{"id":96698,"date":"2025-07-16T17:10:01","date_gmt":"2025-07-16T21:10:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/cejil.org\/?post_type=comunicado-de-prensa&p=96698"},"modified":"2025-07-16T17:10:01","modified_gmt":"2025-07-16T21:10:01","slug":"guatemala-39-human-rights-organisations-express-solidarity-with-ramon-cadena","status":"publish","type":"comunicado-de-prensa","link":"https:\/\/cejil.org\/en\/press-releases\/guatemala-39-human-rights-organisations-express-solidarity-with-ramon-cadena\/","title":{"rendered":"Guatemala: 39 human rights organisations express solidarity with Ram\u00f3n Cadena"},"content":{"rendered":"

Tuesday, 8 July 2025.\u00a0 <\/strong>The undersigned human rights organisations address the Guatemalan authorities and national and international public opinion to express our deep concern and active solidarity ahead of the court hearing scheduled for 9 July 2025 against lawyer and human rights defender Ram\u00f3n Cadena R\u00e1mila, in the case described by the Public Prosecutor\u2019s Office as \u201cBot\u00edn Pol\u00edtico USAC\u201d.<\/p>\n

Mr Cadena and others linked to this case are due to appear before the Tenth Court of First Instance for Criminal Matters in Guatemala, presided over by Judge V\u00edctor Cruz. It is a first statement hearing, which could pave the way for criminal prosecution in a context of criminalisation and judicial harassment clearly motivated by his human rights defence work and legal support to university students. Ram\u00f3n Cadena is a prominent Guatemalan human rights lawyer, internationally recognised for his work in defending human rights, particularly in cases involving the rights of Indigenous peoples and communities, land rights, and environmental justice. He served as Director of the International Commission of Jurists (ICJ) for Central America for more than 14 years, supporting several human rights organisations and legal defence groups in Guatemala. In 2016, Mr Cadena\u2019s home was raided in connection with his work as a lawyer. The Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) subsequently granted him precautionary measures (IACHR 661-16), which remain in effect to this day.<\/p>\n

On 16 November 2023, the Public Prosecutor\u2019s Office issued 31 search warrants and 27 arrest warrants targeting students, academic staff, human rights defenders, and lawyers, under charges of \u201caggravated usurpation on a continuous basis\u201d, \u201cdestruction of cultural property on a continuous basis\u201d, \u201csedition on a continuous basis\u201d and \u201cunlawful association\u201d, in the context of the peaceful occupation of the University of San Carlos of Guatemala (USAC). Within this context, an arrest warrant was issued against Mr Cadena under case number C-01070-2023-00023 MPE01-2023-39575-MP001-2022-5005, due to his legal advisory role to students during this collective act of resistance.<\/p>\n

The criminal proceedings against him, alongside those targeting 27 other defenders, students and professionals from academic and social spheres, constitute a serious violation of the right to defend human rights, academic freedom and the right to peaceful protest. His criminalisation is a clear attempt to punish legal solidarity and human rights defence. However, this case is not isolated. It forms part of a broader pattern of systematic judicial retaliation and criminalisation of human rights defence in the country, as identified by international human rights bodies – a pattern that has already led many defenders into situations
\nof arbitrary detention or forced exile.<\/p>\n

Ahead of this critical hearing, we call on the Guatemalan authorities to:<\/p>\n

\u25cf Guarantee that the hearing on 9 July takes place effectively, publicly, and with full due process guarantees, in line with the principles of judicial independence and fair trial.
\n\u25cf Immediately end the criminalisation and judicial persecution of Mr Ram\u00f3n Cadena and all human rights defenders and advocates of university autonomy linked to the USAC case.
\n\u25cf Definitively close this politically motivated criminal case aimed at intimidating those exercising their right to defend rights.
\n\u25cf Revoke all arrest warrants issued against individuals in exile due to their roles in legitimate social and academic processes.
\n\u25cf Implement effective policies for the protection and comprehensive reparation of criminalised defenders, including guarantees of non-repetition and safe return pathways for those currently outside the country.<\/p>\n

The world is watching closely what happens on 9 July. International solidarity with Ram\u00f3n Cadena and all human rights defenders in Guatemala.<\/p>\n

SIGMING ORGANIZATIONS<\/p>\n

1. African Center for Democracy and Human Rights Studies (ACDHRS) – Gambia
\n2. ActionAid Guatemala – Guatemala
\n3. Alternative ASEAN Network on Burma (ALTSEAN-Burma) – Myanmar
\n4. Asociaci\u00f3n Coordinadora de Comunidades Afectadas por la Construcci\u00f3n de la
\nHidroel\u00e9ctrica Chixoy (COCAHICH) – Guatemala
\n5. Asociaci\u00f3n Unidad de Defensa Jur\u00eddica, Registro y Memoria por Nicaragua
\n(AUDJUDRNIC) – Nicaragua
\n6. Associaci\u00f3 Grup Suport Con Vos – Spain
\n7. Coordinadora Andina de Organizaciones Ind\u00edgenas (CAOI Derechos Humanos) –
\nColombia
\n8. Centre for Human Rights and Development (CHRD) – Mongolia
\n9. Centro por la Justicia y el Derecho Internacional (CEJIL) – Regional
\n10. Center for Human Rights and Environment (CHRE) – USA
\n11. CIVICUS Global Alliance – South Africa
\n12. Collectif des Femmes du Mali (COFEM) – Mali
\n13. Comit\u00e8 Solidaritat Oscar Romero – Spain14. Centre de Recherche sur l’Environnement, la D\u00e9mocratie et les Droits de l’Homme
\n(CREDDHO) – Democratic Republic of Congo
\n15. Egyptian Initiative for Personal Rights (EIPR) – Egypt
\n16. Ethiopian Human Rights Defenders Center (EHRDC) – Ethiopia
\n17. ESCR-Net International Network for Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ESCR-Net) –
\nInternational
\n18. FIAN Germany – Germany
\n19. Frente de Resistencia por la Defensa de los Recursos Naturales y los Derechos de los
\nPueblos (FRENA) – Guatemala
\n20. Global Human Rights Group – Switzerland
\n21. Grupo Belga Solidair met Guatemala – Belgium
\n22. Guatemala-Netz Z\u00fcrich (Red de Solidaridad con Guatemala, Zurich) – Switzerland
\n23. HUACAL, ONG de solidaritat amb El Salvador – Spain
\n24. Intersection Association for Rights and Freedoms – Tunisia
\n25. International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH), within the framework of the
\nObservatory for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders – International
\n26. International Platform against Impunity – Switzerland
\n27. Karapatan Alliance Philippines – Philippines
\n28. km207 Guatemala Suiza – Switzerland
\n29. Movimiento Cimarr\u00f3n Nacional Colombiano – Colombia
\n30. Movimiento Unificado Francisco S\u00e1nchez 1932 (MUFRAS-32) – El Salvador
\n31. Natural Resource Women Platform – Liberia
\n32. Red de Solidaridad con Guatemala de Berna – Switzerland
\n33. Red Europea de Comit\u00e9s Oscar Romero (SICSAL-Europa) – Belgium
\n34. SNAPAP\/CGATA Justice Sector Workers – Argelia
\n35. Taula Catalana pels Drets Humans i la Pau a l\u2019Am\u00e8rica Central – Spain
\n36. Tunisian League for Human Rights Defence (LTDH) – Tunisia
\n37. Unidad de Protecci\u00f3n a Defensoras y Defensores de Derechos Humanos Guatemala
\n(UDEFEGUA) – Guatemala
\n38. Viasna – Belarus
\n39. World Organisation against Torture (OMCT), within the framework of the Observatory for
\nthe Protection of Human Rights Defenders – International<\/p>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":96696,"template":"","categories":[351,340,362,349],"class_list":["post-96698","comunicado-de-prensa","type-comunicado-de-prensa","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-2025-2","category-democracy","category-guatemala-2","category-independence-of-the-judiciary"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/cejil.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comunicado-de-prensa\/96698","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/cejil.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comunicado-de-prensa"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/cejil.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/comunicado-de-prensa"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cejil.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/96696"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/cejil.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=96698"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cejil.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=96698"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}