(8) Most recently in the US, on 8 May 2006, 117 members of the US Congress signed a letter in which they urged the US State Department to call on the Guatemalan government to take prompt and effective action to address the killings of women and that the State Department provide technical assistance to promote the proper investigation, prosecution and punishment of these crimes. The initiatives in Villa Nueva and Mixco rely on local politicians whose successors may not share their commitment. On 6 November 2005, the dismembered parts of an unidentified woman were found in three bin bags in Guatemala City. (33) Draft law no. Intense gang warfare continues to plague El Salvador, undeterred by successive governments' heavy-handed and militarised repression policies. (37), In addition, certain other key proposals are not included in the opinion, such as the proposal to criminalize sexual harassment. 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. Officials that make unfounded public statements discrediting the serious nature of crimes committed against women should be dealt with appropriately. The. Article 106 which allows for the pardoning by the victim in certain crimes, should be reformed to not be applicable in cases of rape, violence against women in the family and other sexual crimes. 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? She had been decapitated and her body cut up with a machete. (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. Amnesty International welcomes these proposals as a critical step towards the removal of legislation that is discriminatory towards women. 2. 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. (4) According to the Human Rights Ombudsman's Office (Procuradoría de Derechos Humanos PDH) while the killings of men increased by 45% between 2002 and 2005, the number of women killed during this time increased by 63%. After making landfall on Nicaragua's Caribbean coast . Clearly, children have little protection or support available in this area and are left without any security. (40) At the time of writing to Amnesty Internatioanl's knowledge, the Public Ministry has still not responded to the Constitutional Court's request for a hearing, during which the Public Ministry would give its judgement regarding the appeal. On 1 December 2005 another decapitated woman was found in a tunnel in Guatemala City. Around 4,800 men were murdered in Guatemala in 2005. 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. Of particular importance is the tendency to discredit the victims by placing the blame for their deaths on their conduct or background. An urgent search mechanism for missing women and girls should be created without further delay. These functions are known as policing. Once in the gang, children are forced to steal or engage in illegal activities to help support the gang. IECCP, 2005. Police officers transport the corpse of an inmate after a 'riot' at the Cantel men's prison in Quetzaltenango in western Guatemala. 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. In Guatemala, the justice system is increasingly losing credibility, as evidence emerges that the courts have been co-opted by organized crime, drug trafficking, and corruption networks. For decades, the process of electing the highest authorities in the justice system has been riddled with illegalities, weakening the institutions that comprise it. (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). The 25,000 members of the National Civil Police (PNC) are on the front lines of Guatemalas battle against crime. (5) Many of the murders have been characterised by exceptional brutality, with many victims subjected to sexual violence, mutilation and dismemberment. The friend that was with her at the time but who managed to escape was able to testify against him. Review our privacy policy for more details. 2 United States,8 explaining that the majority have suffered some type of human right violation.9 These violations mainly correspond to poverty, ethnic and gender discrimination, and generalized violence,10 and Guatemalan children usually leave the country as a direct result of combined factors like deprivation of basic social rights, violence, and family Insecurity and inequality prevail, and a history of failed opportunities has created disenchantment in a population eager for change. The government of President Otto Prez Molina must reboot and revitalise police reform, as part of an overall effort to strengthen justice and law enforcement, with financial support from the U.S. and other countries interested in preventing Guatemala from becoming a haven for organised crime. with regard to the Guatemalan Government's implementation of the United Nations Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman and Degrading Treatment or Punishment. Finally, the Guatemalan judicial system is largely inefficient. What risks does Guatemala face after CICIGs exit? (13) Many of the concerns expressed in this report apply equally to the failure to adequately investigate murders whether of men or women. Blaming the victim (7) The UN Special Rapporteur on Violence against Women, Yakin Ertürk, visited Guatemala in February 2004 and issued her subsequent observations and recommendations in February 2005 (see E/CN.4/2005/72/Add.3). Commenting on the extent to which the nature and magnitude of gender-related violence is reflected in official documents the PDH remarked "the topic has hardly been touched upon in state institutions. A multinational investigation involving the United States . (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. Central Americans targeted by gangs face a difficult choice: leave everything behind or stay put and risk death. Police Reform in Guatemala: Obstacles and Opportunities, Curtain Falls on Guatemalas International Commission against Impunity. (5) The women's organization Sobrevivientes (Survivors) puts the figure at 243 based on press reports and visits to the city's central morgue. (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. These cases also appear not to be investigated effectively with press reports indicating that only four percent of cases end in criminal sentences. In April 2006 the European Parliament held a hearing on the killings of women in both Guatemala and Mexico. Concluding comments of the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women: Guatemala (CEDAW/C/GUA/CO/6). Fight injustice and help create a world where human rights are enjoyed by all. The lack of response, according to diplomats, emboldened Guatemala to ratchet up its campaign against the archives. Her sister, also a sex worker, who witnessed the killing, reportedly informed the Public Ministry that two plain-clothed policemen shot her sister. 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. NCB Guatemala is part of Guatemala's national police - called Policia Nacional Civil - which is part of the Ministry of Interior. 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. While individual autopsy reports may include information as to whether the victim had suffered sexual violence prior to being killed, this information is lost in official statistics from the Forensic Investigation Service. (29) Article 116 of the Guatemalan Penal Code gives relatives the right to propose avenues of investigation, participate in proceedings, request certain tests or examinations and seek the intervention of a judge if they disagree with a prosecutor's decision not to carry out a particular line of investigation. (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. Another issue is child marriage, which has life-long consequences. In some cases there have also been allegations of complicity by police investigators in covering up crimes or "misplacing" important evidence. 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. (24) Interview with Female Homicide Unit of the PNC, 6 April 2006. (39) The draft amendment only proposes to eliminate this provision in cases where there are no medidas sustitutivas, the crime is incomutable and is committed against minors or individuals with menal disorders. As COVID-19 sweeps across the globe, doctors and other healthcare workers are witnessing limited availability of personal protective equipment (PPE), particularly appropriate masks, and being confronted by difficult situations that pit their desire to remain safe against their duty to help patients. Amnesty International offers the following set of recommendations to complement and reinforce those previously made and those of other national and international experts. The UN recommends that a country employ at least 222 police officers for every 100,000 residents. In the absence of thorough investigations, various non governmental organizations (NGOs) and other groups have presented their own investigations and analysis regarding the reasons behind the killings. 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. The Public Ministry's Witness Protection Programme should be strengthened to guarantee the safety of both witnesses and family members. GUATEMALA CITY. Gangs, in particular, single out informants . Such attitudes coupled with the lack of genuine sanctions for officials who fail to take action to prevent violence against women continues to perpetuate the idea that female victims are to blame for their own deaths and that violence against women is acceptable rather than a violation of girls' and women's fundamental human rights. A series of arrests in Guatemala has brought down a criminal group made up of police officers working as drug dealers and hitmen, showing how the country has not been spared from the growing crisis of police criminality across the region. Then I went to San Juan police station and begged the police to try to stop their car. Other basic lines of investigation were not pursued such as seeking witness statements at the hotel where "la mudita" worked. Following the demonstration, several relatives were reportedly threatened in apparent reprisal for public calls for investigations into violence against women. 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. Before examining why and how Guatemala's international adoptions and child protection laws have been changed, one must first look at the Hague convention (Dolor, L, 2008). 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