STATEMENT 106 |  Photo: CICIG.

A video is circulating with a text stating that FECI and CICIG would have bought witnesses in the case known as Pavón. Therefore, the Commission clarifies that: 

The video corresponds to inquiries made around 2010 when CICIG investigators talked with a witness regarding the investigation of the Pavón case (which is not related to the current investigation known as “Extrajudicial Executions and Torture.”)

In the framework of the investigation of the Pavón case, after the homicide of two witnesses and facing a situation of imminent danger to the lives of the other witnesses, CICIG explained to them the witness protection program of the Attorney General’s Office (MinisterioPúblico, MP), giving them the possibility to avail themselves of this program.

The justice system is obliged to offer protection to those willing to collaborate regarding the investigations linked to extrajudicial executions.

The protection of witnesses is established in the Law for the Protection of the Parties to Judicial Proceedings and Related to the Administration of Criminal Justice (Decree No. 70-96), which states that for the effectiveness of judicial management, it is necessary to ensure the integrity and security of judges, prosecutors, defense attorneys and other subjects involved in legal proceedings.

It is of the utmost importance for Guatemalan justice and democracy that people will stoppromoting disinformation campaigns aimed at conditioning the actions of justice operators.

These actions seeking to delegitimize the work of MP and CICIG also damage the judicial independence, which is a fundamental component of the Rule of Law.