As is custom in Guatemala, the protection she was receiving as part of the Public Ministry's witness protection programme was terminated on the sentencing of "Small" despite the fact that she was still clearly at risk of retaliatory violence. In June 2005 Amnesty International published a report No protection, no justice: killings of women in Guatemala(3) to highlight the murder of women and girls in Guatemala and the state's failure to exercise due diligence in preventing, investigating and punishing these crimes. According to relatives and an NGO supporting the case no effort has been made to locate them. Commenting on the extent to which the nature and magnitude of gender-related violence is reflected in official documents the PDH remarked "the topic has hardly been touched upon in state institutions. It began when George Zimmerman was found not guilty for shooting unarmed 17-year-old black boy, Trayvon Martin, on Feb, 26, 2012. with regard to the Guatemalan Government's implementation of the United Nations Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman and Degrading Treatment or Punishment. Officials that make unfounded public statements discrediting the serious nature of crimes committed against women should be dealt with appropriately. (43) The perception that women are to blame for their own deaths influences the subsequent investigatory and prosecutory process and places the responsibility of prevention on women themselves, rather than with government authorities responsible for the prevention of violence against women. The organization is concerned, however, that four years after the original reform proposal was presented to Congress, and after two previous favourable opinions, without the necessary political will and momentum, these reforms may yet again stall at the approval stage in Congress. According to the information the IACHR has received, the lack of protection of indigenous territorial rights in Guatemala is characterized by a failure to recognize indigenous lands; the lack of a property registry or cadastre system that recognizes ancestral territories and makes it possible to protect the lands that belong to indigenous . The 25,000 members of the National Civil Police (PNC) are on the front lines of Guatemalas battle against crime. These cases also appear not to be investigated effectively with press reports indicating that only four percent of cases end in criminal sentences. (27) In one of the initial police reports submitted to the Public Ministry the police investigator reportedly suggested that a search be carried out of the property of a man who had previously harassed Cristina and that there were two witnesses who were mugged, apparently by the same individuals who abducted Cristina, but had failed to contribute to the construction of an identikit picture of the suspects. Fear of reprisals stops many families from seeking justice for the killing of their loved ones. The report was reviewed by The New . 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While some initiatives have been taken over the past year, these have yet to have any real impact on the numbers of women killed, or the ability of police and prosecutors to effectively investigate and bring to justice those responsible. Two of the main suspects have reportedly consistently failed to respond to summons calling them to testify and are reportedly fugitives. For example, on 5 June 2006 both the offices of the Women's Sector (Sector de Mujeres), a group of non-governmental women's organizations, and the National Union of Guatemalan Women (Unión Nacional de Mujeres Guatemaltecas) were broken into. Rates of crime in Guatemala are very high. Recommendations, including by the UN and the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights, to address the range of serious failings and shortcomings in relation to the killing of women and girls were first made to the Guatemalan authorities several years ago. (37) See www.un.org/News/Press/docs//2006/wom1559.doc.htm and www.un.org/womenwatch/daw/cedaw/cedaw35/cc/Guatemala_rev.pdf. Congress suspended the latest budget bill following widespread protests against self-serving political elites. (28) The PDH had previously requested that the Constitutional Court (CC) issue a resolution which would empower the PDH to oversee the investigation of the cases within the Public Ministry, however, the CC responded that this was not necessary as the PDH, in line with article 275 of the Guatemalan Constitution, are already empowered to do so. For example, a female victim who has been raped, tortured and suffered a fatal gunshot wound to the head will have these details recorded in the autopsy report, a paper document compiled by hand by a forensic doctor. (9) www.un.org/womenwatch/daw/cedaw/cedaw35/cc/Guatemala_rev.pdf, (10) Based on a population of 12 million, cited in United Nations Development Programme, Human Development Report, 2005. GUATEMALA In Guatemala, organized crime has been a problem for decades. Combatting violence against children, especially sexual exploitation and abuse, is a key component of programming. She had reportedly been raped and strangled. The Hague convention is an international agreement comprised on a law created in regards to intercountry adoptions (Dolor, L, 2008). In the absence of thorough investigations, various non governmental organizations (NGOs) and other groups have presented their own investigations and analysis regarding the reasons behind the killings. Considering the positive police response after the only undisputed report, the lack of any indication that the police would not assist if called again, and the legal protections and services discussed in the country reports, it was reasonable for the BIA to decide that the authorities were ab le and willing to protect petitioners. Solution. Of the cases monitored by Amnesty International, there have been only two convictions. (13) Prensa Libre, 'Jueces y fiscales se inculpan por la falta de fallos condenatorios', 3 March 2006. Police officers transport the corpse of an inmate after a 'riot' at the Cantel men's prison in Quetzaltenango in western Guatemala. Concern was also expressed over the tendency of the authorities to blame the victims rather than focusing resources on investigating and prosecuting the perpetrators of the killings. However, police scholars have criticized . Her killers remain at large. Unlike the murders of men, however, in cases of women, the gender of the woman is a determining factor in the motive of the crime, the way women are killed (female victims often suffering exceptional brutality before being killed including rape, mutilation and dismemberment), and the way in which the authorities respond to the case. From 2010 to 2013, Barnica and her long-time life partner and now husband, Leslie Rene Lopez ("Rene"), were engaged in business buying gold jewelry in Guatemala and reselling it for profit in Honduras.1 As part of this venture, Rene drove back and Press reports, quoting the PNC, have consistently quoted 640 cases of murdered women during 2005. GUATEMALA CITY (AP) The United States agreed Monday to train members of a Guatemalan task force responsible for protecting the country's borders and putting a brake on uncontrolled migration. (29) Article 116 of the Guatemalan Penal Code gives relatives the right to propose avenues of investigation, participate in proceedings, request certain tests or examinations and seek the intervention of a judge if they disagree with a prosecutor's decision not to carry out a particular line of investigation. U.S. Capitol Police Chief Steven Sund, Senate Sergeant at Arms . Since the death of his daughter, Claudina's father had repeatedly visited the Public Ministry, suggested lines of investigation and even carried out independent inquiries. Progress has been made, but achievements are fragile and easily reversed. Reporting gang activities to police puts a person in greater danger because it aggrevates the gang, challenges their authority, and shows disrespect. (40) In cases that occurred prior to December 2005, however, Article 200 can still apply. (11) Establishing a comprehensive overview of the statistics regarding both the numbers of women killed as well as the identity of the perpetrators is still therefore extremely difficult. For those children who are in residential care, there have been different effects. Then I went to San Juan police station and begged the police to try to stop their car. Guatemala's police force is vastly over stretched In total, there are estimated to be as many as 150,000 private security guards in the country, compared with a police force of just 30,000.. State authorities have come under criticism for what many perceive as a failure to control spiralling violence and to provide public security. According to the PDH, "the difference is that in the case of women they make them suffer more before being killed."(16). In an apparent effort to improve the ability to identify victims of women who are killed as a result of domestic violence, the Office of Attention to the Victim (Oficina de Atención a la Victima OAV) has reportedly begun to take finger prints of women who present complaints of domestic violence. It is unclear whether reform efforts have enough support within the PNC hierarchy to survive over the long term. Such a system should ensure that data is not just collected but also routinely collated, widely published and used to inform targeted government planning and policies. Advocacy efforts involve engagement of communities, traditional and . The investigator said they thought Claudina was a nobody because she was wearing sandals and a belly button ring. This coverage helped highlight all the shootings that were happening by the police. Today a diverse and broad group of Colombian human rights organizations and victims of excessive use of force by Colombian security forces presented, in collaboration with Amnesty International, a set of proposals with a differential, intersectional and human rights-based approach for comprehensive reform of the . On the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women, 25 November 2005, numerous families took part in demonstrations in the capital, calling on the authorities to put an end to the impunity enjoyed by the perpetrators of violence against women. Page 234, available at: http://hdr.undp.org/2005. The question is whether his government will be able to muster the resources and will to bolster institutional reform or will rely primarily on militarised crime-fighting operations that provide short-term gains without solving long-term problems.