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 Guatemala: Supreme Court Verdict in Mack Case Tremendous Victory (01/22/04) Prominent Children's Rights Activist, Bruce Harris, to Go on Trial in Guatemala (01/16/04) LCHR to Guatemalan President: Action Needed to Protect Freedom of Speech (01/15/04) LCHR sends letter to new Guatemalan President (01/14/04) Inter-American Court Rules in Favor Mack (12/19/03) Guatemala: U.N. Should Advance Investigative Commission(10/09/03) Guatemalan Forensic Anthropologists Face Threats and Intimidation (07/08/03) Public Prosecutor from Mack Case Faces Threats, Intimidation (02/04/03) Guatemala: LCHR Supports Commission to Investigate Illegal Armed Groups (01/17/03) Juan Chanay Pablo, killed 1993 Judge Epaminondas González Dubón, killed 1994 Arnoldo Xi, disappeared 1995 Lucía Tiu Tum and Miguel Us Mejía (killed 1996), and José Sucunú Panjoj, disappeared 1994 Hugo Rolando Duarte Cordón, killed 1998 Human Rights Defenders attacked, 1999 to 2002 The case of Myrna Mack, killed in 1990 LCHR Welcomes UN Decision to Extend Mission in Guatemala (11/18/02) LCHR letter on Human Rights Offices Ransacked in Guatemala (07/24/02) Human Rights Conditions Deteriorating Ltr. to Sec. Powell (07/22/02) LCHR disturbed by threats against human rights workers in Guatemala (06/14/02) LCHR concerned by recent threats against Guatemalan human rights workers (03/28/02) Leaflet distributed threatening Catholic Priests Translation of the leaflet  Myrna Mack Foundation Guatemala Memory of Silence Rigoberta Menchu Tum Foundation Centro de Accion Legal para los Derechos Humanos  Guatemala Human Rights Defenders Project For more information, please contact Kristin Flood, Tel: 212 845 5298 |
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LCHR to Guatemalan
President: Action Needed to Protect Freedom of Speech January 15, 2025 Harris is being prosecuted for criminal defamation on the complaint of Ms. Susana Maria Luarca Saracho de Umaña and, if convicted, may be sentenced to five years imprisonment. The complaint is based on statements made by Harris at a 1997 press conference given jointly by Casa Alianza and the Guatemalan Solicitor General’s office. This press conference was organized to announce the results of an investigation conducted by Casa Alianza and the Solicitor General’s office into the trafficking of children through Guatemala. During the conference, Mr. Harris is said to have alleged that Ms. Umaña had used “undue influence” with the government authorities in facilitating international adoptions. Ms. Umaña was among several other lawyers named in criminal accusations related to child trafficking filed after the joint investigation. In 1999, Guatemala’s Constitutional Court ruled that only journalists are entitled to freedom of expression and Mr. Harris should be prosecuted in the criminal courts. In its letter to President Berger, the Lawyers Committee states that the 1999 ruling of the Constitutional Court is overly restrictive and contravenes international human rights law. It further argues that criminal sanctions for defamation may be excessive and that the defense of truth should be available to answer a defamation charge. The letter further describes Bruce Harris’ important work with Casa Alianza and demands that all human rights defenders must be permitted to operate without obstruction or fear of retaliation, as required by the 1998 UN Declaration on Human Rights Defenders. “Human rights defenders in Guatemala face serious
persecution by powerful individuals and groups who feel threatened by
their work, on a daily basis,” commented Hicks. “These charges
against Bruce Harris are simply one form of such persecution and the new
Guatemalan president should recognize this and take action to ensure that
all human rights defenders are able to express themselves freely and to
continue their vital work without fear of violence, threats or spurious
criminal charges.” |
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The
Lawyers Committee for Human Rights today sent a letter to the new Guatemalan
President, Oscar Berger, urging him to ensure the right to freedom of
expression. The letter focused attention on the case of Bruce Harris,
Latin America Programs Director of the children’s rights organization
Casa Alianza. Harris was charged with criminal defamation in 1997, and
is due to go on trial in Guatemala City on January 22. Neil Hicks, Director
of the Lawyers Committee’s Human Rights Defenders Program, described
the charges against Harris as constituting “a violation of his fundamental
right to freedom of expression and as a form of persecution against those
who promote human rights in Guatemala.”