Boy, THIS should give peace of mind to U.S. troops sent abroad while
their loved ones remain stateside ... not!
_________________________________________________________
Guatemala: No protection, no justice: killings of women (an update)
At approximately 9:30 pm on 27 July 2005, 20-year-old university
student Cristina Hernández(1) was forced nto a grey car outside her
home by four men. Neighbours witnessed the abduction and immediately
alerted her father who later related:
I borrowed a car from a neighbour and my son and I tried to chase them
in the car. Then I went to San Juan police station and begged the
police to try to stop their car. I begged them to put up road blocks to
stop them and catch them. Then after two hours of searching everywhere
I went back to the police station to see if they had any news…they
claimed I hadn’t reported anything and so they’d done nothing. Then my
brother-in-law went to the homicide department; and they said nothing
could be done. They said many young girls run off with boyfriends; and
so they couldn’t start a search for 24 hours.(2)
The next morning her dead body was found. She had been shot four times
and bitten all over her body. Instead of being subjected to a forensic
examination, all but one item of clothing she was wearing were returned
to the family. When the family presented the clothes to the Public
Ministry to assist in the investigation, they were reportedly told to
burn them or throw them away. Soon after Cristina’s murder, in fear for
their safety, the family went into hiding where they remain at the time
of writing. Nearly one year on, and despite the existence of critical
leads, including witnesses and a potential suspect– no further
investigations have been carried out. Her killers remain at large.
In June 2005 Amnesty International published a report No protection, no
justice: killings of women in Guatemala(3) to highlight the murder of
women and girls in Guatemala and the state’s failure to exercise due
diligence in preventing, investigating and punishing these crimes. The
report examined the extreme brutality of the killings, which are also
frequently characterized by sexual violence, and the serious and
persistent shortcomings at every stage of the investigative process. It
also looked at the discrimination that lies at the heart of
gender-based violence experienced by women in Guatemalan society and
some of the laws, and investigative and judicial practices that
perpetuate such discrimination ...
Killings escalate
Since 2001 over 2,200 women and girls have been murdered in Guatemala
and the rate of murders is on the increase.(4) Between 1 January 2006
and 5 May according to police statistics 229 women and girls were
killed. (5) Many of the murders have been characterised by exceptional
brutality, with many victims subjected to sexual violence, mutilation
and dismemberment.(6) Despite considerable national and international
concern – including two visits and subsequent recommendations by the
United Nations and Inter-American Commission special rapporteurs on
Women - women and girls continue to be murdered with impunity in
Guatemala. (7) As of June 2006, of the over six hundred cases of women
reported murdered in 2005, to Amnesty International’s knowledge, only
two convictions had taken place ...
In common with some other Central American countries, Guatemala
experiences high levels of violent crime. State authorities have come
under criticism for what many perceive as a failure to control
spiralling violence and to provide public security. The murder rate for
both men and women has continued to rise, with 23 % more murders in
2005 (5,338 murders) as compared to 2004 (4,346 murders) according to
police figures, with 2005 figures representing the highest figures
since the end of Guatemala’s internal armed conflict (1960-1996). This
places Guatemala amongst the countries with the highest murder rates in
Latin America, with approximately 44 murders per 100,000
inhabitants.(10)
The precise number of women who have been murdered continues to be
disputed with the Public Ministry, the National Civilian Police (PNC)
and the Judiciary generating and referring to different statistics.(11)
Establishing a comprehensive overview of the statistics regarding both
the numbers of women killed as well as the identity of the perpetrators
is still therefore extremely difficult. According to the police unit
charged with the investigation of murders of women in the department of
Guatemala, during 2005 there were up to a total of 665 murders of women
throughout the country - 246 murders of women in the department of
Guatemala alone – a 26 % increase from 2004 (527). (12)
Around 4,800 men were murdered in Guatemala in 2005. These cases also
appear not to be investigated effectively with press reports indicating
that only four percent of cases end in criminal sentences.(13) Many of
the concerns expressed in this report apply equally to the failure to
adequately investigate murders whether of men or women. Unlike the
murders of men, however, in cases of women, the gender of the woman is
a determining factor in the motive of the crime, the way women are
killed (female victims often suffering exceptional brutality before
being killed including rape, mutilation and dismemberment), and the way
in which the authorities respond to the case ...
Continued impunity for killings
"Claudina was killed by one thing: impunity…Claudina’s killer knew that
the likelihood of him being found was very remote" – father of
19-year-old law student Claudina Velásquez Paíz, murdered on 13 August
2005.
"Impunity" is the issue relatives often refer to as being one of the
major contributing factors to the deaths of their loved ones. The
failure of the authorities to identify, detain and bring to justice
those responsible for the killings of women and girls sends the message
to perpetrators that they will not be held accountable for their
actions.
Judicial authorities do not collect disaggregated statistics for the
number of sentences in cases of murdered women and girls, making it
difficult to obtain an accurate picture of the number of successful
prosecutions at a national level in cases of women killed and whether
the number is increasing. To Amnesty International’s knowledge
convictions for cases of women killed between 2002 and 2004 were
secured in 15 cases in 2005.(17) At the time of writing, only two cases
of killings in 2005 had resulted in convictions.(18) As noted by the
PDH no arrests were made in 97% of cases,(19) more than 70% of the
cases have not been investigated and the motive for the killing is
unknown.(20) The lack of physical or scientific evidence to back up
witness testimony means that if cases reach the courts suspects are
often acquitted for lack of evidence.
Of the cases monitored by Amnesty International, there have been only
two convictions. In the case of the rape and murder of Oliberta
Elizabeth Calel Gómez, on 2 April 2005 former police agent Bartolome
Teni Cu was sentenced to 60 years – 50 years for the murder and 10
years for the rape. The friend that was with her at the time but who
managed to escape was able to testify against him. In the case of
17-year-old Andrea Fabiola Contreras Bacaro who was raped and murdered
in June 2004 in Jocotenango, Sacatepéquez, and who had the word
"vengeance" carved into her leg, in February 2005 Otto René Argueta was
sentenced to 35 years ...
Flawed investigations
In Guatemala serious deficiencies persist in the organization and
functioning of the judicial system, which are due to an inadequate
normative framework and certain practices which do not allow an
independent, impartial and effective administration of justice based on
respect for human rights."(22)
The failure to carry out the most basic investigations, properly
process the crime scene and protect potential evidence remains evident
in numerous cases. Francisca López, aged 13, was knifed to death on 2
November 2005 in Guatemala City. Her bloodstained clothes, which may
have contained evidence identifying her attackers, were handed back to
the family and were buried together with her body.
The heavy case loads, lack of equipment and the continuing severe
shortage of police investigators,(23) means that in the majority of
cases the initial investigation, in particular the way in which the
crime scene and other important evidence is processed, is flawed. As
one of the Unit’s police officers told Amnesty International we don’t
have the tools to carry out the work.(24) On many occasions interviews
do not take place until months after the crime when witnesses or family
members are no longer willing to talk or cooperate, often because they
have been threatened.
According to the police Female Homicide Unit by the end of 2005 they
had archived 100 cases out of a total of 224 cases of murdered women
and girls allegedly due to a lack of evidence because families no
longer wanted investigations or witnesses were no longer willing to
talk for fear of reprisals.
Lack of coordination regarding the respective roles of police
investigators and the Public Ministry prosecutors means that many cases
do not advance beyond the initial investigation stage.(25) As noted by
the International Commission of Jurists one of the main flaws in the
criminal investigation is the lack of institutional coordination
between the Public Ministry and the PNC.(26) In the case of Cristina
Hernández the police officer charged with the investigation informed
Amnesty International that since the days following the murder on 27
July 2005 she had not carried out any further investigations - despite
the existence of critical leads - as she had not received any
instructions from the Public Ministry.(27) Nearly one year after
Cristina was abducted and murdered, the Public Ministry has allegedly
still not requested the police to carry out a search of a suspect’s
house or summoned the witnesses to provide information to construct a
identikit picture of individuals believed to be responsible for her
abduction and subsequent murder.
In the case of the sex worker nicknamed "la mudita", later identified
as 25-year-old Silvia Patricia Madrid whose body was found dumped on a
roadside on 22 February 2006, the investigation carried out by the
Assistant Prosecutor in charge of the case limited itself to
establishing the identity of "la mudita". Other basic lines of
investigation were not pursued such as seeking witness statements at
the hotel where "la mudita" worked.
In the face of chronic deficiencies in the investigation of cases of
murdered women and girls, in April 2006 the PDH presented a proposal to
the Public Ministry and Judiciary which would allow the PDH to oversee
the investigation of cases of murdered women and girls throughout
Guatemala.(28) Amnesty International understands that both the Public
Ministry and Judiciary are yet to formally respond to the PDH’s request.
In some cases there have also been allegations of complicity by police
investigators in covering up crimes or "misplacing" important evidence.
On 22 March 2005, 22-year-old sex worker, "Perla", was murdered in a
hotel in the red light district, Cerrito del Carmen in Guatemala City.
Her sister, also a sex worker, who witnessed the killing, reportedly
informed the Public Ministry that two plain-clothed policemen shot her
sister. Uniformed police agents who came to the hotel allegedly removed
the spent shells and told the hotel owner to wash away the blood. The
spent shells were reportedly never submitted as part of the
investigation.
While in some cases family members are able to act as joint parties to
the state prosecution (querellantes adhesivos) the vast majority of
families are unable to afford to pay for a lawyer to help them navigate
the complex process of becoming joint parties to the investigation.(29)
In cases where there are no relatives exerting pressure on the
authorities to investigate either because relatives are too afraid to
actively pursue investigations or the victim has not been identified,
investigations seldom advance. The obligation to investigate and
prosecute all cases of murders ex-officio rarely happens. In the case
of 20-year-old Cristina Hernández, killed on 27 July 2005, for example,
Amnesty International was informed that the Public Ministry was not
actively investigating the case allegedly because the father is no
longer collaborating. After Cristina Hernández was murdered in July
2005, her family went into hiding in fear for their safety after they
were intimidated.
In the case of 19-year-old university student Claudina Velásquez who
was studying to become a lawyer, her dead body was found on 13 August
2005. She had been shot and traces of semen were found on her body.
Serious deficiencies were reported in relation to the effectiveness of
the investigation. For example, tests on the principal suspects, to
ascertain if they had fired a gun, were not carried out. Since the
death of his daughter, Claudina’s father had repeatedly visited the
Public Ministry, suggested lines of investigation and even carried out
independent inquiries. Recognizing the deficiencies in the
investigation of the case, in November 2005, the head of the Special
Prosecutor’s Office on Crimes against Life took over the investigation.
Since then investigations have effectively restarted including sending
blood samples of the five suspects to Spain for DNA analysis. While the
reactivation of investigations is a positive step, it is likely that
critical evidence has been lost.
Likewise, in the case of María Isabel Franco, who was raped and
brutally murdered in December 2001, it was only after significant
international attention on the case and after a TV documentary, that in
February 2006 the prosecutor agreed to compile a list of leads that
have yet to be investigated and to locate the main suspect in the case.
Two of the main suspects have reportedly consistently failed to respond
to summons calling them to testify and are reportedly fugitives.
According to relatives and an NGO supporting the case no effort has
been made to locate them.
State negligence in preventing murders
The response by police authorities to reports of missing women or
girls, including cases where there are witnesses to their abduction,
continues to be inadequate. Amnesty International received many reports
of cases where police authorities had failed in their duty to take
urgent action to prevent injury to women and girls believed to be at
immediate risk. Amnesty International considers that the state's
failure to respond appropriately and effectively to emergency calls or
reports of missing women engages its responsibility for their
subsequent murders. The state must improve the ability of officers to
respond to such calls, and those officers who fail to discharge their
duties effectively must be held to account.
While Amnesty International was informed that talks are underway within
the Commission to Address Femicide to create a database which would
record and cross-reference cases of disappeared women and girls with
the discovery of dead bodies, at the time of writing no such mechanism
existed. Of the 176 killings of women between 1 January and 26 March
2006, 24 % of the victims were unidentified on the autopsy report. In
an apparent effort to improve the ability to identify victims of women
who are killed as a result of domestic violence, the Office of
Attention to the Victim (Oficina de Atención a la Victima - OAV) has
reportedly begun to take finger prints of women who present complaints
of domestic violence.
In the case of Cristina Hernández (see first page) the police failed to
respond to the desperate pleas of her family despite neighbours having
witnessed her abduction. Similarly, neighbours also witnessed the
abduction of 18-year-old student Paola Ninet Gil Escobar, by four men
in a green car with no number plates and tinted windows close to her
home in the municipality of Amatitlán on the outskirts of Guatemala
City on 28 March 2006. Her parents called the police immediately as the
car drove slowly down the hill towards the main road, but were
reportedly told that without more details the police could not take
action. The following morning their daughter’s dead body was found
dumped in a nearby river in Amatitlán, her head covered with a black
bag and her hands tied. She had reportedly been raped and strangled.
Police agents are obliged to take immediate action to locate women who
have been reported missing or respond to emergency calls where
witnesses report that someone has been abducted. To Amnesty
International’s knowledge in neither of the above cases are the
officers who failed to respond to reports of abductions facing any
disciplinary measures.
Continued lack of effective protection measures means that in many
cases survivors of gender-based violence, their families and witnesses
are too afraid to give testimony. Fear of reprisals and lack of
available protection were quoted by both the PNC and Public Ministry as
one of the main reasons why investigations were archived. As
highlighted by the IECCP "there is no institutionalized policy of
protection for victims and other individuals subject to penal cases
which directly correlates to a retraction or abandonment [of testimony]
during the trial."(30)
The murder of 26-year-old Clara Fabiola García, witness to the murder
of two sisters, 15-year-old Ana Berta and 18-year-old Elsa Mariela
Loarca Hernández on 7 August 2003 in Guatemala City bears testament to
the failure of the authorities to guarantee the effective safety of
witnesses. The testimony of Clara Fabiola, was key to securing the 100
year prison sentence in February 2005 against gang member Oscar Gabriel
Morales Ortiz, alias "Small". On receiving his sentence "Small"
reportedly threatened Clara Fabiola García that she would pay for
testifying against him. On 4 July 2005 she was shot at in the town of
Chimaltenango together with her aunt, 60-year-old Clara Luz García, who
was killed immediately. Clara Fabiola García subsequently died in
hospital. As is custom in Guatemala, the protection she was receiving
as part of the Public Ministry’s witness protection programme was
terminated on the sentencing of "Small" despite the fact that she was
still clearly at risk of retaliatory violence.
Invisibility of gender-related violence
Failure to take into account gender-based violence suffered by victims
has contributed to the inadequate response of the state. While the PNC
collects statistics on complaints of rape, information as to whether
the victim experienced sexual violence prior to being killed is not
processed, except in cases where the cause of death was the rape itself
(which occurred in one case during 2005). Statistics also point towards
an under-reporting of violence against women in the family, an
important contributing factor to murders of women. Between January and
June 2005, 1,442 cases of violence against women in the family were
registered in Guatemala but in only two murders of women during 2005
was the motive described as violence against women in the family.
While individual autopsy reports may include information as to whether
the victim had suffered sexual violence prior to being killed, this
information is lost in official statistics from the Forensic
Investigation Service. Official statistics focus on the cause of death,
leaving out data regarding sexual violence, mutilation and
dismemberment, rendering invisible the nature, history and dimensions
of gender-based violence suffered by many victims. For example, a
female victim who has been raped, tortured and suffered a fatal gunshot
wound to the head will have these details recorded in the autopsy
report, a paper document compiled by hand by a forensic doctor.
However, as the data is processed upwards, in order to arrive at wider
departmental or national statistics of male and female homicide
victims, the female victim will simply be one of those termed "death by
gunshot wound".
Commenting on the extent to which the nature and magnitude of
gender-related violence is reflected in official documents the PDH
remarked "the topic has hardly been touched upon in state institutions.
A more aggressive method must be implemented without delay as without a
gender perspective the investigation into the killing of a woman is
contaminated. It is critical (determinante) in the questions witnesses
and family members are asked, in the way the investigation is carried
out and in the position in which the victim is found – as a victim or
as the instigator of her own death."(31)
According to information received by Amnesty International forensic
specialists receive no training in relation to the documentation of
sexual violence and it is not common practice for forensic experts to
refer to international standards on the practice of forensic
investigation which includes specific information not only on carrying
out effective forensic investigations but also how to detect and
investigate cases of sexual violence.(32)
- Persistence of discriminatory legislation
While there has been some progress in relation to gender-sensitive law
reform, the persistence of discriminatory legislation continues to mean
that many forms of gender-based violence against women – in particular
violence against women in the family and sexual harassment - go
undetected. It also perpetuates violence against women and fosters a
climate of impunity for crimes committed against women and girls.
On 8 March 2006, three Congressional Commissions issued a joint
favourable opinion to a draft amendment which proposes the reform of
the Guatemalan Penal Code in relation to violence against women. (33)
The opinion includes the proposal to criminalize violence against women
in the family (violencia intrafamiliar), to remove the legal provision
that it is only a criminal offence to have sexual relations with a
minor as long as the victim is considered "honest" (una mujer
honesta),(34) to abolish Article 200 - which waives criminal
responsibility for rape and certain other crimes of sexual violence (if
the victim is more than 12 years old) upon the perpetrator’s marriage
with the victim - and to extend the definition of rape, including by
making marital rape a criminal offence.
Amnesty International welcomes these proposals as a critical step
towards the removal of legislation that is discriminatory towards
women. The organization is concerned, however, that four years after
the original reform proposal was presented to Congress, and after two
previous favourable opinions, without the necessary political will and
momentum, these reforms may yet again stall at the approval stage in
Congress. (35) While some individual deputies and the Congressional
Commission on Women have demonstrated political will to remove
discriminatory legislation, Congress at large has thus far failed to
legislate to remove such legislation. (36) As noted by CEDAW in
relation to the consideration of Guatemala’s sixth periodic report,
implementation of legal measures to protect women’s rights and promote
women’s empowerment would not be easy as much of Guatemala’s
male-dominated Congress had been reluctant to approve draft legislation
in that regard and that the existing imbalance among the three branches
of the State, (which) results in the resistance to adopt and modify
legislation aimed at protecting women’s human rights. (37)
In addition, certain other key proposals are not included in the
opinion, such as the proposal to criminalize sexual harassment.(38)
Furthermore, while the recent Congressional Commission’s opinion
proposes amending Article 106 of the Penal Code, the provision which
allows the victim to pardon the perpetrator in cases that are not
prosecutable ex-officio, including cases of rape and other sexual
crime, still remains, making victims vulnerable to pressure not to file
complaints.(39)
In December 2005, Article 200 was temporarily suspended, after the PDH
challenged its constitutionality. Pending the final decision as to the
legal validity of the Article, in cases of rape of minors (over 12
years old), criminal responsibility cannot be waived with the marriage
of the rape victim and her rapist. (40) In cases that occurred prior to
December 2005, however, Article 200 can still apply.
Obligations towards victims and their families
- Blaming the victim
The investigator said they thought Claudina was a nobody because she
was wearing sandals and a belly button ring. Father of Claudina
Velásquez Paíz.
The ongoing suffering of hundreds of relatives seeking justice for
women and girls who have been brutally killed, is exacerbated by the
indifference and discrimination they face when they seek help from the
authorities. Of particular importance is the tendency to discredit the
victims by placing the blame for their deaths on their conduct or
background. Amnesty International believes that this suffering caused
to relatives often amounts to cruel, inhumane and degrading
treatment.(41) In May 2006 the Committee against Torture (CAT)
published its concluding observations following the consideration of
Guatemala’s fourth periodic report. It expressed its deep concern
regarding the "increase in the number of cases of women brutally
murdered, often with sexual violence, mutilations and torture. The fact
that these killings are not investigated exacerbates the suffering of
family members seeking justice; furthermore, family members complain
that during the investigative and judicial process the authorities
discriminate on the grounds of gender."(42)
Such attitudes are evident in public statements by government
officials. On 5 May 2006, for example, the Chief of Police stated
publicly that in order to prevent the murders of women it is necessary
to "ask them not to get involved in street gangs and to avoid violence
within the family, which we as police cannot do" and attributed more
than 60% of the cases to these causes.(43) The perception that women
are to blame for their own deaths influences the subsequent
investigatory and prosecutory process and places the responsibility of
prevention on women themselves, rather than with government authorities
responsible for the prevention of violence against women. To Amnesty
International’s knowledge no steps have been taken to change the
perception that many women are in some way to blame for their own
deaths or to sanction officials that make such statements.
One example of the manner in which family members are treated by
government officials is the case of Rosa Franco, mother of María Isabel
Franco, abducted and murdered in December 2001:
August 2005 was the last time I went to the prosecutor’s office no. 5
in Mixco, as after that I didn’t feel like going. The Assistant
Prosecutor who was the one who processed the crime scene in the case of
my daughter …told me that my daughter was killed because she was a
nobody, a prostitute…she began to laugh at me and I began to cry and
her boss didn’t say anything".
Rosa Franco talking to Amnesty International in April 2006.
Relatives of a number of victims have complained that state
investigators have been quick to classify their family members as gang
members, prostitutes or involved in drug trafficking and in so doing,
relate their death to suspected stereotypical behaviour. A number of
relatives have also complained about having to prove that their family
member was "respectable" or that she had not been involved in any crime
before the authorities would take their complaint seriously.
The struggle for justice
Fear of reprisals stops many families from seeking justice for the
killing of their loved ones. However, with the support of women’s NGOs
some families have become increasingly vocal in their pursuit for
justice.
On the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women,
25 November 2005, numerous families took part in demonstrations in the
capital, calling on the authorities to put an end to the impunity
enjoyed by the perpetrators of violence against women. Following the
demonstration, several relatives were reportedly threatened in apparent
reprisal for public calls for investigations into violence against
women. The family of Cristina Hernández took part in the demonstration,
carrying a banner with a photo of Cristina and appearing in the media.
On 7 December 2005, unidentified individuals went to Cristina’s
father’s work place claiming they had a parcel to deliver from Miami
and needed his home address, but refusing to identify themselves.
Subsequent calls to the delivery agencies established that no such
parcel existed.
Women’s organizations that assist families of murder victims, give
legal assistance in cases of sexual violence, or who have condemned the
killings of women have also been subject to threats and attacks. For
example, on 5 June 2006 both the offices of the Women’s Sector (Sector
de Mujeres), a group of non-governmental women’s organizations, and the
National Union of Guatemalan Women (Unión Nacional de Mujeres
Guatemaltecas) were broken into.(44) It was the third time the offices
of the Women’s Sector had been broken into. Mobile phones and a fax
machine were stolen and files containing sensitive information about
their work were searched. Local human rights organisations believe the
break-in was linked to the prominent role played by the Women’s Sector
in calling for an end to violence against women in Guatemala.
Since the launch of the report No protection, no justice Rosa Franco,
mother of María Isabel Franco, has reported experiencing increased acts
of harassment and intimidation, including unidentified individuals
coming to her home and work place and anonymous calls in which the
caller told her that she and her children were going to die. After
repeated requests, including by the Inter-American Commission on Human
Rights, in February 2006 one police officer was finally stationed
outside her home during the day from Monday to Friday.
María Elena Peralta - the sister of Nancy Peralta - has also
experienced harassment as a result of her actions to draw attention not
only to the case of her sister but also to the plight of other murdered
women in Guatemala. On her return from a lobbying trip to the
Netherlands in March 2006 the family received numerous anonymous
telephone calls to their home.
Conclusion
Expectations have been raised, again and again, but results have rarely
followed. Insecurity and inequality prevail, and a history of failed
opportunities has created disenchantment in a population eager for
change.
UN High Commissioner for Human Rights following her visit to Guatemala,
27 May 2006.(45)
Recommendations, including by the UN and the Inter-American Commission
on Human Rights, to address the range of serious failings and
shortcomings in relation to the killing of women and girls were first
made to the Guatemalan authorities several years ago. Amnesty
International concurs with other national and international experts
that the steps taken by government authorities since have been wholly
insufficient to address the scale of the problem.
While some initiatives have been taken over the past year, these have
yet to have any real impact on the numbers of women killed, or the
ability of police and prosecutors to effectively investigate and bring
to justice those responsible. Despite increased technical resources
given to crime scene investigation, the quality of investigations,
including the collection and preservation of forensic evidence,
continues to be woefully inadequate, with many reports of evidence
being lost or damaged and the failure to follow leads.
On 25 November 2005 the government announced the creation of the
Comisión para el Abordaje del Femicidio, the National Commission to
Address Femicide, which aims to develop a diagnostic of the situation
from a government perspective and improve coordination between state
institutions responsible for the prevention, investigation and
prosecution of killings of women and girls.
While the creation of the Commission needs to be viewed positively, it
is unclear how another institutional structure will improve the
government response and overcome issues of duplication and official
incompetence.
The level of coordination and cooperation, in particular, between the
PNC and the Public Ministry continues to be extremely poor.
Contradictory and incomplete data relating to the killings of women and
girls, including the near total invisibility of gender-based violence
in official reports and analysis, continues to prevent the authorities
from determining both the extent and the gender-based nature of the
violence suffered by the victims. Amnesty International believes that
collection of and reference to such data is a necessary requirement for
the development of sound policies to combat gender-based violence.
The continued vulnerability of women and girls reported missing is also
symptomatic of the failure to recognize the killings as a public
security issue and to undertake measures to ensure an immediate
response to cases where women and girls are in immediate danger.
Despite recommendations made by Amnesty International and others, no
urgent search mechanisms or comprehensive data collection system of
women and girls reported missing have yet been created.
Although some senior government officials have publicly recognized the
seriousness of the killings, Amnesty International is concerned that
individual officials, including those at the highest levels of the PNC,
still place the blame on the victim and have also made unfair and
unsubstantiated generalizations as to the identity of the victim. Such
attitudes coupled with the lack of genuine sanctions for officials who
fail to take action to prevent violence against women continues to
perpetuate the idea that female victims are to blame for their own
deaths and that violence against women is acceptable rather than a
violation of girls’ and women’s fundamental human rights. In addition,
widespread impunity, including a low conviction rate, sends the message
to perpetrators that crimes against women go unpunished.
Recommendations
Amnesty International offers the following set of recommendations to
complement and reinforce those previously made and those of other
national and international experts. Relevant state institutions should
coordinate their actions to ensure that these are fully implemented and
appropriately assessed with agreed timelines and benchmarks.
Zero tolerance
The Guatemalan government should state that gender-based violence is
unacceptable and will not be tolerated. Officials that make unfounded
public statements discrediting the serious nature of crimes committed
against women should be dealt with appropriately.
Impeding investigations or failing to take immediate action to prevent
injury to women and girls believed to be at immediate risk should be
the subject of disciplinary action.
Acts of harassment and intimidation against relatives of murdered girls
and women, witnesses or members of organizations who support them
should be thoroughly investigated and the perpetrators bought to
justice.
Level of coordination and quality of investigations
Efforts underway to improve the quality of criminal investigations and
to improve the coordination and cooperation between state agencies
should be fully coordinated and given sufficient political support and
resources.
The Public Ministry and Judiciary should sign the agreement – in line
with article 275 of the Guatemalan Constitution – without further
delay, to empower the PDH to monitor the investigation of cases of
murdered women and girls by the Public Ministry.
The cooperation and coordination between police investigators and
public prosecutors should be strengthened to ensure immediate,
coordinated and effective investigations into all cases of abduction
and murder of women and girls.
The Public Ministry’s Witness Protection Programme should be
strengthened to guarantee the safety of both witnesses and family
members. This should also include the period following a conviction
when individuals are still at risk of retaliatory violence.
Steps need to be taken to guarantee the independence, and availability
of adequate human and financial resources of the recently established
National Forensic Institute.
Missing women and girls
An urgent search mechanism for missing women and girls should be
created without further delay.
Gender perspective
All police investigators, crime scene investigation officials and
forensic experts should receive intensive and ongoing training in
investigative techniques, particularly in the collection and
preservation of forensic evidence in relation to gender-based violence.
Such training should refer to international standards and expertise
including on how to detect, document and investigate cases of
gender-based violence.
Discriminatory legislation
Congress should approve the draft law to criminalize sexual harassment
and the draft law (no. 2630) which proposes the abolition of certain
discriminatory provisions and the criminalization of other acts of
violence against women, without further delay.
Article 106 which allows for the pardoning by the victim in certain
crimes, should be reformed to not be applicable in cases of rape,
violence against women in the family and other sexual crimes.
The Constitutional Court should permanently remove Article 200 from the
Guatemalan Penal Code in line with its international obligations
regarding violence against women and Article 46 of the Guatemalan
Constitution which provides that international human rights treaties
take precedence over internal law.
Collection of data on violence against women
The necessary resources should be provided to implement a standard
system for collecting data and compiling statistics on violence against
women and girls for use by Law and Justice Sector agencies and other
relevant bodies. Such a system should ensure that data is not just
collected but also routinely collated, widely published and used to
inform targeted government planning and policies. Such a system should
also be used to measure the impact of any measures adopted by the
Government to address violence against women and girls.
********
(1) The name has been changed to protect the identity of the family.
(2) Interview with father of Cristina Hernández, BBC This World
documentary, Killer’s Paradise..
(3) AI Index: AMR 34/017/2005, see
http://web.amnesty.org/library/Index/ENGAMR340172005?open&of=ENG-GTM
(4) According to the Human Rights Ombudsman’s Office (Procuradoría de
Derechos Humanos - PDH) while the killings of men increased by 45%
between 2002 and 2005, the number of women killed during this time
increased by 63%. Informe de muertes violentas de mujeres, PDH, 2005.
(5) The women’s organization Sobrevivientes (Survivors) puts the figure
at 243 based on press reports and visits to the city’s central morgue.
(6) For example, on 24 June 2005 Marta Olga Caseros Batres’s body was
found in zone 6 of Guatemala City. She had been decapitated and her
body cut up with a machete. On 6 November 2005, the dismembered parts
of an unidentified woman were found in three bin bags in Guatemala
City. She had been beheaded and her body cut into 19 pieces. On 1
December 2005 another decapitated woman was found in a tunnel in
Guatemala City.
(7) The UN Special Rapporteur on Violence against Women, Yakin Ertürk,
visited Guatemala in February 2004 and issued her subsequent
observations and recommendations in February 2005 (see
E/CN.4/2005/72/Add.3). The Special Rapporteur on the Rights of Women of
the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights visited Guatemala in
September 2004 and issued recommendations following her visit (see
www.cidh.org/women/20.04.htm).
(8) See Resolución del Parlamento Europeo sobre Guatemala,
P6_TA-PROV(2005)0304, 7 July 2005, See
www.acnur.org/biblioteca/pdf/3643.pdf. In April 2006 the European
Parliament held a hearing on the killings of women in both Guatemala
and Mexico. In October 2005 a hearing was held in the US Congress on
the killings of women in Guatemala, during which the Special Rapporteur
on the Rights of Women of the Inter-American Commission spoke as did
Guatemalan representatives. In November 2005 simultaneous
demonstrations calling for an end to the killings were held in nine
Latin American countries.
(9) www.un.org/womenwatch/daw/cedaw/cedaw35/cc/Guatemala_rev.pdf
(10) Based on a population of 12 million, cited in United Nations
Development Programme, Human Development Report, 2005. Page 234,
available at: http://hdr.undp.org/2005
(11) In view of the deficiencies in the collection and management of
data, the figures provided in this report should not be read as
definitive. While different state bodies and non-governmental
organizations present different statistics, all statisticts indicate
that the number of women killed since the launch of No Protection, no
Justice has increased.
(12) Even within the same unit statistics for murders of women and
girls during 2005 have differed. In April 2006 AI was informed that 552
women were murdered during 2005. A previous document from the same
unit, however, stated that this figure was 665, of which 195 of the
cases were termed as "non-violent" deaths. These "non-violent" deaths
included 54 cases where the cause of death was unknown; 39 of the cases
were death via suffocation through submersion. Press reports, quoting
the PNC, have consistently quoted 640 cases of murdered women during
2005.
(13) Prensa Libre, ‘Jueces y fiscales se inculpan por la falta de
fallos condenatorios’, 3 March 2006.
(14) For example see Femicidio en Guatemala: crimenes contra la
humanidad, Unidad Revolucionaria Nacional Guatemalteca (URNG), November
2005, p67-90. (see www.congreso.gob.gt/uploadimg/documentos/n1652.pdf);
Análisis del Feminicidio en Guatemala. Comisión de la Mujer del
Congreso de la República. April 2006; Asesinatos de mujeres: Expresión
del Feminicidio en Guatemala, CALDH, December 2005; Identificación de
patrones existents en el asesinato de mujeres en Guatemala y
similitudes con los crimenes del pasado, Sobrevivientes, December 2005
(see www.sobrevivientes.org).
(15) Informe de muertes violentas de mujeres 2005. Human Rights
Ombudsman’s Office.
(16) Interview with Sergio Morales, Guatemalan Human Rights Ombudsman,
Violencia se ensaña con mujeres en Guatemala, La Nación, San José,
Costa Rica, 4 April 2006.
(17) The Prosecutor’s Office for Crimes against Life informed AI that
during 2005 it secured 11convictions in cases of murdered women. The
remaining four cases are cases from outside the department of Guatemala.
(18) Cases of Maria A. López Camas and Suly Niseyda Leonardo and Maria
C. Menchu Tacan.
(19) Quoted in the press: La Nación, Violencia se ensana con mujeres en
Guatemala, 2 April 2006.
(20) See La Nación, Violencia se ensaña con mujeres en Guatemala, 2
April 2006 and Feminicidio en Guatemala. Crímenes contra la Humanidad,
November 2005, p97.
(21) See Memoria de Labores 2005. Ministerio Público,
www.mp.lex.gob.gt/memorias
(22) La Justicia en Guatemala: Un Largo Camino por Recorrer.
International Commission of Jurists (ICJ), December 2005, p 79, see
www.icj.org/IMG/pdf/Informe_CIJ_Guatemala.pdf
(23) See Policía Nacional Civil busca investigadores, El Periodico, 6
January 2006.
(24) Interview with Female Homicide Unit of the PNC, 6 April 2006.
(25) Article 107 of the Procedural Penal Code establishes that the
PUBLIC MINISTRY directs criminal investigations. The PNC investigators
are obliged to submit two police reports to the PUBLIC MINISTRY, one
after 24 hours and the other after 72 hours.
(26) Op.Cit; ICJ p47.
(27) In one of the initial police reports submitted to the Public
Ministry the police investigator reportedly suggested that a search be
carried out of the property of a man who had previously harassed
Cristina and that there were two witnesses who were mugged, apparently
by the same individuals who abducted Cristina, but had failed to
contribute to the construction of an identikit picture of the suspects.
Telephone interview with police investigador, 16 May 2006
(28) The PDH had previously requested that the Constitutional Court
(CC) issue a resolution which would empower the PDH to oversee the
investigation of the cases within the Public Ministry, however, the CC
responded that this was not necessary as the PDH, in line with article
275 of the Guatemalan Constitution, are already empowered to do so.
(29) Article 116 of the Guatemalan Penal Code gives relatives the right
to propose avenues of investigation, participate in proceedings,
request certain tests or examinations and seek the intervention of a
judge if they disagree with a prosecutor’s decision not to carry out a
particular line of investigation.
(30) Violencia contra las mujeres. Tratamiento por parte de la justicia
penal de Guatemala. IECCP, 2005.
(31) Interview with PDH, 5 April 2006.
(32) Interview with head of the Central morgue, 5 April 2006.
(33) Draft law no. 2630, see
www.congreso.gob.gt/gt/ver_iniciativa.asp?id=348
(34) Article 180 applies to articles 176 and 177 (estupro, sexual
activity with a minor) that state that the honesty of the woman – or in
this case – a minor is a basic requirement for establishing the
existence of a crime.
(35) The draft law was first presented in March 2002.
(36) For example on 25 November, International Day for the Elimination
of Violence against Women, at the initiative of the Congressional
Commission on Women, the Guatemalan Congress passed resolution 20-2005
in which it committed itself to taking steps to eradicate violence
against women in Guatemala, in particular to legislate against
discriminatory legislation.
(37) See www.un.org/News/Press/docs//2006/wom1559.doc.htm and
www.un.org/womenwatch/daw/cedaw/cedaw35/cc/Guatemala_rev.pdf
(38) A draft bill on sexual harassment in the workplace was sent to
Congress in 2002.
(39) The draft amendment only proposes to eliminate this provision in
cases where there are no medidas sustitutivas, the crime is incomutable
and is committed against minors or individuals with menal disorders.
(40) At the time of writing to Amnesty Internatioanl’s knowledge, the
Public Ministry has still not responded to the Constitutional Court’s
request for a hearing, during which the Public Ministry would give its
judgement regarding the appeal.
(41) See A Summary of Amnesty International’s Concerns
with regard to the Guatemalan Government’s implementation of the United
Nations Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman and
Degrading Treatment or Punishment. AI Index: AMR 34/013/2006.
(42) See CAT/C/GTM/CO/4, 18 May 2006,
www.ohchr.org/english/bodies/cat/docs/AdvanceVersions/CAT.C.GTM.CO.4.pdf
(43) Nueve capturas por 90 feminicidios, Siglo XXI, 5 May 2006.
(44) See Urgent Action, AI Index AMR 34/017/2006, 8 June 2006.
(45)
www.unhchr.ch/huricane/huricane.nsf/view01/C7F2A41A172BC438C125717D00566
05A?opendocument
http://web.amnesty.org/library/Index/ENGAMR340192006
--
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