Lack of protection for survivors of violence against women and girls in Central America - KIND Voices That Matter Most Become a Volunteer Interpreter/Translator Blog Media English Blog Home Blog Why do they flee? (11) In view of the deficiencies in the collection and management of data, the figures provided in this report should not be read as definitive. The organization made 14 key recommendations to President Óscar Berger and other state institutions calling for immediate action in five key areas: Although the government has begun to take action to address some of these issues, these measures have been limited and insufficient to effectively address the scale and severity of the problem. the lack of any indication that the police would not assist if called again, and the legal protections and services discussed in the country reports, it was reasonable for the BIA to decide that the . In common with some other Central American countries, Guatemala experiences high levels of violent crime. Following the demonstration, several relatives were reportedly threatened in apparent reprisal for public calls for investigations into violence against women. [File: Alexis Morales/AFP] 20 May 2021. Ministerio Público, www.mp.lex.gob.gt/memorias, (22) La Justicia en Guatemala: Un Largo Camino por Recorrer. On receiving his sentence "Small" reportedly threatened Clara Fabiola García that she would pay for testifying against him. In June 2005 Amnesty International published a report No protection, no justice: killings of women in Guatemala(3) to highlight the murder of women and girls in Guatemala and the state's failure to exercise due diligence in preventing, investigating and punishing these crimes. High levels of social conflict continue in Guatemala today as a result of the exclusions of the past, a weak state presence and response, lack of legal certainty of land and property ownership, polarization of ideas borne from the armed conflict and in some other cases the difference of opinion in which development model to adopt in the The nongovernmental organization (NGO) Unit for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders (UDEFEGUA) alleged that at least seven members of rural and indigenous activist groups were killed or died in disputed circumstances between January and November. Unlike the murders of men, however, in cases of women, the gender of the woman is a determining factor in the motive of the crime, the way women are killed (female victims often suffering exceptional brutality before being killed including rape, mutilation and dismemberment), and the way in which the authorities respond to the case. Still, the country experienced one of the smallest GDP contractions in 2020 in LAC (-1.8 percent compared to a regional average of -6.7 percent). As one of the Unit's police officers told Amnesty International we don't have the tools to carry out the work. In December 2005, Article 200 was temporarily suspended, after the PDH challenged its constitutionality. (35) The draft law was first presented in March 2002. In the face of chronic deficiencies in the investigation of cases of murdered women and girls, in April 2006 the PDH presented a proposal to the Public Ministry and Judiciary which would allow the PDH to oversee the investigation of cases of murdered women and girls throughout Guatemala. It is difficult to establish a clear picture regarding the extent of the violence perpetrated against women or to draw conclusions regarding the identity or the motives of the perpetrators due to the poor quality of investigations and the absence of documentation regarding gender-based violence suffered by the victim prior to being killed. On 8 March 2006, three Congressional Commissions issued a joint favourable opinion to a draft amendment which proposes the reform of the Guatemalan Penal Code in relation to violence against women. She fears will find her, take her daughter from her, and harm or kill her. (26) In the case of Cristina Hernndez the police officer charged with the investigation informed Amnesty International that since the days following the murder on 27 July 2005 she had not carried out any further investigations despite the existence of critical leads as she had not received any instructions from the Public Ministry. Continued lack of effective protection measures means that in many cases survivors of gender-based violence, their families and witnesses are too afraid to give testimony. All police investigators, crime scene investigation officials and forensic experts should receive intensive and ongoing training in investigative techniques, particularly in the collection and preservation of forensic evidence in relation to gender-based violence. On her return from a lobbying trip to the Netherlands in March 2006 the family received numerous anonymous telephone calls to their home. Combatting violence against children, especially sexual exploitation and abuse, is a key component of programming. For example, a female victim who has been raped, tortured and suffered a fatal gunshot wound to the head will have these details recorded in the autopsy report, a paper document compiled by hand by a forensic doctor. Amnesty International received many reports of cases where police authorities had failed in their duty to take urgent action to prevent injury to women and girls believed to be at immediate risk. The National Civilian Police (PNC) is the primary law enforcement agency in Guatemala although the military are also involved in law enforcement tasks. (17) At the time of writing, only two cases of killings in 2005 had resulted in convictions. The Ministry of Interior ( Ministerio de Gobernacin) is in charge of Guatemala's law enforcement services. After making landfall on Nicaragua's Caribbean coast . Only a few months later, under the leadership of a retired Lieutenant Colonel that served during the genocidal dictatorship of Efran Ros Montt, the police drew . The ongoing suffering of hundreds of relatives seeking justice for women and girls who have been brutally killed, is exacerbated by the indifference and discrimination they face when they seek help from the authorities. This lack of action is at least partially because the defenders themselves are hesitant to report violence perpetrated against them, so the problem remains invisible. (5) The women's organization Sobrevivientes (Survivors) puts the figure at 243 based on press reports and visits to the city's central morgue. Officials that make unfounded public statements discrediting the serious nature of crimes committed against women should be dealt with appropriately. (20) See La Nación, Violencia se ensaña con mujeres en Guatemala, 2 April 2006 and Feminicidio en Guatemala. Recognizing the deficiencies in the investigation of the case, in November 2005, the head of the Special Prosecutor's Office on Crimes against Life took over the investigation. NCB Guatemala is part of Guatemala's national police - called Policia Nacional Civil - which is part of the Ministry of Interior. The law requires officers to hold at least a high school degree, but they often had much less, and some individuals had as little as six months of police training before being sent out on the streets. (37) See www.un.org/News/Press/docs//2006/wom1559.doc.htm and www.un.org/womenwatch/daw/cedaw/cedaw35/cc/Guatemala_rev.pdf. AI Index: AMR 34/013/2006. The next morning her dead body was found. While the reactivation of investigations is a positive step, it is likely that critical evidence has been lost. She had been shot four times and bitten all over her body. For those children who are in residential care, there have been different effects. (36) As noted by CEDAW in relation to the consideration of Guatemala's sixth periodic report, implementation of legal measures to protect women's rights and promote women's empowerment would not be easy as much of Guatemala's male-dominated Congress had been reluctant to approve draft legislation in that regard and that the existing imbalance among the three branches of the State, (which) results in the resistance to adopt and modify legislation aimed at protecting women's human rights. Guatemalans gathered in Plaza de la Constitucin in downtown Guatemala City, which has been renamed by feminist collectives as Plaza de las Nias in memory of the 41 girls who died inside a state-ran . The investigator said they thought Claudina was a nobody because she was wearing sandals and a belly button ring. April 2006; Asesinatos de mujeres: Expresión del Feminicidio en Guatemala, CALDH, December 2005; Identificación de patrones existents en el asesinato de mujeres en Guatemala y similitudes con los crimenes del pasado, Sobrevivientes, December 2005 (see www.sobrevivientes.org). Tratamiento por parte de la justicia penal de Guatemala. An average of 101 murders per week were reported in 2018. Impeding investigations or failing to take immediate action to prevent injury to women and girls believed to be at immediate risk should be the subject of disciplinary action. In its report published in March 2018 (discussed below), the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights called for the army to be no longer engaged in law enforcement. For example, on 5 June 2006 both the offices of the Women's Sector (Sector de Mujeres), a group of non-governmental women's organizations, and the National Union of Guatemalan Women (Unión Nacional de Mujeres Guatemaltecas) were broken into. She had been beheaded and her body cut into 19 pieces. But these efforts are dependent on the financial aid and political backing of donors. While the Public Ministry's annual report classifies nearly 42% of the cases attended to by the Special Prosecutor's Office for Crimes against Life during 2005 as "solved", in only 3.8% of these cases was a formal accusation presented and in only 1% of cases did a court hearing take place. According to the PDH, "the difference is that in the case of women they make them suffer more before being killed."(16). (20) The lack of physical or scientific evidence to back up witness testimony means that if cases reach the courts suspects are often acquitted for lack of evidence. Such a system should ensure that data is not just collected but also routinely collated, widely published and used to inform targeted government planning and policies. (33) Draft law no. Poor pay and a lack of training have led to lawbreaking by police, including thefts and extortions. In its concluding comments in regard to Guatemala's sixth periodic report, on 2 June 2006 the UN Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) expressed its concern regarding the insufficient efforts taken by the Guatemalan authorities to end the killings: The Committee is deeply concerned about the continuing and increasing cases of disappearances, rape, torture and murders of women, the engrained culture of impunity for such crimes, and the gender-based nature of the crimes committed, which constitute grave and systematic violations of women's human rights. Serious deficiencies were reported in relation to the effectiveness of the investigation. It also looked at the discrimination that lies at the heart of gender-based violence experienced by women in Guatemalan society and some of the laws, and investigative and judicial practices that perpetuate such discrimination. For decades, the process of electing the highest authorities in the justice system has been riddled with illegalities, weakening the institutions that comprise it. Likewise, in the case of María Isabel Franco, who was raped and brutally murdered in December 2001, it was only after significant international attention on the case and after a TV documentary, that in February 2006 the prosecutor agreed to compile a list of leads that have yet to be investigated and to locate the main suspect in the case. (27) In one of the initial police reports submitted to the Public Ministry the police investigator reportedly suggested that a search be carried out of the property of a man who had previously harassed Cristina and that there were two witnesses who were mugged, apparently by the same individuals who abducted Cristina, but had failed to contribute to the construction of an identikit picture of the suspects. Concern was also expressed over the tendency of the authorities to blame the victims rather than focusing resources on investigating and prosecuting the perpetrators of the killings. Amnesty International believes that collection of and reference to such data is a necessary requirement for the development of sound policies to combat gender-based violence. The friend that was with her at the time but who managed to escape was able to testify against him. In April 2006 AI was informed that 552 women were murdered during 2005. The police had noted that D.C. law prohibits anyone from carrying a firearm within 1,000 feet of any First Amendment activity. Country Summary: Violent crime such as extortion, murder, armed robbery, carjacking, narcotics trafficking and gang activity are common in Guatemala. This makes it harder in the long run to build the competent civilian forces needed to enforce the law under stable, democratic regimes. The spent shells were reportedly never submitted as part of the investigation. Clara Fabiola García subsequently died in hospital. Once in the gang, children are forced to steal or engage in illegal activities to help support the gang. 6. Such attitudes are evident in public statements by government officials. Since 2001 over 2,200 women and girls have been murdered in Guatemala and the rate of murders is on the increase. The initiatives in Villa Nueva and Mixco rely on local politicians whose successors may not share their commitment. Nonetheless, there are steps that the government, with international backing, should undertake to ensure that the PNC becomes a professional force capable of investigating and preventing the crime that threatens Guatemalan democracy. Poverty can lead parents to encourage their children to . The fact that these killings are not investigated exacerbates the suffering of family members seeking justice; furthermore, family members complain that during the investigative and judicial process the authorities discriminate on the grounds of gender."(42). Corporation is Suing Guatemala to Crush Local Mining Opposition . Comisión de la Mujer del Congreso de la República. Although some senior government officials have publicly recognized the seriousness of the killings, Amnesty International is concerned that individual officials, including those at the highest levels of the PNC, still place the blame on the victim and have also made unfair and unsubstantiated generalizations as to the identity of the victim. There is no single, fail-safe formula for reshaping an institution as complex as the police. (16) Interview with Sergio Morales, Guatemalan Human Rights Ombudsman, Violencia se ensaña con mujeres en Guatemala, La Nación, San José, Costa Rica, 4 April 2006. In a 104-page document, the inspector general, Michael A. Bolton, criticized the way the Capitol Police prepared for and responded to the mob violence on Jan. 6. UNICEF Botswana focuses on strengthening institutions to prevent and respond to gender-based violence, abuse, neglect, and exploitation of children. The Special Rapporteur on the Rights of Women of the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights visited Guatemala in September 2004 and issued recommendations following her visit (see www.cidh.org/women/20.04.htm). Steps need to be taken to guarantee the independence, and availability of adequate human and financial resources of the recently established National Forensic Institute. But all too often citizens distrust and fear the police - widely dismissed as inefficient, corrupt and abusive - as much as the criminals. Fight injustice and help create a world where human rights are enjoyed by all. Official statistics focus on the cause of death, leaving out data regarding sexual violence, mutilation and dismemberment, rendering invisible the nature, history and dimensions of gender-based violence suffered by many victims. 2630) which proposes the abolition of certain discriminatory provisions and the criminalization of other acts of violence against women, without further delay. Lack of coordination regarding the respective roles of police investigators and the Public Ministry prosecutors means that many cases do not advance beyond the initial investigation stage. A number of relatives have also complained about having to prove that their family member was "respectable" or that she had not been involved in any crime before the authorities would take their complaint seriously. "Impunity" is the issue relatives often refer to as being one of the major contributing factors to the deaths of their loved ones. (44) It was the third time the offices of the Women's Sector had been broken into. This should also include the period following a conviction when individuals are still at risk of retaliatory violence. Numbers for the start of 2009 indicate that the rate may grow even higher. That 2630, see www.congreso.gob.gt/gt/ver_iniciativa.asp?id=348. On 1 December 2005 another decapitated woman was found in a tunnel in Guatemala City. Victim's families that do undertake investigative efforts or press the state to pursue investigations are subject to threats, harassment, and attacks. Amnesty International welcomes these proposals as a critical step towards the removal of legislation that is discriminatory towards women. (8) See Resolución del Parlamento Europeo sobre Guatemala, P6_TA-PROV(2005)0304, 7 July 2005, See www.acnur.org/biblioteca/pdf/3643.pdf. In the case of women, however, 69% are murdered using a firearm and in 31% of cases the attackers use direct physical violence (knives, blunt objects, strangulation). Neighbours witnessed the abduction and immediately alerted her father who later related: I borrowed a car from a neighbour and my son and I tried to chase them in the car. (12) Even within the same unit statistics for murders of women and girls during 2005 have differed. In the case of the sex worker nicknamed "la mudita", later identified as 25-year-old Silvia Patricia Madrid whose body was found dumped on a roadside on 22 February 2006, the investigation carried out by the Assistant Prosecutor in charge of the case limited itself to establishing the identity of "la mudita". In October 2005 a hearing was held in the US Congress on the killings of women in Guatemala, during which the Special Rapporteur on the Rights of Women of the Inter-American Commission spoke as did Guatemalan representatives. It began when George Zimmerman was found not guilty for shooting unarmed 17-year-old black boy, Trayvon Martin, on Feb, 26, 2012. These "non-violent" deaths included 54 cases where the cause of death was unknown; 39 of the cases were death via suffocation through submersion. To stem the violence that kills thousands of Guatemalans each year, the government must find the resources and will to carry out long-stalled reforms of the national police. According to the information the IACHR has received, the lack of protection of indigenous territorial rights in Guatemala is characterized by a failure to recognize indigenous lands; the lack of a property registry or cadastre system that recognizes ancestral territories and makes it possible to protect the lands that belong to indigenous . What significance does CICIGs closure have for the region? GTM43453.FE - Guatemala: The process for acquiring citizenship; possibility of losing one's citizenship; possibility of reestablishing one's citizenship; whether a child under 10 years who leaves Guatemala without the authorization of a parent can lose his or her citizenship (2003-2005) - April 2005 Since 2007, the CICIG has supported corruption probes that resulted in the indictment of Guatemala's former president and vice president; the [] (25) As noted by the International Commission of Jurists one of the main flaws in the criminal investigation is the lack of institutional coordination between the Public Ministry and the PNC. However, as the data is processed upwards, in order to arrive at wider departmental or national statistics of male and female homicide victims, the female victim will simply be one of those termed "death by gunshot wound". Guatemalans Have Had Enough. ), Chairman of the Environment and Public Works Committee, senior Democrat of the Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, and Chairman of the International Trade Subcommittee on Finance, returned from a 6-day bipartisan, bicameral congressional delegation visit to Mexico, Guatemala and Honduras to discuss the root causes of . The cooperation and coordination between police investigators and public prosecutors should be strengthened to ensure immediate, coordinated and effective investigations into all cases of abduction and murder of women and girls. Instead of being subjected to a forensic examination, all but one item of clothing she was wearing were returned to the family. The state must improve the ability of officers to respond to such calls, and those officers who fail to discharge their duties effectively must be held to account. When Police Repression is Not Enough: A U.S. There are also encouraging developments within the area of preventive or community-oriented policing. According to the police unit charged with the investigation of murders of women in the department of Guatemala, during 2005 there were up to a total of 665 murders of women throughout the country 246 murders of women in the department of Guatemala alone a 26 % increase from 2004 (527). (21), In Guatemala serious deficiencies persist in the organization and functioning of the judicial system, which are due to an inadequate normative framework and certain practices which do not allow an independent, impartial and effective administration of justice based on respect for human rights."(22). The Assistant Prosecutor who was the one who processed the crime scene in the case of my daughter told me that my daughter was killed because she was a nobody, a prostituteshe began to laugh at me and I began to cry and her boss didn't say anything". The main threat to young people in Guatemala is the high level of impunity for crimes against children and adolescents. María Elena Peralta the sister of Nancy Peralta has also experienced harassment as a result of her actions to draw attention not only to the case of her sister but also to the plight of other murdered women in Guatemala. (10), The precise number of women who have been murdered continues to be disputed with the Public Ministry, the National Civilian Police (PNC) and the Judiciary generating and referring to different statistics. Indigenous Guatemalans, who represent the majority of the country's population, account for an estimated 80 percent of Guatemala's poor. (see www.congreso.gob.gt/uploadimg/documentos/n1652.pdf); Anlisis del Feminicidio en Guatemala. Mara Salvatrucha and Barrio 18, recruit children who do not attend school or lack adult supervision and protection. GUATEMALA CITY. In an apparent effort to improve the ability to identify victims of women who are killed as a result of domestic violence, the Office of Attention to the Victim (Oficina de Atención a la Victima OAV) has reportedly begun to take finger prints of women who present complaints of domestic violence. with regard to the Guatemalan Government's implementation of the United Nations Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman and Degrading Treatment or Punishment. (14) For example see Femicidio en Guatemala: crimenes contra la humanidad, Unidad Revolucionaria Nacional Guatemalteca (URNG), November 2005, p67-90. (42) See CAT/C/GTM/CO/4, 18 May 2006, www.ohchr.org/english/bodies/cat/docs/AdvanceVersions/CAT.C.GTM.CO.4.pdf. GUATEMALA CITY (AP) The United States agreed Monday to train members of a Guatemalan task force responsible for protecting the country's borders and putting a brake on uncontrolled migration. Drug traffickers, including Mexican cartels, move at will across porous borders, while criminal gangs dominate many urban areas. While the creation of the Commission needs to be viewed positively, it is unclear how another institutional structure will improve the government response and overcome issues of duplication and official incompetence. It is unclear whether reform efforts have enough support within the PNC hierarchy to survive over the long term. Compounding the difficulties reformers face is that change must take place following a decade of rising violence, much of it fuelled by organised crime, including Mexican drug cartels. . (38) Furthermore, while the recent Congressional Commission's opinion proposes amending Article 106 of the Penal Code, the provision which allows the victim to pardon the perpetrator in cases that are not prosecutable ex-officio, including cases of rape and other sexual crime, still remains, making victims vulnerable to pressure not to file complaints.(39). GUATEMALA In Guatemala, organized crime has been a problem for decades. The Guatemalan government should state that gender-based violence is unacceptable and will not be tolerated. But all too often citizens distrust and fear the police widely dismissed as inefficient, corrupt and abusive as much as the criminals. Given Guatemala's incapacity to provide effective protection and the risk that some transferees would face the threat of serious harm either in Guatemala or after returning to their home. Francisca López, aged 13, was knifed to death on 2 November 2005 in Guatemala City. Underfunded, poorly trained and often outgunned, they are frequently incapable or unwilling to confront criminals and gain the public trust needed to build a state based on rule of law. More investment in holistic violence prevention strategies and economic alternatives to criminal violence are necessary if the country's chronic insecurity crisis is to be alleviated. In a survey carried out in 2021, around 13 percent of respondents in Ecuador said that they had been asked or had to pay a bribe in interactions with . When asked about the lack of police presence, a spokesman for the Minneapolis Police Department said in an email that the department is facing an "unprecedented situation." He added that citizens . In the United Kingdom, for example, doctors . At least seven inmates . Using the army to fight crime, however, further demoralises and weakens the police, especially when the militarys role is poorly defined. She had been decapitated and her body cut up with a machete. Economic abuse entails controlling a woman's ability to access economic resources (money, education or employment) as a form . (40) In cases that occurred prior to December 2005, however, Article 200 can still apply. It also perpetuates violence against women and fosters a climate of impunity for crimes committed against women and girls. Police are often also entrusted with various licensing and regulatory activities. The following morning their daughter's dead body was found dumped in a nearby river in Amatitln, her head covered with a black bag and her hands tied. (36) For example on 25 November, International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women, at the initiative of the Congressional Commission on Women, the Guatemalan Congress passed resolution 20-2005 in which it committed itself to taking steps to eradicate violence against women in Guatemala, in particular to legislate against discriminatory legislation. 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