Amnesty International declares two Guatemalan indigenous leaders 'prisoners of conscience'

Amnesty International has taken a strong stance, designating two prominent indigenous leaders from Guatemala, Luis Pacheco and Héctor Chaclán, as "prisoners of conscience." These leaders, affiliated with the influential 48 Cantones indigenous organization in Totonicapán, have been detained for approximately a year. Their arrests, which occurred in April 2025, followed their leadership in protests aimed at defending the integrity of the 2023 presidential election results. AI's designation underscores their belief that these individuals are being unjustly persecuted for their activism.

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La organización Amnistía Internacional (AI) designó este miércoles como "presos de conciencia" a los líderes indígenas Luis Pacheco y Héctor Chaclán, detenidos desde hace un año tras encabezar protestas en defensa de los resultados de las elecciones presidenciales de 2023, y exigió su "inmediata e incondicional liberación".

The charges leveled against Pacheco and Chaclán—terrorism and illicit association—are viewed by Amnesty International as a clear manifestation of "arbitrary punishment" and "structural racial discrimination." The organization argues that the legal process itself is being weaponized to silence indigenous voices and suppress legitimate dissent. Adding to the concern, their lawyer, Juan Castro, highlighted that the case has languished for ten months without a "natural judge" due to repeated recusals, preventing the crucial intermediate stage hearing from taking place. This procedural delay further fuels accusations of a politically motivated prosecution designed to keep the leaders incarcerated.

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Pacheco y Chaclán fueron arrestados en abril de 2025 en un caso que, según denunció su abogado Juan Castro, suma ya diez meses sin un "juez natural" debido a las constantes recusaciones que han impedido celebrar la audiencia de etapa intermedia.

Adeline Neau, a researcher with Amnesty International, emphasized during a press conference that the case against Pacheco, who paradoxically maintains his position as vice minister of Energy and Mines despite his detention, and Chaclán represents a "grave setback" for human rights in Guatemala. Neau pointed out that other indigenous authorities face similar charges, suggesting a pattern of criminalization targeting indigenous leadership. The use of terrorism charges against ancestral authorities is particularly concerning, as Neau explained, it serves as a deterrent to social mobilization and is a continuation of the racial discrimination that indigenous communities have historically faced. This situation is seen as an attempt by the justice system to punish indigenous forms of organization and self-governance.

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El proceso contra Pacheco — quien es viceministro de Energía y Minas, puesto que mantiene pese a la detención — y su compañero Chaclán representa un "grave retroceso" en derechos humanos.

Lidia Tzunún, Pacheco's wife, poignantly described the situation as a "social death" for their families and the Maya K'iche' community, stressing that the leaders acted under the mandate of their assemblies to defend the will of millions of Guatemalans. Amnesty International is now urging the newly appointed Attorney General, Gabriel Estuardo García Luna, to review the objectivity of these prosecutions, which they contend are part of a broader pattern of criminalization affecting journalists and justice operators in Guatemala. The organization believes that these actions are not isolated incidents but rather a systematic effort to undermine democratic processes and suppress indigenous rights.

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No es casualidad que se usen delitos como terrorismo contra autoridades ancestrales; es una prolongación de la discriminación racial que busca enviar un mensaje disuasorio a la movilización social