The increasing control of the political apparatus in the Central American countries over the justice sector has reached a “critical” point, said Thursday a group of judges from the region who denounced before the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) the harassment and “constant criminalization” that weaken judicial independence in the countries of the isthmus.
The cases of El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras and even Costa Rica emerged as examples of political interference -on different scales- in justice institutions.
“I denounce before you the extreme seriousness in which justice operators who have heard of cases of corruption, violation of human rights and organized crime find ourselves in Guatemala,” Judge Carlos Ruano said on behalf of the persecuted justice officials in that country. .
The judicial official reminded the Commission that about 25 judges and prosecutors in the country have been forced into exile to “safeguard their lives and integrity” by participating together with other officials from the region in a hearing of the 186th session of the IACHR , held in Los Angeles, California.
While Ruano was participating in the forum, a petition from the Public Ministry headed by Attorney General Consuelo Porras that He has asked to remove the judge’s immunity. The Supreme Court of Justice gave the green light on February 9 to strip him of his jurisdiction, but the Constitutional Court issued a sentence this Thursday granting the CSJ 48 hours to justify the decision to strip the magistrate who could be criminally prosecuted. .
“The criminalization against lawyers and prosecutors and judges who excelled in carrying out their work against corruption and impunity continues to worsen, the foregoing is a sign of serious setbacks and the improper use of the criminal process, persecuting operators of justice based on spurious complaints in revenge for judicial resolutions”, said the Criminal Sentencing judge, Carlos Ruano.
El Salvador and the “denigration of the judicial system”
When addressing the situation in El Salvador, the former magistrate of the Constitutional Chamber of the Supreme Court of Justice, Sidney Blanco (2009-2018) spoke about the accelerated “destruction” of the country’s judicial independence, which worsened -at his criterion – with the dismissal of the Supreme Court magistrates and the Attorney General of the Republic on May 1, 2021, in a action endorsed by the Executive of Nayib Bukele and the Legislative Assembly of official control.
“In El Salvador, judicial independence has been denigrated and destroyed by the president of the republic and by the Legislative Assembly in complicity with the Supreme Court of Justice”, made up of the trusted magistrates of power in turn, he deepened.
Then came the institutional collapse, Blanco said, with changes to the judicial law, which ended his 25-year career as a judge by legislating the dismissal of judges for turning 60.
“Judges in El Salvador are afraid to express themselves freely, to be fired, arbitrarily transferred or arbitrarily dismissed for exercising their position independently and to be seen in the company of brave colleagues who continue to defy the political power that crushes and destroys the state of right,” he said.
In Honduras, other nuances
The Association of Judges for Democracy of Honduras also established a position in the hearing before the Commission by pointing out “the persecution” against judges who hear emblematic cases of corruption or organized crime.
This association keeps a record of 77 dismissals among judges and judicial career officials, which respond to the constant “interference of political power in the judicial career”, and which even allows the salary tables to be upset. But above all they warned “we are concerned about the constant attacks and smear campaigns against judges.”
Costa Rica asks for help
Judge Adriana Orocú, president of the Costa Rican Association of the Judiciary and at the same time head of the Latin American Federation of Magistrates, said at the hearing that even Costa Rica, which for years was listed as the advanced country, today has entered a process of deterioration due to which called the Commission to pay attention before reaching a process “as serious” as the rest of the Central American countries.
“I can affirm that we are at a breaking point, in which the trend can be strengthened like the rest of the Central American countries,” said Judge Adriana Orocú.
The call to the IACHR is to address “severe and common threats” that threaten judicial independence, in matters of office mobility, lack of budget, high court accusation processes “as well as serious criminalization and attacks on the freedom and the integrity of judges and judges”.
The commissioners of the IACHR and the president of the audience, Esmeralda Arosemena, agreed that the issue of justice is “transcendental” since only with the judicial systems and independent justice operators can the rule of law and the protection of fundamental guarantees be guaranteed.
The commission asked the magistrates to send documentation on different topics to speed up visits and update some regulations that can help solve the problem.
The governments of the region at different times have denied that there is persecution against justice operators and adjudicate the ongoing investigations to cases under the independence of fiscal entities.
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