archival culture is terrible,” says Luisa Fernanda Rivas, a former employee of the Archive and member of the Association. She also called on the Ministry of the Interior to transfer ownership of the AHPN building, which is currently held by the PNC, to MICUDE, so that it could be turned into a site of memory open to the public. If authorities fail to comply with the mandate to protect the archive, the Association will file a complaint with the Guatemalan justice system.21

Community leader from the department of San Marcos sentenced to one year in prison

The trial that began in 2014 against Dualer Licardie, a community leader from San Pablo in the municipality of San Marcos, ended with him being sentenced to one year in prison on charges of criminal incitement. The lawyer representing the leader stated that the ruling was given despite contradictions between the charges brought by the MP and witness accounts. She highlighted the criminalization of the resistance (which Licardie was part of) against the construction of the Tres Ríos hydroelectric plant, which sought to divert rivers for its operations.22

This ruling comes at a time when several communities in the department of San Marcos are attempting to build their own hydroelectric plants. In late 2024, three communities in the municipality of San Pablo decided to create their own project after Energuate S.A. raised prices and cut off their access to energy. With these hydroelectric plants, community members hope to access quality energy and create new sources of income.23