Guatemala’s government has terminated the cooperation with the international Commission to combat impunity, unilaterally, against the will of one’s own constitutional court. In Guatemala the rule of law is in danger.
Guatemalans protest against the expulsion of the CICIG Commission from your country
The dispute about the whereabouts of the International Commission against impunity in Guatemala (CICIG) is coming to a head: After the first weekend, a Colombian employee of the Commission, with the UN mandate for hours at the airport of Guatemala city held on to its was again detained-entry, the Guatemalan government, the cooperation with the CICIG on Monday afternoon (local time) unilaterally terminated. The employees of the CICIG have been asked by the government to leave the country within 24 hours. For more than ten years, the CICIG supports the Guatemalan public Prosecutor’s office in the detection of illicit networks and power structures, many policy found careers due to the CICIG investigation came to an abrupt end. Guatemala’s government accuses the CICIG, however, to endanger by means of a unilateral investigation of the social peace in the country.
Illegal Court Rulings?
On Sunday, Guatemala was traveled Secretary of state Sandra Jovel to New York, to the UN Secretary-General, Antonio Guterres, to inform the decision-making of their government. Guterres rejected the unilateral actions of the Guatemalan government decided. On the same day, the Guatemalan people put legal Ombudsman Jordán Rodas appeal against the actions of the government to the constitutional court of the country. A decision is still pending, in the past, the court has decided, however, repeated for the benefit of the CICIG, and the Commission so that the back is strengthened.
Guatemala’s Minister Of Foreign Affairs Sandra Jovel
However, the government under President Jimmy Morales has already stated a number of times to feel not in court judgments tied to them, which they regarded as illegal. So, for example, cannot enter CICIG chief Iván Velásquez for a business trip in the US back to Guatemala, although the constitutional court declared the government’s actions to be unlawful. “The situation is very serious, because the government relies simply on court decisions,” says Johanna van Strien, the government organisation bread for the world does not work for the Germans in Guatemala. “The rule of law is overridden, and the country is moving towards a cold coup.”
President and members of Parliament suspected of corruption
The Guatemalan government passes judicial decisions, is particularly dramatic, because the judiciary is the last of the three State, which has preserved a certain independence. Many members of Parliament and the head of the government himself stuck deep in Corruption and have an interest to torpedo the work of the CICIG. The out-throw of the Commission, therefore, has a long history. Since the CICIG made in the summer of 2017, the investigation against the President on suspicion of illegal campaign financing to the public, has changed the head of government from the supporters of CICIG to the opponent and repeatedly tried, CICIG chief Velásquez get rid of.
CICIG chief Iván Velásquez
“President Morales will present the current Situation as a Problem between the two of us, but for me, this is no personal conflict,” said Velasquez in an Interview with DW in November of last year. “It is, rather, the fight against corruption – and that the sectors that are affected by our research, have decided us frontal attack, to hinder our work and stop.”
Morales wants to create facts
With the 24-hour Ultimatum, which expires today, on the afternoon (local time), seized the government to the utmost. Legal experts have pointed out that a unilateral denunciation of the agreement between the Guatemalan government and the UN about the Existence of the CICIG is legally not possible. A premature end to the CICIG would be only possible, if both parties agreed to it.
You may give the testimony of the Guatemalan government’s Belief, then you seem to want to, however, prefer facts to draw than complicated legal considerations into account. “As a non-governmental organization, we have enabled our Headquarters in Berlin, the European civil society can exert pressure,” says Johanna van Strien of bread for the world. A small group of citizens demonstrated on Monday evening in the centre of Guatemala city against the government’s decision to throw CICIG out of the country. But that is hardly enough to President Jimmy Morales to change his mind. “What we need now, urgently, is a reaction of the international community. Especially the European countries need to take a position,” says van Strien.