Red flag? Guatemala reins in crusading top prosecutor
Guatemala has had an extraordinary string of incompetent, bungling attorney generals who had turned a near blind eye to rampant corruption.
So when Claudia Paz y Paz came to office at the end of 2010, hopes were muted. Paz y Paz, who is the nation鈥檚 first female attorney general, far surpassed those hopes. Civic and human rights advocates around the hemisphere have hailed the strides she鈥檚 made on fighting organized crime, political corruption, and human rights abuses.
Precisely because of those strides, a decision by the nation鈥檚 Constitutional Court to cut short Paz y Paz鈥檚 four-year mandate by nearly six months has. If the decision is carried out, Paz y Paz would leave office in May 鈥� seven months early 鈥� and ongoing criminal investigations could be disrupted, perhaps even terminated. It鈥檚 not hard to see a dark hand behind the move.
After all, look back only a few years to see the , apparently with the support of top politicians.
Both the US State Department and the UN-organized Anti-Impunity Commission have issued statements on Paz y Paz鈥檚 possible early departure.
Here鈥檚 what an spokesperson at the State Department, who asked to remain unnamed, issued:
We have enjoyed unprecedented cooperation with Attorney General Claudia Paz y Paz in Guatemala and are disappointed to learn the Constitutional Court has ruled that her term should end in May of this year. The U.S. government looks forward to continuing our excellent cooperation with her through the end of her term.
As attorney general, Paz y Paz has made incredible progress in combating corruption and organized crime, and prosecuting human rights violations in Guatemala. To make this type of substantial progress, Paz y Paz directly confronted some of the toughest issues, focusing on building a culture of lawfulness and strengthening domestic institutions, especially the Attorney General鈥檚 Office.
We will follow the upcoming attorney general nomination and selection process extremely closely. We are hopeful that, regardless if Paz y Paz decides to seek another term, whoever is selected as attorney general embodies the honesty, courage, independence, and commitment to fighting impunity that Paz y Paz has demonstrated.
For its part, CICIG, the UN anti-impunity commission, for her 鈥渦nwavering 聽commitment鈥� and said her actions have been 鈥渁 historic contribution to Guatemalan justice.鈥�
The commission voiced concern that turmoil around the Constitutional Court鈥檚 ruling could impede its own lawyers鈥� work in helping Guatemalan prosecutors 鈥渢o identify, prosecute and dismantle criminal structures.鈥�
