•  guatemala city
• Monday, May 07, 2012
• Inter Press Service

Rightwing President Otto Pérez Molina is keeping his promise to take a hard line on soaring crime in Guatemala, but his government is neglecting prevention measures. Analysts warn the strategy, along with upcoming legal reforms, may jeopardise human rights.

One of the first steps taken by retired general Pérez Molina when he took office on Jan. 14 was to send army troops out on street patrols together with the National Civilian Police (PNC). He also created special task forces to investigate the causes of and propose solutions for robbery, extortion , homicide, kidnapping and femicide (gender-based killings of women).

A sixth military unit to guard the border, beginning with the northwestern department (province) of San Marcos, on the border with Mexico, is expected to become operational in July. Its mission, according to the authorities, will be to combat contraband, and trafficking in persons, drugs and arms.

In April, a new department on drug trafficking was established in the Interior Ministry, while the police are receiving training in rapid response and use of weapons. So in his first 100 days in office, Pérez Molina has set in motion his main electoral promise: to combat crime with 'mano dura' (iron fist). But analysts and activists emphasise the need for preventive measures to bring down the skyrocketing crime rates.

'The country lacks a democratic policy on crime that takes into account basic, elementary matters and regards punitive intervention as the last resort,' said Marco Canteo of the Guatemalan Institute for Comparative Studies in Penal Sciences (ICCPG).

Canteo told IPS that criminal policy in a democratic country should be based on crime prevention and on safeguarding economic, social and cultural rights. But the new government's strategy is based on aggressive law enforcement ordered by the executive branch, backed by legislative measures, he said.

For instance, lawmaker Fernando García of the governing Patriotic Party (PP) introduced a bill proposing chemical castration of those convicted of sexual offences. Pérez Molina is also considering changing Article 8 of the Civil Code to lower the age of criminal responsibility from 18 to 12, and he is pursuing an anti-gang bill introduced by his party but bogged down in Congress.

'These initiatives are essentially repressive in nature, and do not meet minimum standards in terms of human rights , democracy and the rule of law,' Canteo said.

© Inter Press Service (2012) — All Rights Reserved. Original source: Inter Press Service

Where next?

Advertisement