GUATEMALA / Report of the International Mission of Jurists for Guatemala
Title of the report: Climate of fear: the legal profession and judicial independence in danger
Date of the report: March 2026
Description:
The report “Climate of fear: the legal profession and judicial independence in danger” gathers the conclusions and recommendations of the International Mission of Jurists carried out in Guatemala in October 2025, aiming to analyse the situation of the legal profession and judicial independence in the country. Based on meetings with lawyers, justice operators, civil society organisations and other relevant stakeholders, the mission assessed the conditions under which legal defence is carried out and the functioning of the institutions of the judicial system, in particular with regard to cases related to the fight against corruption and serious human rights violations.
The mission noted the persistence of practices of harassment, criminalisation, arbitrary arrests and forced exile targeting legal actors, in particular lawyers, judges and prosecutors. The report documents the instrumentalisation of the criminal system through the initiation of proceedings based on unfounded complaints, the extensive application of criminal offences, the abusive use of judicial secrecy and the systematic recourse to pre-trial detention. These practices are accompanied by defamation campaigns, digital harassment and public stigmatisation that affect the independent exercise of the legal profession and weaken judicial independence.
In this context, the report warns about these dynamics and their structural impact on the functioning of the judicial system, which weaken guarantees of independence and impartiality and lead to the exile of many justice actors and legal professionals. The forced departure from the country of lawyers, judges and prosecutors also results in a significant loss of experience and institutional knowledge, with direct consequences on access to justice and the protection of human rights in Guatemala.
The mission was organised by the International Observatory for Lawyers at Risk and Lawyers for Lawyers, with the participation of the Association of Lawyers, Judges and Prosecutors for Human Rights of Latin America and the Caribbean, Juezas y Jueces para la Democracia and the Spanish Association for Human Rights (APDHE). Agueda Teja Ciprián (Spain), Gonzalo Sáenz Quiléz (Spain) and Stéphanie Encinas (France) represented the OIAD and were part of the international delegation.
Read the mission report:
