URGENT ACTION REQUIRED:

On October 11, Mrs. Consuelo Porras, Guatemalan Attorney General and Head of the Public Ministry, dealt a new blow to the justice system in the Guatemala. She transferred Hilda Pineda, the prosecutor leading the Human Rights Office of the Public Ministry, from her crucial and leading role in the current historical judicial process investigating genocide and mass human rights violations that occurred during the 36 year-long internal armed conflict (1960-96).

This prosecutor's office has been a bastion of hope and action for justice, with its successful presentation of evidence towards the prosecution of former military officers through a full trial for serious violations of Human Rights during the armed conflict, including that of former dictator Efraín Ríos Montt

Currently, the case of the massacre of over 300 men, women and children at the village of Dos Erres, and the case of 183 civilians ‘disappeared’ and/or murdered and detailed in the military intelligence document known as The Military Diary, are in process. In both cases, high-ranking military, the police and members of the security & intelligence services are accused of crimes against humanity.

The Human Rights Prosecutor's Office change of leadership is part of a series of manoeuvres developed by the Public Ministry, the Congress and the Supreme Court of Justice, among others, to protect the military hierarchies that continue defining criminal policies in Guatemala, and enjoy the benefits of impunity.

Consuelo Porras has obstructed investigations of acts of corruption by interfering with criminal investigations. Porras’ pattern of obstruction included ordering prosecutors in Guatemala’s Public Prosecutor’s Office (their Public Ministry) to ignore cases based on political considerations, and actively undermining investigations conducted by the Special Prosecutor Against Impunity, including the dismissal of her chief prosecutor, Juan Francisco Sandoval, and the transfer and dismissal of prosecutors investigating corruption.

We demand that the current Attorney General cease her actions against the the Human Rights Prosecutor's Office. We also demand her resignation. Her undeniable relationship with structures of corruption and impunity compromise her capacity to conduct the responsibilities of her office without bias.

We urgently request your solidarity by signing this petition.