In Guatemala, as in many other countries, the State is becoming increasingly hostile towards civil society organisations. This trend undermines the efforts of human rights organisations and, to a lesser extent, humanitarian actors. In the process, the rights of both local populations and migrants are under threat.
Guatemalan society today is still marked by the prolonged armed conflict (1960-1996) which led to the death and disappearance of more than 200,000 people and the displacement of between 500,000 and 1.5 million others.[1]Commission for Historical Clarification, Guatemala memoria del Silencio, United Nations Office for Project Services, Guatemala, 1999, p. 21 and p. 38, … Continue reading As 83% of the victims of the conflict were of Mayan descent, the Commission for Historical Clarification recognised as acts of genocide certain policies of the government in power between 1981 and 1983.[2]Ibid., p. 21 and p. 51. Vestiges of the political system based around the military elite remain present in Guatemalan society despite the establishment of a process of transitional justice.[3]Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, Justice transitionnelle et droits économiques, sociaux et culturels, 2014, … Continue reading Moreover, the country’s politics and economy are still run by the military and economic elite while a majority of the population identify as indigenous and live below the poverty line.[4]Marie-Dominik Langlois, « Le mirage de la paix au Guatemala », Le Devoir, 4 janvier 2017, https://www.ledevoir.com/opinion/idees/488338/le-mirage-de-la-paix-au-guatemala Recent years have been marked by a worsening humanitarian situation, in particular following several extreme weather events and the Covid-19 pandemic, as well as by rising authoritarianism.[5]Amnesty International, Last Chance for Justice – Dangerous setbacks for human rights and the fight against impunity in Guatemala, 9 July 2019, … Continue reading
Consistent with this trend, the enactment of Decree 4-2020, which amends the law on non-governmental organisations (NGOs)[6]Known as “the law on NGOs”. by expanding government control over their financing and activities, is at the core of the deterioration of rule of law in Guatemala. In fact, by amending the civil code and this “law on NGOs”, this decree has a significant impact on the work of civil society groups, granting the government discretionary powers to supervise and monitor NGOs.[7]Organización de los Estados Americanos, «La CIDH y su RELE rechazan la entrada en vigor de reformas a la Ley de Organizaciones no Gubernamentales en Guatemala», 19 May 2021, … Continue reading Two years after this decree came into force and the first criticisms of it began to emerge at international level, what is its current impact on NGO activities? This article will first present some fin dings on this reform and then examine the various implications according to the type of organisation concerned.
Reform of the law on NGOs
Since the advent of the conservative Government of Jimmy Morales (2016-2019), Guatemalan civil society has been aware of a deterioration of the rule of law. Indeed, the mandate of President Morales was characterised by his hostility towards international institutions, especially towards the International Commission Against Impunity in Guatemala, which he in fact suspended in 2019.[8]Government of Canada, Canada disappointed by decision to end International Commission against Impunity in Guatemala, 10 January 2019, … Continue reading Several regressive bills posing a threat to the rights of vulnerable people have since been brought in, such as the reform proposed by Decree 4-2020.[9]Unidad de Protección a Defensoras y Defensores de Derechos Humanos de Guatemala, Guatemala, una deuda sin saldar. Recomendaciones para una agenda pública que garantice el derecho a defender … Continue reading Following in its predecessor’s footsteps, the government of Alejandro Giammattei (2020-2024) approved the reform of the law on NGOs in February 2020. Decree 4-2020 then came into force in June 2021, notwithstanding strong criticism and an appeal lodged in vain by the country’s Special Human Rights Prosecutor.[10]Douglas Cuevas, «Ley de oenegés: piden que nueva normativa se declare inconstitucional», Prensa Libre, 22 June 2021, … Continue reading This reform introduces a set of requirements for the creation, regulation, operation and supervision of national and international NGOs and grants the government discretionary monitoring and surveillance powers.[11]Organización de los Estados Americanos, «La CIDH y su RELE…», art. cit. The Ministry of the Interior can also remove a local or international NGO from the national register on grounds of protecting public order.[12]Congress of the Republic of Guatemala, Décret 4-2020, art. 16, https://legis.gt/wp-content/uploads/2021/08/Decreto-Numero-4-2020.pdf; Luís Carrillo, «Presidente sanciona reformas a Ley de ONG», … Continue reading The reform also gives a precise definition of an NGO, specifying in Article 4 the organisations to which the reform applies because of their nature and their fields of specialisation and intervention.[13]Congress of the Republic of Guatemala, Decree 4-2020, art. 4, https://legis.gt/wp-content/uploads/2021/08/Decreto-Numero-4-2020.pdf
This decree is seen by several NGOs as a direct attack on the democratic space. Indeed, while registration procedures were complex from the start, this reform has made them even more cumbersome.[14]Adeline Hite y Adriana Beltrán, «Preguntas y respuestas: La nueva ley de ONG de Guatemala», Washington Office of Latin America, 19 March 2020, … Continue reading A year after the decree, of the 1,871 NGOs listed in the NGO register, only 204 were in a position to comply with the new restrictions and update their registration, according to the requirements of the decree.[15]Edgar René Ortiz, «Sobre la Ley de ONG», La Hora, 15 June 2022, https://lahora.gt/opinion/edgar_ortiz/2022/06/15/sobre-la-ley-de-ong Over 15,000 organisations are still to be examined by the Register of Legal Entities (Registro de Personas Jurídicas in Spanish).[16]Ibid. These figures illustrate the lack of clarity, the unwieldiness and the poor dissemination of these new requirements.[17]Ibid. The international community[18]Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, Guatemala: Expertos de la ONU y la OEA dan la voz de alarma por la “asfixiante” ley sobre ONGs, 1 July 2021, … Continue reading and civil society[19]Adeline Hite y Adriana Beltrán, «Preguntas y respuestas…», art. cit. also fear the arbitrary interpretation of the grounds of protecting public order and the abuse of power by the Guatemalan authorities, as this rhetoric has often been used to justify the repression of civil society and most notably of indigenous movements.[20]Commission for Historical Clarification, Guatemala memoria del Silencio…, op. cit., p. 50–51. These new constraints, added to the already tense climate which is detrimental to the day-to-day work of NGOs, impose a further burden and constant pressure on NGO staff.
The diverse impacts of Decree 4-2020
Much more than a simple legislative process, this reform follows the long-running trend of a deteriorating democratic space. However, not all NGOs seem to be targeted by the decree’s arbitrary application. Indeed, it is clear that organisations defending human rights seem to be targeted to a greater extent by the measures set out in the decree than those working in humanitarian aid or development.[21]Although humanitarian aid is not specified in the decree (which is aimed more specifically at development NGOs), the sectors regulated by the law generally correspond to the fields of action of … Continue reading This pressure and violence also appear to affect local organisations in particular, even if they are generally also felt by international NGOs.
Even though these multiple pressures had already been denounced by defenders of human rights before the decree came into force, from now on they form part of an arbitrary use of the grounds of protecting public order for the purpose of criminalising and censuring civil society.[22]Amnesty International, Laws designed to silence, 21 February 2019, https://www.amnesty.org/en/documents/act30/9647/2019/en According to the United Nations, the enactment of the decree would seriously hinder the invaluable efforts of the country’s civil society organisations, not to mention the fact that these measures contravene international human rights regarding freedom of expression and association.[23]Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, Guatemala: Expertos de la ONU…, op. cit.
The arbitrary use of the decree, added to the smear and misinformation campaigns run by critics of human rights, represents therefore efforts to shrink the democratic space as well as to exacerbate the sense of insecurity experienced by human rights activists.[24]Front line Defenders, “Harassment, threats, smear campaign and criminalisation against International Accompaniment Project ACOGUATE in Guatemala”, 2 December 2021, … Continue reading This insecurity can moreover be seen in the increasing use of physical violence against defenders of Guatemalan human rights[25]Amnesty International, Last Chance for Justice…, op. cit. with cases of violence nearly doubled between 2017 and 2021.[26]Unidad de Protección a Defensoras y Defensores de Derechos Humanos de Guatemala, Situación de personas, organizaciones y comunidades defensoras de derechos humanos en Guatemala, 2021, June 2022, … Continue reading The use of alarming language to depict defenders of human rights (“terrorists”, “troublemakers”, “villains”, etc.) contributes to stigmatising them and damaging their credibility.[27]Amnesty International, Americas. “We are defending the land with our blood: defenders of the land, territory and environment in Honduras and Guatemala”, 1 September 2016, … Continue reading NGOs defending human rights struggle to continue their work under this heavy pressure, sometimes even being forced to cease their activities outright. Such a case is illustrated by the voluntary dissolution of the ACOGUATE[28]International accompaniment project in Guatemala organisation in 2023, following a long campaign of criminalisation, smear tactics and intimidation directed against it.[29]Collectif Guatemala, Urgence ACOGUATE, 12 octobre 2021, https://collectifguatemala.org/Urgence-ACOGUATE Far from being an isolated case, this voluntary dissolution is evidence of the dangerous nature of this decree, in particular the use of the grounds of protecting public order, for the defence of human rights.
Conversely, the work of humanitarian aid and development NGOs appears less constrained by the new restrictions. This observation seems especially true in the sectors prioritised by the government, as put forward in the National Development Plan of Guatemala.[30]The priorities laid down in the Plan include among others social protection and the reduction of poverty, access to healthcare, food security, education, management of natural resources, etc.; … Continue reading The selective application of the constraints related to the reform allows the government to encourage the activities of those NGOs working in the State’s priority areas.[31]Adeline Hite y Adriana Beltrán, «Preguntas y respuestas…», art. cit. Likewise, NGOs offering services lightening the load of Guatemalan bodies are clearly accepted more readily by the country’s authorities. The government of Guatemala requested help, for example, from Canada in the healthcare sector in response to the Covid-19 pandemic and Hurricanes Eta and Iota.[32]Government of Canada, Canada-Guatemala relations, https://www.international.gc.ca/country-pays/guatemala/relations.aspx?lang=eng This opening up to specific local and international aid can also be explained by the propensity of successive Guatemalan governments to underinvest in sectors often supported by civil society and international aid (health, agriculture, nutrition, etc.).[33]Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, Guatemala: Expertos de la ONU…, op. cit. While malnutrition is a key focus in the country as far as humanitarian issues are concerned,[34]Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, Humanitarian Needs Overview – Guatemala, December 2022, … Continue reading public investment in the agricultural sector seems inadequate.[35]Reid Hamel, The Challenges of Country-Led Development: Insights from Guatemala, Center for Strategic & International Studies, November 2016, … Continue reading Equally, the three activities receiving the most funding from United States international aid programmes are found in the food sector, so among the top priorities mentioned.[36]Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, Guatemala: Expertos de la ONU…, op. cit. Thus, while the amendment of the law on NGOs allows the government to exert greater control over international funding received by NGOs through administrative processes,[37]Adeline Hite y Adriana Beltrán, «Preguntas y respuestas…», art. cit. the financing of sectors the government focuses on seems generally to be less targeted.
Outlook
Although the adoption of Decree 4-2020 represents a shrinking of the democratic space for civil society in Guatemala, the tangible impact on the work of NGOs varies according to their sector of activity and their origin. In addition to hindering the work of human rights NGOs, this reform reinforces the isolation and marginalisation of activists and establishes a precedent. The situation in Guatemala is however not an isolated one, as several similar draft bills are currently being debated or are already in force in other countries such Venezuela, Nicaragua, El Salvador and, beyond Central America, in Egypt.[38]Ibid. These attacks on the right of association have in fact already been studied in recent years.[39]Philipe Ryfman and Boris Martin (eds), “Associative Freedoms at Risk: the test of strength”, Humanitarian Alternatives, n° 20, July 2022, … Continue reading It will be of paramount importance therefore for the international community to raise questions on this trend and ensure that dialogue is kept open on the protection of human rights and democratic space.
