Paola Escobar
Cases- Case status
- Unknown
- Location of case in SG report
- 2022-029-002
- Relevant SG report
- Year of the report
- 2022
- From Country
- Country Geolocation
Latitude: 15.783471
Longitude: -90.2307589999999
- Country Geolocation (linked Cases)
- Guatemala
- From Region
- UN body that raised the case prior to the SG report
- UN Special Procedures: Thematic
- Dates of prior UN action
- 31 March 2022
- Type of record
- Named individual
- Gender
- Female
- Was the victim a foreign national?
- No
- Was the victim a minor?
- No
- Individual's/organization's activity
Prosecutor
- Type of rights defended
- Accountability & impunity
- Was the victim a civil servant or member of the security forces or of the judiciary?
- Yes
- Engagement with UN body
- CICIG
- Type of attempted engagement
- Meeting with UN officials during country visit / with locally present UN officials
- Submission of information to UN
- Dates of mentioned reprisals
- 10 to 23 February 2022
- Location of mentioned reprisals
- Guatemala
- Reprisal information
- On 11 February 2022, the Spokesperson of the UN Secretary-General noted with concern the detention of at least two individuals who cooperated closely with the CICIG. On 31 March 2022, the Special Rapporteur on the independence of judges and lawyers addressed the arrests between 10 and 23 February 2022 of five prosecutors and one lawyer who had worked with the FECI in a high-profile case against public officials and organized crime, including many investigated with the technical assistance of the CICIG (GTM 1/2022). The prosecutors are Ms. Siomara Sosa, Ms. Paola Escobar, Ms. Aliss Morán, Mr. William Racanac and Ms. Virginia Laparra, and the lawyer is Ms. Leily Santizo, also former CICIG staff. Charges included counts of abuse of authority, usurpation of functions, obstruction to justice and false testimony. Trial against four of the prosecutors is ongoing. Virginia Laparra remains in pretrial detention since 23 February 2022.
- Types of reprisals suffered
- Charge/Investigation/Prosecution: Charge/Investigation/Prosecution - General
- Charge/Investigation/Prosecution: Trial
- Alleged/likely perpetrators
- State actors
- Was the reprisal based on new legislation?
- No
- Does the report make general comment about country’s environment for engagement with UN?
- No
- Government response dates
- 1 July 2022
- Government response content
On 1 July 2022, the Government responded to the note verbale sent in connection to the present report with information on the detention situation and ongoing trials against the prosecutors Ms. Siomara Sosa, Ms. Paola Escobar, Ms. Aliss Morán, Mr. William Racanac and Ms. Virginia Laparra and the pretrial detention of Ms. Leily Santizo, all of them under charges of abuse of authority, obstruction of justice and false testimony as well as additional information on the situation of other judges and magistrates of the Constitutional Court. The Government also shared information on the situation of the independence of judges and lawyers and the protection of the judiciary, and clarified that the authorities are not aware of alleged acts of intimidation and reprisals or attacks against judges and prosecutors.
- Was the case raised by a State at the UN?
- No
- Is the country cited for a "pattern of reprisal" in the context of this case?
- No
- Is a pattern of reprisals mentioned otherwise in the context of this case?
- No
- Does the report cite "self-censorship" as an issue in the context of this case?
- No
- How many times has the case been followed up in subsequent SG reports?
- 2
- In which SG report was this case followed up on? 0
- 2023
- Follow up information provided in SG report 0
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The cases of Ms. Siomara Sosa, Ms. Paola Escobar, Mr. William Racanac, and Ms. Sosa’s lawyer and former CICIG worker Ms. Leily Santizo, were included in the 2022 report of the Secretary-General88 on allegations of undue criminal proceedings against them on charges of abuse of authority, usurpation of functions, obstruction to justice and false testimony. According to information received by OHCHR, the criminal proceedings against Ms. Sosa, Ms. Escobar, Mr. Racanac, and Ms. Santizo continued during the reporting period. In his 2023 report to the Human Rights Council, the High Commissioner for Human Rights expressed concerns about violations of the rights to liberty and to fair trial guarantees in their cases (A/HRC/52/23, para. 60).
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The Government provided updated information on the criminal proceedings against Ms. Siomara Sosa, Ms. Paola Escobar, Mr. William Racanac, and Ms. Leily Santizo. It noted that Ms. Sosa had appealed the indictment against her for the crime of collusion, that was still under consideration. The Government added that a second arrest warrant had been issued against Ms. Leily Santizo, whose whereabouts were unknown. It provided information on four criminal cases filed against Ms. Paola Escobar under various charges including abuse of authority, noting that they were under investigation and that they had also been filed against other individuals including Mr. William Racanac.
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- Followup Trends 0
- Stayed same
- Date of follow up 0
- 2023
- Did the government respond? 0
- Yes
- Was this case followed up by a UN body? 0
- UN (Dep.) High Commissioner on Human Rights
- In which SG report was this case followed up on? 1
- 2024
- Follow up information provided in SG report 1
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The cases of Ms. Siomara Sosa and Ms. Paola Escobar were included in the 2022 and 2023 reports of the Secretary-General97 on allegations of undue criminal proceedings and charges of abuse of authority, usurpation of functions, obstruction to justice and false testimony. The High Commissioner for Human Rights expressed concerns about violations of the rights to liberty and to fair trial guarantees in their cases.98
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According to information received by OHCHR, on 15 May 2023 Ms. Escobar was prosecuted for abuse of authority, even if a first instance judge had dismissed all charges against her on 11 March 2022. On 18 August 2023, an appeals court revoked the detention order. Ms. Escobar was released on 1 September 2023, after 109 days in detention. Her case was included in the 2023 report of the High Commissioner for Human Rights.99
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On 4 July 2024, the Government responded to the note verbale sent in connection to the present report recognising the important work done by justice officials in the fight against corruption and impunity in the country and expressing concern about the cases included in the report. The Government provided a number of factual corrections regarding ongoing legal proceedings concerning the cases described above that were incorporated in the report.
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- Followup Trends 1
- Deterioration/further reprisals
- Did the government respond? 1
- Yes