GUATEMALA Republic of Guatemala Civic space and freedom of expression were curtailed. There was widespread criminalization of judges, prosecutors, human rights defenders, journalists and key actors in the electoral process, forcing them into exile. The authorities stigmatized and failed to protect protesters demanding the resignation of the attorney general. Violations of the rights of women, LGBTI people and Indigenous Peoples persisted. BACKGROUND The electoral process in 2023 was beset with irregularities. Some Supreme Electoral Tribunal magistrates and several members of Semilla, the winning party of the presidential elections, were targeted with criminal lawsuits. The Semilla party was temporarily suspended, and in December, the Prosecutor’s Office requested to lift the immunity of the newly elected president and vice-president. Various members of the international community denounced this persecution as undermining the rights to participation in public affairs and rule of law. High levels of inequality, poverty and violence remained the main reasons for the forced migration of thousands of people from the country. FREEDOM OF EXPRESSION AND ASSEMBLY In October, thousands of people around the country took to the streets to protest at the criminal prosecution of key actors in the electoral process. These peaceful mass protests, convened by Indigenous authorities to demand the resignation of the attorney general, paralysed the country for more than three weeks. The government and the Constitutional Court stigmatized the protesters.1 According to local organizations, the authorities also failed to protect protesters against intimidation and attacks by armed individuals in several parts of the country, 186 which left at least one person dead in the town of Malacatán in San Marcos municipality. In October, a court overturned the six-year prison sentence handed down in June against journalist José Ruben Zamora, who in spite of this remained in detention at the end of the year. The Inter-American Commission on Human Rights and international organizations had denounced violations of his rights to due process and judicial guarantees. ARBITRARY DETENTION AND UNFAIR TRIALS International and regional human rights bodies expressed concerns about the lack of independence of the judiciary and the arbitrary actions by the Public Prosecutor’s Office against people who were fighting impunity and corruption, as well as key actors in the electoral process. At the end of the year, at least 79 prosecutors, judges, human rights defenders and journalists were in exile for fear of being unjustly imprisoned. In May, the UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention declared the detention of former anti-corruption prosecutor Virginia Laparra arbitrary and demanded her release. In December, the Supreme Court of Justice ordered that she be granted domiciliary arrest because she had already spent half of the sentence in jail. In addition, a second criminal proceeding against her was pending at the end of the year.2 HUMAN RIGHTS DEFENDERS Human rights defenders continued to carry out their activities in a hostile and high-risk environment. The Unit for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders in Guatemala (UDEFEGUA) reported 5,965 attacks against human rights defenders between January and November, including threats, killings, harassment and arbitrary detentions. Criminalization increased, particularly against those involved in the fight against impunity and corruption. Human rights defender Claudia González, wrongly accused of the crime of abuse of authority, was released on bail after two months in detention.3 The State of the World’s Human Rights