On June 2, 2026, the International Mission of Jurists for Guatemala will present its report “Climate of Fear: The Legal Profession and Judicial Independence at Risk” in Madrid, based on a fact-finding mission carried out in October 2025. The mission—a joint initiative of the International Observatory for Lawyers at Risk (OIAD), Lawyers for Lawyers, AJUFIDH, Judges for Democracy, and the Spanish Association for Human Rights (APDHE)—conducted an independent verification exercise to document the state of Guatemala’s justice system, with particular emphasis on the risks facing lawyers and judicial independence, and the resulting report (available in Spanish and English) sets out its findings and recommendations to Guatemalan authorities and the international community. Held in a hybrid format at the headquarters of the Spanish General Council of Lawyers, the event will feature presentations of the findings by three delegation members, alongside testimonies from two Guatemalan human rights figures living in exile in Spain—sociologist Carmen Rosa de León and former Human Rights Ombudsman Jordán Rodas—and will conclude with a documentary by the collective “Voces Guatemaltecas en el Exilio” exploring the experiences of Guatemalan legal practitioners forced to flee their country. The mission has also issued a separate statement, prompted by the recent appointment of Gabriel García Luna as Guatemala’s new Attorney General, urging the incoming leadership of the Public Prosecutor’s Office to take concrete steps to restore its independence, objectivity, and commitment to the rule of law.

Read it here.