GUATEMALA CITY (Reuters) - Guatemalan President Jimmy Morales said on Friday his government had decided not to renew the mandate of the International Commission Against Impunity in Guatemala (CICIG), a U.N.-backed anti-corruption body that has targeted him and his predecessor.

“We have officially notified the Secretary General of the United Nations that we will not renew the mandate of the CICIG,” Morales told a news conference.

Morales has had a tumultuous relationship with the CICIG, which attempted to have him impeached for alleged corruption.

His predecessor as Guatemalan president, Otto Perez, was removed from office due to a graft probe led by the CICIG, and is still in prison while on trial. </s> MEXICO CITY—Guatemalan President Jimmy Morales on Friday shut down a U.N.-backed antigraft agency that has locked up scores of leading politicians in the country and was investigating the president for alleged illegal campaign financing.

Mr. Morales said he had informed the U.N. that he would not renew the mandate of the U.N. Commission Against Impunity in Guatemala, known as the CICIG, when it expires in Sept. 2019. Mr. Morales asked the agency to immediately begin transferring its capacities to local prosecutors. </s> Guatemalan President Jimmy Morales on Friday announced he was shutting down a UN mission investigating corruption in his country, accusing it of interfering in its internal affairs.

The move to muzzle the International Commission Against Impunity in Guatemala (CICIG) came shortly after it made a joint request with the state prosecutor's office to lift his presidential immunity as part of an investigation into campaign finances.

Both the Commission and prosecutors presented evidence that Morales' FCN-Nacion party failed to report nearly one million dollars in financing to electoral authorities during his successful 2015 presidential campaign.

"We have officially notified the secretary general of the United Nations of the non-renewal of the CICIG's mandate and the immediate transfer of the capabilities to the corresponding institutions," Morales said during a ceremony in the capital.

The Commission's spokesman Matias Ponce, told reporters that the body had received the support of the international community and social sectors in Guatemala, but he avoided any reference to Morales' announcement.

Set up in 2006, the mission, known by its Spanish acronym CICIG, is an independent body with investigative and prosecutorial powers. Its success in tackling corruption has inspired calls for similar bodies to be set up in other Central American countries.

The country's Congress this week installed a commission of five lawmakers to study the request to lift Morales' immunity so that he can stand trial over the alleged illegal campaign financing.

On two previous occasions, Congress rejected requests from the prosecutor's office and the CICIG to remove his immunity. </s> Image copyright Getty Images Image caption Guatemalan prosecutors have accused Mr Morales of funding irregularities in the 2015 election

Guatemala has said it is withdrawing from a UN-backed anti-corruption commission which has been investigating the country's President Jimmy Morales.

Guatemalan Foreign Minister Sandra Jovel said on Monday that the UN body had 24 hours to leave the country.

She said Mr Morales would continue the fight against corruption, but that there had been a misunderstanding about the investigations into his affairs.

Elected three years ago, Mr Morales initially supported the UN commission.

The mandate of the International Commission Against Impunity in Guatemala (CICIG) has helped prosecutors bring cases against dozens of senior officials and executives.

However, when Mr Morales became the subject of its investigations, the president said he would review its mandate.

His comments were criticised and led to street protests against official corruption and demonstrations demanding his resignation.

During a meeting with UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Monday, Ms Jovel announced that the CICIG mandate, a United Nations body created in 2006 and designed to strengthen the country's rule of law, would be ending.

Mr Guterres responded in a statement, saying that he "strongly rejects" the decision, adding that the government must abide by the international deal.

The CICIG had sought to prosecute Mr Morales, who was a comedian before becoming president in 2016, over allegations of funding irregularities linked to his 2015 election campaign.

The UN backed calls for the removal of Mr Morales's immunity in order to allow him to be investigated.

That move followed separate CICIG investigations into members of the president's family. </s> The United Nations was on a collision course with Guatemala on Monday after the Central American country announced it was pulling out of an agreement on an anti-corruption commission that has set its sights on President Jimmy Morales.

Foreign Minister Sandra Jovel told UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres during a meeting at UN headquarters that the mandate of the International Commission Against Impunity in Guatemala (CICIG) would end in 24 hours.

But the UN chief said in a statement that he “strongly rejects” the decision, adding that the government must abide by the international deal.

“Within 24 hours, the agreement will be terminated by the Guatemalan government with the United Nations,” the foreign minister told a press conference.

The commission has been carrying out investigations since 2007 but has been increasingly at odds with Morales’s government after it began probing the president’s campaign financing.

The president’s son and brother have been accused of tax fraud as a result of the commission’s investigation and are awaiting trial.

“The mandate of the commission is set to end on 3 September 2019,” said UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric in a statement.

“Until that date, we expect the government of Guatemala to entirely fulfill its legal obligations under the agreement.”

At the news conference in New York, Jovel accused the commission of “interference” and said Guatemala was defending its sovereignty by scrapping the investigative body.

Morales has barred the head of the commission, Colombian prosecutor Ivan Velasquez, from entering Guatemala.

A member of the commission was detained at the airport on Saturday but finally allowed into the country some 24 hours later. </s> (New York) – President Jimmy Morales’s decision to end the mandate of a UN-backed investigative body is a major blow to efforts to fight corruption, abuse, and impunity in Guatemala, Human Rights Watch said today.

On August 31, 2018, Morales announced that he would not request an extension of the mandate of the International Commission against Impunity in Guatemala (CICIG), which expires in September 2019. CICIG is investigating allegations that Morales’s presidential campaign received illegal funding and is participating in the prosecution of his son and brother on fraud charges. Morales made the announcement flanked by dozens of top military officials, shortly after 12 military jeeps were stationed in front of the CICIG’s office in Guatemala City.

If anyone still had any doubts about which side Morales was on, today he made it crystal clear he’s cast his lot with the forces of corruption and impunity.

“President Morales has been working for more than year to shield himself and his family from justice,” said Daniel Wilkinson, Americas managing director at Human Rights Watch. “He is now pulling the plug on the UN-sponsored commission responsible for the investigations.”

Since CICIG began investigating Morales for possible corruption, the president has waged a relentless campaign to undermine its work, Human Rights Watch said.

In August 2017, Morales ordered the expulsion of CICIG Commissioner Iván Velásquez, days after CICIG and the Guatemalan attorney general announced they were investigating Morales for illicit campaign financing. Guatemala’s Constitutional Court blocked the expulsion. On August 10, 2018, CICIG and the attorney general presented a request to Congress to strip Morales of his immunity from prosecution.

CICIG is one of the most effective anti-corruption mechanisms in Latin America today, Human Rights Watch said. Since it began operation in 2007, Guatemala has made unprecedented progress in promoting justice for corruption and abuse of power. It has obtained the indictments of four former presidents, and of more than a dozen former ministers and even more ex-congressmen on corruption charges. CICIG’s investigations have also led to the conviction of at least 58 people involved in six different drug cases.

In an August 31 letter to UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, Morales wrote that CICIG should focus its remaining time on transferring “technical skills” to local institutions. Given CICIG’s extensive caseload and chronic delays in the Guatemalan courts, it is extremely unlikely this and other major cases will be resolved within a year.

“If anyone still had any doubts about which side Morales was on, today he made it crystal clear he’s cast his lot with the forces of corruption and impunity,” Wilkinson said. “When the commission is gone, the vital but precarious progress Guatemala has made in strengthening the rule of law will stall and very likely start to unravel.” </s> Guatemala City, Guatemala - The government of Guatemalan President Jimmy Morales has said it is withdrawing from a UN-backed anti-corruption commission and is giving the body's staff 24 hours to leave the country, in a move that drew criticism from human rights groups and constitutional lawyers.

Speaking to reporters on Monday, Morales accused the International Commission Against Impunity in Guatemala, commonly known as CICIG, of polarising the country and putting its security at risk, as well as violating human rights and being allied with criminal structures and "terrorists".

"The State of Guatemala terminates the agreement with CICIG because of the serious violation of national and international laws," Morales said in Guatemala City, adding that his government had waited 16 months for the UN to respond to their complaints.

"The CICIG has put at risk the sovereignty of the people of Guatemala," Morales said, accusing the UN of not "seeking solutions" to alleged violations.

Morales made the comments surrounded by the families of those he asserts are falsely accused by the CICIG, including a Russian family which was prosecuted and sentenced to seven years in prison for using a falsified Guatemalan passport.

Ahead of the press conference, Sandra Jovel, Guatemala's minister of foreign affairs, had informed UN chief Antonio Guterres of the unilateral decision.

"The agreement is finalised," Jovel told reporters. "We hope the secretary-general will respect of sovereignty."

The CICIG was formed in 2006 upon the request of the Guatemalan government to combat high rates of impunity for crimes. It was ratified by the country's legislative branch in 2007 following a massive police scandal.

The commission's 2015 corruption investigation in the administration of Otto Perez Molina led to the resignation of the former president, who is currently facing criminal charges.

Morales utilised an anti-corruption platform in the country's 2015 election, promising voters he was "not corrupt, or a thief". Yet he and his family have faced corruption allegations since taking office in January 2016.

Allies of Morales in the country's Congress led by Estuardo Galdamez, of the FCN-Nacion party, had called on the president to unilaterally repeal the law that formed the body. Many congressional members are currently under investigation for corruption.

In August last year, Morales announced that he would not be renewing the mandate of the anti-impunity body. The president also attempted to declare CICIG head Ivan Velasquez a "persona non-grata" and bar him from the country.

But the country's Constitutional Court in September ruled against the ban on Velasquez, ordering that he must be permitted to re-enter Guatemala. The goverment has remained steadfast in its position, sparking a deepening constitutional crisis.

Earlier on Monday, Stephane Dujarric, UN spokesperson, had urged Guatemala's government to allow the free movement of CICIG staff in the country, as in accordance with the 2006 agreement.

His call came two days after Guatemalan immigration officials denied Yilen Osorio, a Colombian CICIG investigator, entry into the country and detained him upon arrival.

The detention violated a December 21 court order issued by Guatemala's highest court which said the government must allow entry for 11 CICIG investigators whose visas were revoked earlier that month. The government argued that the investigators posed a threat to national security, giving them 72 hours to leave the country.

Osorio was finally permitted to enter the country after being held for some 24 hours following an order by the Constitutional Court.

Oswaldo Samayoa, a Guatemalan constitutional lawyer, said that among those whose visas were removed are the lead investigators of the cases against Morales, his brother and son.

"There is clearly a conflict of interests in the decisions of Morales," Samayoa told Al Jazeera. "It is a form of revenge disguised in the discourse of sovereignty."

Commenting on Guatemala's CICIG withdrawal, Samayoa said Monday's announcement was "disastrous for our country, for our democracy and our fragile institutions".

"All these actions are against the law and constitution," Samayoa added.

"The agreement with the United Nations that formed the CICIG says that only the UN can end the anti-corruption body," explained Samayoa, pointing to articles 11 and 14 of the agreement and citing article 149 of Guatemala's constitution, which upholds the country's commitment to human rights and international accords.

Iduvina Hernandez, director of human rights organisation Security in Democracy, alleged that Morales "is destroying the institutional order".

"These actions are a coup d'etat against the rule of law," Hernandez told Al Jazeera. "This is being carried out by those in government that wish to maintain their privileges."

The president's move was also condemned by Democrats in the United States, including Representative Norma Torres.

"Jimmy Morales' presidency has set the country back years, if not decades," Torres said in a statement.

"Morales had a historic opportunity to give Guatemalans the transparent and effective government that they deserve. Instead, when faced with the prospect of criminal investigation by CICIG and the public ministry, he chose to destroy the rule of law in order to protect himself," Torres wrote.

"He has engaged in a pattern of behaviour that has undermined Guatemala’s justice system and brought the country to the brink of a constitutional crisis." </s> Guatemala announced Monday it was pulling out of a United Nations-sponsored anti-corruption commission after more than a year of tension between the government and the group, which has investigated top government officials and people close to President Jimmy Morales.

Foreign Minister Sandra Jovel announced the decision after meeting with Secretary-General Antonio Guterres about the commission, known as CICIG for its initials in Spanish.

She accused the group and its members of politicizing its work, violating Guatemala's sovereign authority, failing to respect the presumption of innocence and causing "division in our society."

"The CICIG has exceeded its authority," she said. Jovel said the commission's staffers have 24 hours to leave the country, though a Guatemalan court has ruled that the country has to grant them visas.

There was no immediate response from the U.N. Before the announcement, spokesman Stephane Dujarric said Guterres continues to support the commission's work "and expects the Guatemalan government to provide the commission with all the assistance necessary for the discharge of its functions and activities."

During its 11 years operating in Guatemala, CICIG has pressed corruption cases that have implicated more than 600 people, including elected officials, businesspeople and bureaucrats.

Morales has made no secret of his contempt for the group — formally, the International Commission against Impunity in Guatemala — which has investigated the president's son and his brother. They deny accusations of corruption.

The commission has also tried to bring a case involving purported illegal campaign financing against Morales, who similarly denies the allegations. Lawmakers so far have rebuffed proposals to lift Morales' immunity from prosecution in the matter.

Morales said in August 2017 he was expelling CICIG's chief. Though a court quickly blocked that order, the commission head was later barred from re-entering the country after leaving for a business trip.

Last year, Morales refused to renew CICIG's mandate, effectively giving it until September 2019 to wind down operations and leave the country.

Most recently, a commission member was detained at an airport for almost a day and refused entry to the country after arriving Saturday. A court ordered his release. </s> GUATEMALA CITY (AP) - Guatemalan President Jimmy Morales on Friday shut down a crusading U.N.-sponsored anti-graft commission that has pressed a number of high-profile corruption probes - including one pending against the president himself over purported illicit campaign financing.

Speaking in front of civilian and military leaders, Morales said he had informed the U.N. secretary-general of his decision to revoke the body’s mandate and “immediately” begin transferring its capacities to Guatemalan institutions.

Minutes before the surprise announcement, U.S.-donated army vehicles that Guatemala uses to fight drug and other smuggling were deployed to the commission’s headquarters in the capital in what critics called an attempt at intimidation.

The decision caps a long history of friction between the president and the International Commission Against Impunity in Guatemala, or CICIG for its initials in Spanish.

In August 2017, Morales announced that he was expelling the commission’s chief, Ivan Velasquez, but that move was quickly blocked by Guatemala’s top court.

At the time Morales declared Velasquez a persona non grata and fired his foreign minister for refusing to carry out the order to expel him, before later backing off and saying he would obey the court’s decision.

Morales accused the commission Friday of “violating our laws, inducing people and institutions to participate in acts of corruption and impunity,” and “selective criminal prosecution with an ideological bias.”

“Selective justice has been used to intimidate and terrorize the citizenry,” he charged. “Judicial independence has been violated, with the intention of manipulating justice, actions that attack the presumption of innocence and due process.”

The announcement was promptly met with criticism from human rights officials and advocates.

“We sincerely regret the great mistake that the president made public in not renewing CICIG’s mandate,” Guatemalan human rights prosecutor Jordan Rodas said. “We are grateful for its valuable contribution in the country to the fight against corruption and impunity.”

Morales is suspected of receiving at least $1 million in undeclared contributions during the 2015 campaign. He has denied wrongdoing.

Last week the Supreme Court allowed a request brought by CICIG and Guatemalan prosecutors to strip his immunity from prosecution to go to Congress for consideration. If 105 lawmakers vote in favor, it could open him up to investigation for possible illicit campaign financing.

“I think there’s a conflict of interest, and an attempt by President Morales to try to protect his own interests in light of the ongoing investigation and probe,” said Adriana Beltran, director for citizen security at the Washington Office on Latin America, which advocates for human rights in the region.

Beltran said CICIG and Velasquez have made remarkable progress in strengthening the rule of law in Guatemala “despite constant attacks and efforts to try to undermine (their) work,” and that “there’s still much more that needs to be done.”

The commission released security camera video showing perhaps a dozen military jeeps taking up position curbside outside the headquarters Friday, some with soldiers manning machine gun turrets. CICIG spokesman Matias Ponce said they were there for a few minutes, and later returned and drove by without stopping. Ponce also told The Associated Press that police and army vehicles intercepted a car carrying a team from the commission on a street in the capital.

Rodas called the deployment an “oversize and intimidating presence.”

“It is an unnecessary military movement that reminds us of days past when there were coups, and now we are a democracy - nobody is above the law,” he said, adding that he would work to guarantee the safety of the commissioner and his team.

Prosecutors’ spokeswoman Julia Barrera said an investigation was opened “to see if any crime was committed” by deploying the vehicles.

The commission’s work with Guatemalan prosecutors has led to high-profile graft probes that ensnared dozens of politicians and businesspeople and even led to the downfall of former President Otto Perez Molina and his then-vice president.

The military deployment came the same day a U.N. human rights team was expelled from the Central American nation of Nicaragua after the Office of the U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights published a critical report accusing President Daniel Ortega’s government of violent repression of opposition protests.

There was no immediate indication of a link between the two events.
Guatemalan President Jimmy Morales announces that he will not renew the mandate of the International Commission against Impunity in Guatemala (CICIG) and orders the immediate transfer of functions to the Public Ministry and the Ministry of the Interior. The mandate of the UN anti-corruption commission ends on September 3, 2019.