Guatemala Human Rights Commission

We are thrilled to announce the release of our 2022 Emergency Human Rights Delegation Report now available to read on our website. 

From July 23-30, 2022, we led an Emergency Human Rights Delegation to Guatemala to document the impacts of the democratic backsliding and destruction of rule of law on human rights defenders. The delegation met with a broad spectrum of defenders, including transitional justice lawyers, journalists, Indigenous land defenders, human rights researchers, accompaniment groups, and the Human Rights Ombudsman. Our group–consisting of human rights experts, workers, and activists from the US–traveled throughout the eastern region of Guatemala and listened to the testimonies of these defenders, all of whom are at risk for their work fighting for human rights in the country. 

Titled “Wounds Reopened: The Impacts of Democratic Backsliding on Human Rights in Guatemala,” the report details the crisis that human rights defenders are facing in Guatemala. It summarizes each meeting with defenders, as well as key trends that we observed, such as–

• Increased criminalization of human rights defenders;
• New patterns of violence against defenders;
• Harassment, intimidation, and defamation, which often prelude this violence;  
• The failure of the State to protect defenders; and
• The contribution of the State to human rights abuses across Guatemala, both directly and as a consequence of corruption.

You can read the full report here!