Last month, the Guatemala Human Rights Commission (GHRC) presented an update on developments on Justice and Human Rights in Guatemala and some of the issues covered included:
- PNC Attempts Second Eviction of Indigenous Community
Guatemala’s National Civil Police (PNC) on August 26 attempted for the second time in a year to evict the Indigenous community in Macho Creek, Livingston, Izabal. According to Prensa Comunitaria, police attempted to evict over 100 Q’eqchi’ and mestizo families from the Macho Creek community from land they claim historic rights to. The Criminal Court of First Instance in Puerto Barrios issued the eviction order, and police who arrived in dozens of patrol cars, accompanied by representatives of the Human Rights Procurator’s Office and the Public Ministry, attempted to persuade the community members to leave the land.
- Pachoj Community Faces Eviction & Death Threats
Kiche’ families in the community of Pachoj, in Santa Cruz del Quiché, denounced an eviction scheduled for September 17, which they said would be the eighth attempt to force them from their ancestral lands. Indigenous leader and environmental activist Lolita Chávez spoke out in a video against the scheduled eviction, which she said was driven by interests in forest exploitation.
- Global Witness Reports Eight Land Defenders Murdered in 2025
According to Global Witness, eight environmental and land defenders were murdered last year in Guatemala. Although this number represents a significant drop from the number in 2024, when Global Witness recorded twenty murdered, on a per capita basis, Guatemala remains one of the four most dangerous countries for environmental defenders in the world. In that respect, Guatemala is tied with Nicaragua. Only Honduras and Colombia have higher rates of land and environmental defender murders per capita.
- Hearing for 1982 Disappearance of Jesús Saloj Panjoj Delayed
On August 19, after two delays, the initial hearing that was to take place in the case concerning the 1982 detention and disappearance of teacher Jesús Saloj Panjoj was immediately adjourned because the defendants, Clodoveo Domínguez de León and Edwin Rolando González Ochoa, both former Mobile Military Police officers, failed to appear.
- UN Includes Guatemala in Report on Reprisals
On August 20, the United Nations Secretary-General released his yearly report on reprisals against people who cooperate with the United Nations on human rights. The report, which covers 2025, includes Guatemala as a country that has carried out such reprisals, largely against judges, prosecutors, and officials linked to the work of the UN-backed International Commission against Impunity in Guatemala (CICIG). The report details 14 Guatemalan cases. Describing a “disturbing pattern of criminalization,”
- Cifuentes Cano Sentenced for Forced Disappearance
Juan Francisco Cifuentes Cano, the former commander of the Special Reaction and Operations Brigade of the now-defunct National Police, has been sentenced to decades in prison for the forced disappearance of Luz Leticia Hernández Agustín and Ana María López Rodríguez. The Eighth Criminal Sentencing Court’s September 17th ruling was unanimous: 50 years in prison, with credit given for time already served.
- Former Military Commissioner Sentenced in Rancho Bejuco Case
On September 21, former military commissioner Nicolás Orrego Orrego was found guilty of participation in the Rancho Bejuco massacre. He was not sentenced to prison, however; after reviewing reports from the National Institute of Forensic Sciences that pointed to irreversible cognitive decline, the High-Risk Court “D” ruled that Orrego be interned in the Carlos Federico Mora Mental Health Hospital.
You can read more about these and other updates, with links, here, GHRC – Recent Developments in Justice and Human Rights.
Categories: Accompaniment, Corruption, Criminalisation, Criminalization, Environment, Evictions, Guatemala, Human Rights, Impunity, Indigenous peoples, Justice, Land, Military, Mining, Resource Extraction, Solidarity in Action, Solidarity in Action/Guatemala, Violence
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