Guatemala

Flora Silva was arrested in connection with a criminal investigation into the outlet’s president, José Rubén Zamora, who has been detained since July 29.

The international organizations that promote the defense and protection of human rights and, in particular, freedom of expression, condemn the arbitrary detention for political purposes of the prominent journalist José Rubén Zamora, founder and president of the newspaper elPeriódico, who is being persecuted in retaliation for his investigative work on corruption and other issues of public interest in Guatemala.

“Guatemalan authorities should immediately release and drop any criminal charges against journalist José Rubén Zamora, president of ‘elPeriódico’. Judicial persecution against journalists is a mechanism of intimidation.”

Guatemalan authorities should drop all charges and stop using laws intended to protect women from violence to target and intimidate reporters.

The report provides insights into the patterns of systemic discrimination which marginalise women, and remain deeply entrenched in both the publishing industry and the protocols of literary awards in five Latin American countries.

Choc said police officers shoved him and confiscated his phone and microphone while he was attempting to cover the protests against mining. Guatemalan authorities should immediately drop criminal charges and stop using the country’s justice system to harass and silence the press.

“The press must be able to report freely and safely in regions like the Izabal department, which has become an increasingly dangerous place for journalists covering environmental and social issues in recent years” – CPJ.

Congress shelved a bill that would have endangered the rights of women and girls in Guatemala and restricted comprehensive sexuality education. It also would have criminalized anyone who promotes and facilitates an abortion.

In August 2020, Anastasia Mejía prepared herself for covering the city’s Indigenous Maya K’iche’ community, to which she belongs. She knew her subject that day, a protest of mostly Maya K’iche’ merchants, was important, but she had no idea that it would land her in jail.

Mejía is facing charges of sedition and aggravated attack for her alleged participation in an August 2020 demonstration against a local mayor in Quiché.

Guatemalan authorities must conduct a swift and thorough investigation into the killing of journalist Mario Ortega and hold those responsible to account.

Guatemalan authorities should immediately release radio journalist Anastasia Mejía, drop the charges against her, and guarantee that journalists can report freely without persecution.

Guatemalan authorities should conduct a swift and thorough investigation into the killing of journalist Bryan Guerra, determine if it was related to his journalism, and bring those responsible to justice.

Reporters Without Borders (RSF) and the Asociación de Periodistas de Guatemala (APG) express their concern regarding the hostile climate faced by the country’s press, and ask the next head of State to truly take responsibility for the protection of journalists, given that outgoing President Jimmy Morales will leave a disastrous balance with regard to freedom of the press.

Being a women’s rights activist in the country with the third highest rate of femicides in the world can be a deadly task. One that Norma Cruz has courageously taken on for the last 15 years.

After a review of Guatemala by the Human Rights Committee, Panorama spoke with representatives of IFEX and Cerigua to assess this State’s appearance before the UN body.