Reports

Indigenous human rights defenders in Guatemala have been systematically targeted by Guatemala’s
judicial system. According to the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR)
report, published in February 2021, at least 881 arrest warrants had been issued against members of

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indigenous human rights organisations since October 2020 . Within these arrests, the OHCHR found
that Guatemala has been misusing its criminal law against indigenous human rights defenders,

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claiming the rights for their lands and communities . The most recent case involved Bernardo Caal Xol,
an indigenous human rights defender and leader of the Maya Q’eqchi indigenous community, who was

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unlawfully sentenced to imprisonment of seven years and four months .