Organizaciones internacionales felicitamos resolución favorable de la Corte de Constitucionalidad de Guatemala e instamos a la pronta ratificación de iniciativa para combatir la impunidad.

Organizaciones no gubernamentales de Estados Unidos, Europa y Canadá acogemos con esperanza la opinión consultiva favorable a la iniciativa para el establecimiento de la Comisión Internacional Contra la Impunidad en Guatemala (CICIG) pronunciado el día de ayer por la Corte de Constitucionalidad de Guatemala.
 
“La decisión de ayer abre una valiosa oportunidad para que el país, con el respaldo de la comunidad internacional, retome el camino hacia la democracia, la vigencia del Estado de Derecho, y la protección de los derechos humanos”, dijeron las organizaciones firmantes.
 
Tanto dentro, como fuera de Guatemala, la existencia y el impacto de los cuerpos ilegales y aparatos clandestinos de seguridad son hechos evidentes. En los últimos años, estos grupos han extendido su presencia atacando e intimidando a operadores de justicia, líderes políticos, y defensores de derechos humanos, entre otros. Las actividades de estos grupos han logrado socavar el sistema judicial y perpetuar un clima de inseguridad, generando terreno fértil para la mayor generalización de la corrupción, la violencia y el crimen organizado.

El principal reto para la democracia en Guatemala continúa siendo la consolidación del Estado de Derecho, el cual no podrá fortalecerse mientras persistan deficiencias en el Sistema de Administración de Justicia y se permita a los cuerpos ilegales y aparatos clandestinos de seguridad actuar impunemente.

La CICIG ofrece un mecanismo concreto, puntual e inmediato para fortalecer las instituciones estatales y asistir al Gobierno de Guatemala en su toma de control de un fenómeno que ha impactado a todos los sectores de la sociedad. Romper con la cultura de impunidad y prevenir ataques contra defensores de los derechos humanos y representantes de la sociedad civil son tareas que ya no pueden esperar más.

El futuro de la CICIG queda ahora en manos del Congreso de la República, que puede dar un importante e histórico paso, al aprobar el acuerdo. “La situación actual ha puesto en evidencia que el rescate de la institucionalidad, el efectivo combate de la impunidad, y la consolidación del Estado de Derecho son tareas urgentes e indispensables para la construcción de la democracia en Guatemala y para el efectivo respeto del derecho a la vida”, expresaron las organizaciones.

Esperamos que el Congreso actúe prontamente en pos de los más urgentes intereses nacionales, y decida a favor de la oportunidad que brinda la CICIG para afrontar con firmeza el legado de violencia e impunidad de los cuerpos ilegales y aparatos clandestinos de seguridad.

Organizaciones firmantes:

Oficina en Washington para Asuntos Latinoamericanos (WOLA)
Plataforma Holandesa
Diakonia – Suecia
Human Rights First
Iniciativa de Copenhague para Centroamérica y México (CIFCA)
Earth Rights International
Network in Solidarity with the People of Guatemala (NISGUA)
Guatemala Human Rights Commission (GHRC)
Foro de ONG Internacionales (FONGI – coalición de 32 organizaciones de Estados Unidos, Europa y Canadá)
Franciscan Mission Service
United Methodist Church, General Board of Church and Society
Our Savior's Lutheran Church
Unitarian Universalist Service Committee (UUSC)

Human trafficking continues to be an issue in Guatemala, the most frequent manifestation of which being the enticing of young girls into enforced prostitution…

On Friday, 20th of April 2007 Casa Alianza Guatemala in coordination with the National Police, Migration and Public Prosecution Offices raided a brothel disguised as a massage parlour suspected of housing minors for the purposes of commercial sexual exploitation in Guatemala City. Two 17-year-old girls were rescued from the premises as a result of this joint raid operation and both were immediately referred to a judge who entrusted them to Casa Alianza for shelter and protection.

The parlour was licensed to operate as a bar and to offer massages but it was evident from the outset that it functioned as a full-scale brothel. The two-storey premises housed roughly thirty girls at any one time and boasted three bedrooms on the upper floor were paid sexual activity apparently took place. The property lacked basic sanitation, there was no running water and bed sheets were stained with blood.  

Those in charge were taken by surprise and several arrests were carried out, including a few individuals who were performing what they claimed to be “traditional Mayan rituals” on the roof of the building and who tried to flee the scene by jumping to adjacent houses.  

Twenty-five girls were found on site during this raid, including three foreign nationals, namely a Nicaraguan, Mexican and a Honduran girl, who faced immediate deportation, as they were not in possession of valid Guatemalan work permits. The case of the Mexican girl was particularly shocking as she was married to a Guatemalan national and had a nine months-old daughter with this man who married her only in order to obtain Mexican citizenship, according to the girl.

She stated she had been trafficked from Mexico at the age of fifteen at which stage she started working at a brothel in Guatemala City were she met her now husband, the son of the brothel’s owner. Despite being the real victim here, she was deported back to Mexico and guardianship of the baby was granted to her husband, who by all means knew about his wife’s prostitution and benefited from her earnings making it a typical case of pandering.     

The Migration and Prosecution Officers failed to properly execute their duties in this raid – by not ensuring that each girl had a legitimate id card proving that they were adults. Several girls appeared to be minors and in possession of fake identity cards but the agents, instead of extending the presumption of being underage privileges to these particularly young-looking girls and ensuring the validity of the documents presented, decided to take the girl’s id documents at face value in a clear violation of Guatemalan youth protection laws.
 In Guatemala, adult prostitution is not illegal therefore just moments after the agents left the premises, the music was put back on and business resumed as usual.

On Tuesday 24th of April 2007, In another joint raid operation, a seventeen years-old Guatemalan girl was rescued from a different brothel belonging to the same human trafficking network. She came from a small village and was lured into the Capital city and forced into prostitution in order to pay for debts she supposedly contracted vis-à-vis her traffickers.

Casa Alianza together with other leading Guatemalan NGO’s is constantly lobbying legislators for important changes to the Penal Code. Under the current Penal Code, those guilty of pimping and pandering offences get away with their crimes by simply paying an insignificant fine, which is low even for Guatemalan standards.

In the three years the Guatemalan Congress has failed to pass any legislation that benefit and protect Guatemalan youth. One example of which is the Adoption Act, which has not yet been approved, despite more than 10 years of continued civil society denouncing irregular adoptions presenting characteristics of human trafficking.

Casa Alianza is a non-governmental organization dedicated to the protection and promotion of children’s rights in the region.

For more information on the work of Casa Alianza please visit www.casa-alianza.org.uk