Title: Urging United States policy toward Guatemala to support the rule of law and address challenges of kleptocracy, organized crime, private and public sector corruption, illicit campaign financing, criminalization of and attacks on justice operators, journalists, and human rights defenders, and restrictions resulting in the closure of civic space.
Policy area: International Affairs

Summary:
This resolution condemns attacks and abuses perpetrated against Guatemalan society, including judges, anticorruption prosecutors, human rights defenders, and indigenous communities. It also affirms support for, and calls on the federal government to take actions to advance, the rule of law and democracy in Guatemala.

[Congressional Bills 117th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H. Res. 1481 Introduced in House (IH)]

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117th CONGRESS
  2d Session
H. RES. 1481

Urging United States policy toward Guatemala to support the rule of law 
  and address challenges of kleptocracy, organized crime, private and 
 public sector corruption, illicit campaign financing, criminalization 
  of and attacks on justice operators, journalists, and human rights 
  defenders, and restrictions resulting in the closure of civic space.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                           November 16, 2022

Mrs. Torres of California (for herself, Mr. Sires, Mr. Castro of Texas, 
   Mr. McGovern, and Mr. Garcia of Illinois) submitted the following 
resolution; which was referred to the Committee on Foreign Affairs, and 
   in addition to the Committees on Financial Services, and Ways and 
 Means, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in 
   each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the 
                jurisdiction of the committee concerned

_______________________________________________________________________

                               RESOLUTION


 
Urging United States policy toward Guatemala to support the rule of law 
  and address challenges of kleptocracy, organized crime, private and 
 public sector corruption, illicit campaign financing, criminalization 
  of and attacks on justice operators, journalists, and human rights 
  defenders, and restrictions resulting in the closure of civic space.

Whereas in the June 2021 United States Strategy on Countering Corruption, 
        President Joe Biden stated that ``Corruption threatens United States 
        national security, economic equity, global anti-poverty and development 
        efforts, and democracy itself'';
Whereas, according to the Department of State report for 2021 on Human Rights 
        Conditions in Guatemala, corruption and impunity continue to be serious 
        problems in Guatemala, asserting that ``prominent anticorruption 
        prosecutors were fired or removed from significant cases, and corrupt 
        actors threatened independent judges by filing complaints based on 
        spurious charges to strip them of immunity to prosecution'';
Whereas the Department of State included Guatemalan Attorney General Maria 
        Consuelo Porras on the Undemocratic and Corrupt Actors list released 
        September 20, 2021, due to her ``involvement in significant corruption'' 
        and pattern of obstructing justice, including by reportedly ``ordering 
        prosecutors in Guatemala's Public Ministry to ignore cases based on 
        political considerations and firing prosecutors who investigate cases 
        involving acts of corruption'';
Whereas, on May 16, 2022, after President Alejandro Giammattei reappointed Maria 
        Consuelo Porras as Attorney General, the United States deemed her 
        ineligible for entry into the United States ``due to her involvement in 
        significant corruption'';
Whereas, as of June 2022, at least 24 justice operators involved in fighting 
        corruption, including public prosecutors, judges, a magistrate from the 
        Constitutional Court, and two former attorneys general had been forced 
        into exile;
Whereas, as of May 2022, at least 6 anticorruption prosecutors have been 
        detained by Guatemalan authorities based on spurious or frivolous 
        charges;
Whereas, according to the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights 2021 Annual 
        Report on Guatemala, the weakening of human rights institutions and 
        setbacks to the fight against corruption and impunity have a 
        disproportionate impact on women, children, indigenous peoples, and 
        other historically marginalized populations;
Whereas the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights reported that 
        ``throughout 2021, attacks and judicial persecution against justice 
        operators for their legitimate work continued'' in a pattern that 
        ``undermines the rule of law and judicial independence'';
Whereas, on June 21, 2021, a law entered into force in Guatemala which imposes 
        onerous administrative requirements for nongovernmental organizations 
        (NGOs), making it difficult or impossible for them to operate and giving 
        the government the ability to close NGOs at will;
Whereas the excessive and unjustified use of states of exception has created a 
        situation in which numerous warrantless arrests are conducted, often 
        targeting indigenous community leaders defending their rights to land;
Whereas Guatemalan human rights group La Unidad de Proteccion a Defensoras y 
        Defensores de Derechos Humanos--Guatemala (UDEFEGUA) documented over 589 
        acts of violence and aggression against human rights defenders, justice 
        operators, and journalists from January to June 2022;
Whereas, in 2021, at least 179 attacks were reported against indigenous and 
        campesino leaders who defend land, territory, and the environment; and
Whereas since January 1, 2021, after receiving threats that led them to fear for 
        their lives, 6 journalists have fled into exile, and on July 29, 2022, 
        award-winning journalist Jose Ruben Zamora, founder and president of the 
        newspaper El Periodico, was arrested at his home and remains detained: 
        Now, therefore, be it
    Resolved, That the House of Representatives--
            (1) commends the bravery, endurance, and resolve of the 
        prodemocracy, anticorruption movement, those who risk life and 
        livelihood to bring a better future to Guatemalans;
            (2) condemns the attacks and abuses perpetrated by those 
        few who act with impunity against the majority of Guatemalan 
        society and against judges, anticorruption prosecutors, human 
        rights defenders, and journalists; indigenous communities 
        protecting land, women escaping sexual violence, LGBTQ 
        individuals seeking safety, and youth unable to access career 
        opportunities;
            (3) reaffirms its support for rule of law and democracy in 
        Guatemala, and recognizes corruption and impunity among the 
        root causes of irregular migration to the United States;
            (4) calls on the Department of State and the Treasury to 
        ensure United States resources are not used to support corrupt 
        actors by undertaking investigations of Guatemalan Government 
        officials, judicial personnel, legislators, security force 
        members, and private sector individuals who have participated 
        in significant acts of corruption or human rights abuses, and 
        to act expeditiously to issue targeted sanctions, including 
        under the Global Magnitsky Human Rights Accountability Act, and 
        to investigate and, where appropriate, freeze economic assets 
        in the United States;
            (5) reiterates the United States commitment to combating 
        corruption in Guatemala and working to provide support for 
        international financial institutions to ensure loans and 
        assistance are not granted to individuals or entities 
        responsible for corruption, illicit political campaign 
        financing, or human rights violations, and to ensure that all 
        loans or assistance have safeguards and oversight mechanisms to 
        ensure they do not permit or facilitate corruption or human 
        rights abuses;
            (6) calls on the United States Development Finance 
        Corporation to review current and pending loans and grants to 
        ensure such loans and grants do not go to projects that might 
        put human rights defenders at risk and are not channeled 
        through entities whose leaders have engaged in corruption or 
        human rights abuses;
            (7) urges all United States Government initiatives 
        promoting United States investment in Guatemala to ensure that 
        such investment does not violate human rights, including labor 
        rights, disregard indigenous or Afro-descendant community land 
        rights, or benefit corrupt actors;
            (8) urges the Department of State and the Department of 
        Defense to review and defer assistance and training to the 
        Guatemalan Armed Forces and National Civilian Police until such 
        reviews indicate the Guatemalan Government is taking effective 
        steps to investigate and prosecute security forces implicated 
        in significant acts of corruption and human rights abuses, 
        including those committed against indigenous communities and 
        human rights defenders, and is taking effective steps to 
        curtail the role of the military in public security;
            (9) calls on the United States Trade Representative and 
        Department of Labor to review the extent to which Guatemala is 
        in compliance with the Dominican Republic-Central America-
        United States Free Trade Agreement, including the provisions 
        that require governments to establish procedures to disqualify 
        suppliers that engage in fraudulent or illegal activities and 
        the provisions related to labor rights;
            (10) calls on the Secretary of State to engage with the 
        Government of Guatemala to emphasize the importance of progress 
        in ensuring--
                    (A) an independent judiciary with transparent and 
                merit-based selection procedures;
                    (B) free and transparent elections, including 
                prevention of illicit campaign financing;
                    (C) respect for freedom of expression and 
                association;
                    (D) promotion of community-led development policies 
                to encourage private sector actors to comply with 
                environmental and labor standards and the right of 
                communities to free, prior, and informed consent; and
                    (E) improving access to justice for victims of 
                gender-based and sexual violence;
            (11) urges the Department of State to engage with like-
        minded countries to collaborate on sustained, effective, 
        anticorruption policies, with respect to Guatemalan Government 
        officials and private sector individuals who have engaged in or 
        facilitated corruption or human rights violations; and
            (12) encourages the Department of State and the United 
        States Agency for International Development efforts to provide 
        long-term support, including financial, psychological, and 
        legal support, for justice operators, human rights defenders, 
        trade union leaders, and journalists precluded from carrying 
        out their activities due to persecution or forced into exile 
        from Central America.
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