Bonerge Mejía
Cases- Location of case in SG report
- 2019-041-002
- Relevant SG report
- Year of the report
- 2019
- 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
- Assistant Secretary-General
- UN Special Procedures: Thematic
- Dates of prior UN action
- 30 April 2018; 18 September 2018; 30 January 2019; 25 April 2019
- Type of record
- Named individual
- Gender
- Male
- Was the victim a foreign national?
- No
- Was the victim a minor?
- No
- Individual's/organization's activity
judges from the Constitutional Court seeking to protect the work and mandate of the CICIG
- Type of rights defended
- Accountability & impunity
- Was the victim a civil servant, member of the security forces or of the judiciary?
- Yes
- Reported trigger of reprisal
judges from the Constitutional Court seeking to protect the work and mandate of the CICIG
- Engagement with UN body
- CICIG
- Dates of engagement
- Unclear
- Type of attempted engagement
- Other
- Dates of mentioned reprisals
- Unclear
- Reprisal information
Acts of reprisals reportedly took the form of misuse of legal impeachment proceedings (“antejuicios”) as well as public stigmatization and vilification campaigns in traditional and social media (GTM 7/2018; GTM 13/2018; and GTM 1/2019).
- Types of reprisals suffered
- Defamation / Defamation campaign
- Family/friends/acquaintances targeted
- Online harassment
- Profession-related reprisal
- Alleged/likely perpetrators
- Both state and non-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
- 23 April 2019; 24 June 2019
- Government response content
On 23 April 2019, the Government responded to the communication of 30 January 2019, including to the allegations related to CICIG 77 whose presence in the country, according to the Government, created pressures or interests alien to the rule of law. Thus, after the UN Secretary-General decided not to remove Commissioner Mr. Ivan Velasquez, the Government decided not to extend the agreement establishing the CICIG. According to the Government, the CICIG was not part of the UN. It became a failed experiment in the fight against corruption and impunity with a legacy that divided society and was highly detrimental to the rule of law.
On 24 June 2019, the Government responded with detailed (confidential) information about the latest security assessment and protection measures provided to those individuals mentioned above, as well as on complaints received.
- 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?
- 1
- In which SG report was this case followed up on? 0
- 2020
- Follow up information provided in SG report 0
Reprisals and intimidation against judicial actors and civil society were included in the 2019 report of the Secretary-General (A/HRC/42/30, para. 54–55, Annex I paras. 40– 45). As noted by the High Commissioner in her July 2019 report, the pattern of attacks, reprisals and intimidation against judges and public prosecutors persisted in 2019, in particular against those presiding over cases related to transitional justice and corruption (A/HRC/43/3/Add.1, para. 33). Alleged acts of reprisals against Constitutional Court judges Mr. José Francisco de Mata Vela, Mr. Bonerge Mejía and Ms. Gloria Porras were included in the 2019 report of the Secretary-General regarding their work for the CICIG (A/HRC/42/30, para. 54, Annex I para. 41), and they continued to be targeted in the reporting period.
- Followup Trends 0
- Stayed same
- Did the government respond? 0
- No