IACHR files application before Inter-American Court in case concerning violations of the human rights of patients at Federico Mora Hospital in Guatemala

June 11, 2025

Washington, DC—The Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) filed on May 21, 2025, an application before the Inter-American Court of Human Rights in Case 13,524, with regard to Guatemala. This case concerns violations of the human rights of individuals admitted into Federico Mora Hospital to receive treatment for mental health issues. These individuals were in State custody despite not being subjected to criminal law proceedings.

The petition, which was received by the IACHR in October 2014, addressed the situation of individuals admitted into Federico Mora Hospital, a healthcare institution specializing in mental health. The facility had two groups of patients—individuals who had been arrested for crimes with the required court warrants and who were in the custody of the country's penitentiary service and individuals who were not being subjected to criminal court proceedings and who were the responsibility of the Guatemalan Ministry of Health.

The petition said that several people had remained hospitalized against their will, even with medical recommendations for their release. This situation was made possible by gaps in legislation, which failed to fully recognize these individuals' legal capacity and to grant them access to community-based care. The petition also said that these individuals had been subjected to physical and sexual abuse by members of the hospital's medical staff and by guards, as well as by other patients. The petition further denounced inadequate conditions in terms of infrastructure, hygiene, and safety, and said that patients had been subjected to isolation, physical and drug-assisted immobilization, lack of medical care, and lack of reintegration programs. In particular, the petitioning party addressed the conditions in which patients María "X" and brothers Ricardo and Estuardo Kostelecki García were held.

In Admissibility and Merits Report 365/22, the IACHR acknowledged serious obstacles in access to justice, including a lack of legal counsel and mechanisms to challenge admission into hospital, which directly affected patients' right to personal liberty. The IACHR further noted that many individuals remained in hospital without medical justification, for lack of community-based support services and because the system required court decisions to enable their release from hospital.

The IACHR found that patients at Federico Mora Hospital were subjected to unsanitary conditions, physical and drug-assisted immobilization, isolation, and deficient medical care, all evidence of structural violence that is incompatible with a dignified life and with the protection of patients' personal integrity, health, and life. The IACHR noted systematic sexual violence against patients, perpetrated by both officers of the State and private citizens and tolerated by the State. These acts of violence were said to amount to torture. The IACHR found that the events that had been reported had not been investigated with due diligence, so the Commission concluded that the State had failed to comply with its duty to prevent, protect, and investigate.

The IACHR therefore concluded that the State of Guatemala was liable for violations of the rights to juridical personality, life, personal integrity, personal liberty, judicial guarantees, privacy, equality before the law, judicial protection, and health, held in Articles 3, 4, 5, 7, 8, 11, 24, 25, and 26 of the American Convention on Human Rights, concerning the obligations held in Articles 1.1 and 2 of that instrument. The IACHR also found that the State of Guatemala was liable for violations of Articles 1, 6, and 8 of the Inter-American Convention to Prevent and Punish Torture and of Article 7(b) of the Convention of Belém do Pará, concerning the victims.

The IACHR therefore asked the Inter-American Court of Human Rights to demand that the State take the following measures:

1. Provide comprehensive redress to victims, in the form financial compensation and other reparation measures
2. Investigate violence, abuse, and negligence toward patients with disabilities admitted into Federico Mora Hospital, and punish the people responsible for any wrongdoing
3. Provide comprehensive physical and psychological healthcare for patients with disabilities admitted into Federico Mora Hospital, respecting patients' will
4. Review legislation and public policies to revoke guardianship schemes and to recognize the legal capacity of individuals with mental disabilities, providing them with the support they need to make decisions
5. Ensure the legal capacity of individuals with mental disabilities and their exercise of their rights, decentralizing mental healthcare services and enabling community-based alternatives
6. Deinstitutionalize patients with mental disabilities, with a plan that states the applicable deadlines and provides independent oversight of conditions
7. Investigate with due diligence and punish individuals who have committed acts of systematic sexual violence, as well as train staff to improve complaint management and enable help for victims of sexual violence

The IACHR is a principal and autonomous body of the Organization of American States (OAS), whose mandate stems from the OAS Charter and the American Convention on Human Rights. The Inter-American Commission has the mandate to promote the observance and defense of human rights in the region and acts as an advisory body to the OAS on the matter. The IACHR is made up of seven independent members who are elected by the OAS General Assembly in their personal capacity, and do not represent their countries of origin or residence.

No. 119/25

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