Verdad y Justicia en Guatemala tweeted that the Inter-American Court of Human Rights (IACHR) had ratified their judgement regarding Judge Miguel Ángel Gálvez in ordering the Guatemala state to provide protection and security for the Judge and his family.
Errors in translation are mine.
#JuezGálvez The Inter-American Court of Human Rights ratified today, September 27, 2022, the urgent measures ordered for the State to cease all harassment of Judge Miguel Ángel Gálvez. Here is a brief explanation:
On May 27, 2021, eleven former military and police officers were arrested for their possible involvement in the #DiarioMilitar case. On May 31, 2021, the first statement hearings began and on March 28, 2022, the intermediate stage of the process began.
On May 6, 2022, Judge Gálvez sent to trial nine former military and police officers accused of crimes against humanity, forced disappearance, murder and attempted murder for the events of the Diario Militar.
To the #DiarioMilitar case was added Toribio Acevedo Ramírez, captured in Panama and whom Judge Gálvez asked to be investigated for his possible participation in illegal clandestine structures and allegations of committing crimes against people registered in the Diario Militar.
Due to his intervention in this case, Judge Gálvez has received threatening messages and phone calls as well as acts of surveillance, being followed by suspicious vehicles, systematic harassment on social networks, and criminal complaints filed against him.
The attacks against the judge intensified on May 6 when the judge observed that an unidentified person near his residence was carrying a gun, when the personnel in charge of his security went out to check “the person had already left.”
There have also been constant publications on social networks discrediting his work and as the process progresses, so does their aggressiveness increase. On May 11, the group called Fundación Contra el Terrorismo (FCT) filed a request for a preliminary hearing against him.
The FCT claims that the resolution has not been in accordance to the law and on May 16 it moved the complaint to the Public Ministry. On June 15, the Supreme Court of Justice ruled, by majority, the admissibility for the processing of the preliminary hearing request and appointed an investigating judge.
Since one of the defendants died on June 14, 2022, Judge Gálvez has received a new wave of threats and attacks calling him a “murderer”, “torturer” and “violator of rights”, in addition, a lawyer made public the decision to denounce him.
Given this scenario, the IACHR resolved: 1. To ratify the Resolution of adoption of Urgent Measures of July 8, 2022.
2. To require the State of Guatemala to continue adopting the appropriate measures to effectively protect the rights to life and personal integrity of Judge Miguel Ángel Gálvez Aguilar, as well as his immediate family.
It also requires that the necessary measures be adopted to guarantee the judicial independence of Judge Gálvez and that the necessary measures be adopted to address the pattern of causes that generate the increased risk of Judge Gálvez.
3. To require the State to maintain the measures and security scheme assigned to Judge Gálvez, as well as his family, and to continue adopting them in common agreement and in coordination with the beneficiary and his representatives.
4. Require the State to submit to the IACHR, no later than November 21, 2022, a report on compliance with the provisions of the judgement points 2 and 3, after which it will report to the Court every three months, from the submission of its last report.
5. That the representatives of the victims present their comments within a period of four weeks from the notification of the State’s reports, and that the IACHR present its comments as soon as it receives the comments of the representatives.
6. Order that the Secretariat of the Court notify this Order to the State of Guatemala, the representatives of the victims, and the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights.
The complete resolution [in Spanish] of the Inter-American Court of Human Rights can be consulted at: https://corteidh.or.cr/docs/supervisiones/gudiel_09_09_22.pdf
You can read the full twitter thread, in Spanish, from Verdad y Justicia, here IACHR ratifies judgement to protect Judge Gálvez.
Verdad y Justicia presented a more in-depth piece on the original order from IACHR, in Spanish, here, La Corte IDH ordena medidas urgentes para proteger el derecho de víctimas y la independencia del juez Gálvez
Categories: Accompaniment, Corruption, Criminalisation, Guatemala, Human Rights, Impunity, Justice, Military, Solidarity in Action, Solidarity in Action/Guatemala, Violence
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