On Thursday, September 21st, several NGOs—among which Washington Office on Latin America (WOLA) stands out—issued a statement in support of “freedom” for Claudia González, a former attorney of the UN-backed International Commission against Impunity in Guatemala (CICIG), now detained at the behest of the Office of the Special Prosecutor against Impunity (FECI).
WOLA and the other signatories allude to the fact that González had, until last Thursday, gone 24 days without having her first appearance before a judge, something they note is in contravention of both the Guatemalan Constitution and the American Convention on Human Rights.
Indeed, Claudia González should have been heard by a judge within 24 hours of her arrest; the failure to comply with this constitutional guarantee is unacceptable, in the same way that it is unacceptable in any other case. It was also unacceptable when Claudia González was a CICIG attorney.
But as is customary for these organizations, they sound the alarm if and only if its their allies who are involved in acts contrary to the law and face accusations from prosecutors. When that happens, they deem it a violation of human rights, or to use their preferred term, political persecution.
Neither WOLA nor any of the other signatories were anywhere to be found when similar events took place under CICIG. WOLA was unconcerned about strict compliance with arraignment deadlines for defendants. The use and abuse of illegal pre-trial detention was the norm, and none of the aforementioned NGOs spoke out in favor of the victims, as they do now with their friend and ally.
In many of the cases overseen by Claudia González as CICIG attorney, detainees went weeks without being heard by a judge and were consequently kept in under pre-trial detention. It has been pointed out that the motive for this delay was the large number of simultaneous prosecutions, which naturally overwhelmed the court system, leaving it with limited capacity.
The above is partly true, but the courts’ limited capacity was well-known, as was their inability to meet the deadlines set by law. Instead of violating defendants’ fundamental rights, something else should have been done. Anything would have been preferable to the violation of the rights of those who were, at least at the moment, subject to the presumption of innocence.
However, it is false that all cases of illegal pre-trial detention were attributable to the sheer number of ongoing prosecutions. The most dramatic case was that of the former prosecutor against organized crime, Rony López, who was jailed for over 100 days before giving his first statement. This abuse was pointed out by the Ombudsman’s Office, but international organizations like WOLA, which ostensibly exist to defend human rights, did not speak out as they now do in favor of Claudia González.
The statement signed by WOLA and the other NGOs is, strictly speaking, correct in its demands; the failure to meet the constitutional deadline for a defendant’s first court appearance, as has occurred with Claudia González, is tantamount to a violation of their fundamental rights. Nonetheless, their bias is evident and loses forcefulness due to having previously remained silent.
Beyond the abuses committed by public prosecutors and CICIG agents during their time in Guatemala, which is now recognized even by some of their former supporters; beyond the procedural and substantive violations that personally affected countless defendants, the most thundering criticism against CICIG is that instead of cleansing the justice system and eradicating malpractice, it made use of them and even exacerbated them.
Pre-trial detention abuses took place long before the coming of CICIG, for which reason the blame can hardly be placed on it. Its sin is not having eliminated these abuses and instead choosing to take advantage of them.
At the time, WOLA didn’t say anything either.
On Thursday, September 21st, several NGOs—among which Washington Office on Latin America (WOLA) stands out—issued a statement in support of “freedom” for Claudia González, a former attorney of the UN-backed International Commission against Impunity in Guatemala (CICIG), now detained at the behest of the Office of the Special Prosecutor against Impunity (FECI).
WOLA and the other signatories allude to the fact that González had, until last Thursday, gone 24 days without having her first appearance before a judge, something they note is in contravention of both the Guatemalan Constitution and the American Convention on Human Rights.
Indeed, Claudia González should have been heard by a judge within 24 hours of her arrest; the failure to comply with this constitutional guarantee is unacceptable, in the same way that it is unacceptable in any other case. It was also unacceptable when Claudia González was a CICIG attorney.
But as is customary for these organizations, they sound the alarm if and only if its their allies who are involved in acts contrary to the law and face accusations from prosecutors. When that happens, they deem it a violation of human rights, or to use their preferred term, political persecution.
Neither WOLA nor any of the other signatories were anywhere to be found when similar events took place under CICIG. WOLA was unconcerned about strict compliance with arraignment deadlines for defendants. The use and abuse of illegal pre-trial detention was the norm, and none of the aforementioned NGOs spoke out in favor of the victims, as they do now with their friend and ally.
In many of the cases overseen by Claudia González as CICIG attorney, detainees went weeks without being heard by a judge and were consequently kept in under pre-trial detention. It has been pointed out that the motive for this delay was the large number of simultaneous prosecutions, which naturally overwhelmed the court system, leaving it with limited capacity.
The above is partly true, but the courts’ limited capacity was well-known, as was their inability to meet the deadlines set by law. Instead of violating defendants’ fundamental rights, something else should have been done. Anything would have been preferable to the violation of the rights of those who were, at least at the moment, subject to the presumption of innocence.
However, it is false that all cases of illegal pre-trial detention were attributable to the sheer number of ongoing prosecutions. The most dramatic case was that of the former prosecutor against organized crime, Rony López, who was jailed for over 100 days before giving his first statement. This abuse was pointed out by the Ombudsman’s Office, but international organizations like WOLA, which ostensibly exist to defend human rights, did not speak out as they now do in favor of Claudia González.
The statement signed by WOLA and the other NGOs is, strictly speaking, correct in its demands; the failure to meet the constitutional deadline for a defendant’s first court appearance, as has occurred with Claudia González, is tantamount to a violation of their fundamental rights. Nonetheless, their bias is evident and loses forcefulness due to having previously remained silent.
Beyond the abuses committed by public prosecutors and CICIG agents during their time in Guatemala, which is now recognized even by some of their former supporters; beyond the procedural and substantive violations that personally affected countless defendants, the most thundering criticism against CICIG is that instead of cleansing the justice system and eradicating malpractice, it made use of them and even exacerbated them.
Pre-trial detention abuses took place long before the coming of CICIG, for which reason the blame can hardly be placed on it. Its sin is not having eliminated these abuses and instead choosing to take advantage of them.
At the time, WOLA didn’t say anything either.