JOINT MOTION FOR A RESOLUTION on Guatemala: the situation after the elections, the rule of law and judicial independence
13.9.2023 - (2023/2831(RSP))
replacing the following motions:
B9‑0368/2023 (The Left)
B9‑0368/2023 (Verts/ALE)
B9‑0372/2023 (Renew)
B9‑0375/2023 (ECR)
B9‑0377/2023 (PPE)
B9‑0379/2023 (S&D)
Željana Zovko, Leopoldo López Gil, David Lega, Isabel Wiseler‑Lima, Janina Ochojska, Andrey Kovatchev, Vangelis Meimarakis, Ivan Štefanec, Vladimír Bilčík, Michaela Šojdrová, Tomáš Zdechovský, Eugen Tomac, Jiří Pospíšil, Peter Pollák, Inese Vaidere
on behalf of the PPE Group
Pedro Marques, Alicia Homs Ginel, Javi López, Maria‑Manuel Leitão‑Marques
on behalf of the S&D Group
María Soraya Rodríguez Ramos, Petras Auštrevičius, José Ramón Bauzá Díaz, Nicola Beer, Izaskun Bilbao Barandica, Dita Charanzová, Olivier Chastel, Katalin Cseh, Bernard Guetta, Svenja Hahn, Ilhan Kyuchyuk, Karen Melchior, Javier Nart, Urmas Paet, Dragoş Pîslaru, Frédérique Ries, Ramona Strugariu, Dragoş Tudorache, Hilde Vautmans
on behalf of the Renew Group
Tilly Metz, Hannah Neumann
on behalf of the Verts/ALE Group
Anna Fotyga, Karol Karski, Angel Dzhambazki, Ryszard Czarnecki, Hermann Tertsch, Joachim Stanisław Brudziński, Bogdan Rzońca, Elżbieta Rafalska, Assita Kanko, Witold Jan Waszczykowski, Eugen Jurzyca, Anna Zalewska, Waldemar Tomaszewski, Adam Bielan, Elżbieta Kruk, Carlo Fidanza
on behalf of the ECR Group
Miguel Urbán Crespo
on behalf of The Left Group
Fabio Massimo Castaldo
Motion for a European Parliament resolution on Guatemala: the situation after the elections, the rule of law and judicial independence
The European Parliament,
– having regard to Rules 144(5) and 132(4) of its Rules of Procedure,
A. whereas on 28 August 2023 Guatemala’s Supreme Electoral Tribunal (TSE) announced the official results of peaceful, well-organised elections and declared the clear victory of the Movimiento Semilla’s Bernardo Arévalo and Karin Herrera as elected President and Vice-President of Guatemala;
B. whereas President Giammattei recognised the results and publicly called for an orderly transition and power transfer on 14 January 2024;
C. whereas since 12 July 2023, the Movimiento Semilla has been subjected to selective and arbitrary legal and procedural actions by the Public Prosecutor, who, according to the EU Election Observation Mission (EOM), ‘threatened the right and opportunity to participate in genuine elections and respect the will of the voters’; whereas on 28 August, the Movimiento Semilla was again provisionally suspended by the TSE’s Citizen’s Registry, suspension temporarily revoked by the TSE on 3 September until 31 October;
D. whereas some members of the judicial branch and the office of the General Prosecutor (Ministerio Público) have interfered in the electoral process; whereas several Ministerio Público prosecutors are on the US Engel List, including General Prosecutor María Consuelo Porras, José Rafael Curruchiche, chief of the Public Ministry’s Office of the Special Prosecutor Against Impunity (FECI), and Judge Fredy Orellana;
1. Congratulates Bernardo Arévalo and Karin Herrera on their election; calls on all state institutions and sectors of society to support an orderly transition and power transfer as called for by President Giammattei;
2. Regrets the continuous attempts to suspend the Movimiento Semilla; condemns and calls for an end to any action, especially by the Ministerio Público, to overturn the election results, the continued steps to criminalise independent judicial operators, and the instrumentalisation of judicial and prosecutorial institutions to undermine the rule of law;
3. Calls on all Guatemalan political parties, government branches and institutions to respect the electoral process’s integrity and outcome, as clearly expressed by Guatemalan citizens with their votes, and guarantee their civil and political rights, including the protection of elected officials, in compliance with international and regional standards and domestic laws;
4. Expresses its concerns about the arbitrary detention of prosecutors, judges, independent journalists, human rights defenders and former officials from the International Commission against Impunity in Guatemala; urges the immediate and unconditional release of Virginia Laparra, her lawyer Claudia González and all those arbitrarily detained;
5. Recalls that respect for the judiciary’s independence, political pluralism and freedom of expression are fundamental rights and essential pillars of democracy and the rule of law;
6. Calls on the EU EOM, the EEAS, the Member States and the EU Delegation to continue monitoring the situation in Guatemala until there are clear and serious guarantees that the people’s will expressed through the elections is respected; encourages the authorities to implement the forthcoming EOM recommendations;
7. Instructs its President to forward this resolution to the Council, the Commission, the VP/HR, the Organization of American States, the UN, the Guatemalan authorities and the Central American Parliament (PARLACEN).