The Special Representative of the UN Secretary-General on the situation of human rights defenders, Ms. Hina Jilani, issued the following statement on her preliminary findings of her official visit to Guatemala. In her report Ms.Jilani highlighted the deteriorating situation for human rights defenders.

Further Information

Posted 21/02/2008 "All sectors of the human rights community are affected by attacks and violations against them. Defenders working on economic, social and cultural rights are among the most affected groups. Organizations working on justice and the right to truth are particularly targeted. This also includes some defenders of the Public Penal Defense working on sensitive cases. Other sectors of the defenders’ community suffer attacks specific to their area of work. These are, among others, trade unions, journalists, women defenders, peasants’ organizations, indigenous organizations, youth defenders, as well as international NGOs".

For the full text of the Special Representative's report on Guatemala please see the attached PDF.