17 July 2025
The persecution and criminalization of justice actors and human rights defenders are worsening in Guatemala. Former Indigenous leaders of the 48 Cantons of Totonicapán, Luis Pacheco and Héctor Chaclán, have been imprisoned since 23 April 2025. The Public Prosecutor’s office in Guatemala is accusing them of terrorism, obstruction of criminal proceedings and unlawful association for participating in the peaceful demonstrations in 2023 to defend democracy in Guatemala.
This case violates of the rights of the Indigenous Peoples of Guatemala. Article 66 of the Constitution of the Guatemala establishes that the State recognizes, respects, and promotes the ways of life, customs, traditions, and forms of social organization of Indigenous Peoples. Article 45 recognizes the people’s right to resist for the protection and defence of the rights and guarantees protected in the Constitution, and Article 33 recognizes the rights to peaceful assembly and public demonstration, which are not subject to restriction.
Who are Luis Pacheco and Héctor Chaclán?
Luis Pacheco and Héctor Chaclán were part of the Board of Directors of the 48 Cantons of Totonicapán in 2023, with Luis serving as president and Héctor as treasurer. The 48 Cantons is an ancestral Indigenous institution of the Maya K’iche’ People of Totonicapán that functions as a local government body to preserve the principles, values, and customs of the communities. The Board of Directors of the 48 Cantons is elected each year in a general assembly of the mayors from all the communities, and those appointed to the Board serve as a way to fulfil the communal will.
In October 2023, the 48 Cantons of Totonicapán, together with Indigenous Authorities from other regions of the country, held demonstrations against the actions of the Public Prosecutor’s Office, which sought to annul the results of that year’s general elections, in which President Bernardo Arévalo and Vice President Karin Herrera were elected. The protests spread throughout the country due to the risk that the election results would be annulled and Arévalo and Herrera would not be allowed to take office. Thousands of Guatemalans spontaneously joined the peaceful demonstrations, and there were dozens of statements from various social sectors and the international community supporting the defence of democracy.
The electoral observation missions of the European Union (EU) and the Organization of American States (OAS), as well as by national observation missions recognized the 2023 elections. In addition, the Supreme Electoral Tribunal publicly and transparently presented the election results, making it inconceivable that the Public Prosecutor’s Office would seek to annul them.
National and international reactions
The arrest of the former leaders of the 48 Cantons of Totonicapán has sparked widespread indignation both nationally and internationally.
The United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, Volker Türk, stated that “the misuse of criminal law in Guatemala to detain Indigenous leaders” is concerning, and emphasized that “participating in peaceful demonstrations is a human right that should not be sanctioned.”
Turk had also previously praised the collective 106-day mobilisation of Indigenous groups and their role in defending democracy and the rule of law in the country.
The Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR), for its part, stated that the detention of the former Indigenous leaders fits the patterns of instrumentalization of criminal law for political purposes, which are widely documented in its reports. It pointed out that these patterns include the use of ambiguous and disproportionate criminal charges, the withholding of cases, the premature disclosure of investigations through accounts associated with online disinformation networks (known as ‘netcenters’ in Guatemala) and the abuse of preventive detention. Furthermore, they reveal the complete lack of independence of the Public Prosecutor’s Office.
The IACHR recalled that, in accordance with international human rights obligations, all State institutions are obliged to respect the rights of Indigenous Peoples, which include the right to protest and peaceful assembly without fear of criminalization or any other type of retaliation. In this regard, the abusive use of criminal law against Indigenous leaders produces a collective intimidating effect and undermines their right to self-determination.
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