IACHR takes to Inter-American Court case concerning violations of political rights and judicial guarantees in Guatemala

December 30, 2025

Washington, DC—The Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) filed an application before the Inter-American Court of Human Rights on November 3, 2025, in Case 14,364, with regard to Guatemala. The case concerns violations of judicial guarantees and of the political rights of Ana Vilma Díaz Lemus, Vilma Tatiana Cabrera Alvarado, Estela Bailey Beltetón, Claudia Lissette Escobar Mejía, and Helen Beatriz Mack Chang, in the context of the 2014 process to appoint magistrates for the country’s Supreme Court of Justice and the Court of Appeals through nomination committees.

In Guatemala, magistrate selection processes are regulated by the Constitution and by specific laws concerning the judiciary, nomination committees, and careers in the judiciary, as well as by the rules of procedure adopted by the Supreme Court of Justice in 2009. The IACHR found that, in this selection process, nomination committees applied unfair assessment criteria, changed minimum required scores without justification, and made decisions without providing adequate grounds, which affected the transparency, impartiality, and fairness of the process and therefore the rights of the candidates.

The victims applied to be considered for magistrate positions in the Supreme Court of Justice or the Court of Appeals. Despite having obtained high scores, several of them were not included in the lists that were sent to Congress, and they received no explanation for that exclusion. Mack Chang was involved in the process as an observer and appealed the results before the country’s Constitutional Court. Her appeals were dismissed, and the irregularities she had flagged were never corrected.

In Merits Report 116/24, the IACHR found that the State had failed to ensure a selection process based on merit and professional ability and had violated both domestic regulations and the applicable international standards. Nomination committees failed to provide the grounds for their decisions and applied opaque assessment criteria, while the impartiality of some committee members was questionable. This affected judicial independence and trust in the separation of powers and prevented the development of impartial, transparent courts.

The IACHR found that the State was liable for violations of the rights to judicial independence, judicial guarantees, fair access to public positions, and judicial protection held in Articles 8.1, 23, and 25.1 of the American Convention, in keeping with the obligations held in Articles 1.1 and 2 of that instrument, to the detriment of the victims.

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

1. Provide comprehensive reparations for the human rights violations mentioned in the Merits Report (including financial compensation and other redress measures, as well as an event to publicly apologize to the victims)
2. Launch administrative and/or criminal proceedings to investigate and punish anyone responsible for irregularities in these selection processes
3. Take measures of non-recurrence, ensuring that magistrate selection and appointment processes reflect the applicable inter-American standards and are based on merit and professional ability, as well as being free from political interference. This includes:
1. Enforcing an obligation to provide the grounds for selection and appointment decisions
2. Ensuring that all measures taken by nomination committees are public and transparent
3. Ensuring that no nominations may be sent to Congress until all candidate appeals have been resolved, with adequate justifications for all decisions

The IACHR is an autonomous body of the Organization of American States (OAS) whose mandate is based on the OAS Charter and the American Convention on Human Rights. Its mission is to promote and defend human rights throughout the Americas and to serve as an advisory body to the OAS in this area. The IACHR consists of seven independent members elected by the OAS General Assembly who serve in a personal capacity and do not represent their countries of origin or residence.

No. 287/25

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