City Bar Statement Expressing Concerns Over Reprisals and Attacks Against Latin American Judges

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In a new statement, the New York City Bar Association expressed deep concern about a troubling pattern of increasing attacks on judicial independence in Latin America.

These have included incidents of disciplinary reprisals, criminal proceedings against judges for the content of their rulings, public smear campaigns based on false accusations, and in the most extreme cases, deadly physical violence.

The City Bar urges authorities in the region, particularly in Mexico, Peru, Bolivia, and Ecuador, to reaffirm their commitment to the rule of law by ensuring the protection and autonomy of their judges.

Attacks on Judges

Recent events in Peru, Ecuador, Bolivia, and Mexico have threatened the fundamental principle of judicial independence in these countries.

In Peru, Judge Oswaldo Ordóñez Alcántara was removed from his post in apparent retaliation for having exercised his right to free expression and providing his perspective on judicial independence in Peru in a public forum. In November 2024, Judge Ordóñez provided brief testimony during a public hearing before the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights regarding the “Situation of Judicial Independence in the Americas.”

Almost a year later, the Peruvian National Board of Justice initiated a preliminary investigation regarding his involvement in the IACHR hearing, reportedly triggered by a complaint filed by a member of Congress in September 2025. The investigation, along with other false allegations of ties to criminal groups that circulated in Peruvian media outlets, ultimately impacted the final stage of Judge Ordóñez’s evaluation and ratification process and the National Council of Justice’s decision not to ratify him.

In Mexico, a new oversight body created through the 2024 national judicial reform that is responsible for investigating and sanctioning administrative misconduct by judges has acted unusually quickly to suspend and sanction multiple judges. The speed of these decisions, in the context of accusations of politically-motivated decisions by officials, have raised concerns about the risk of politicization of judicial discipline and its implications for the independence of Mexico’s judges.

And in the most deadly cases, judges in Bolivia and Ecuador were killed in targeted assassinations.

On April 30, Judge Víctor Hugo Claure Hinojoza, a senior magistrate of Bolivia’s Agro-Environmental Court, was shot and killed in the city of Santa Cruz de la Sierra. In his role, Judge Claure presided over a tribunal that exists to resolve high-stakes disputes involving land ownership, agrarian reform, and natural resource protection: issues that are at the core of distinctive Bolivian economic and social matters and often involve powerful interests and industries. The nature of the matters before this court means that its rulings are often highly sensitive, making judicial officers especially vulnerable to potential reprisals and placing its magistrates on the frontlines of intense conflicts in Bolivia.

The killing of Judge Claure had an immediate effect. Bolivian police officers moved swiftly to intervene at public events attended by members of the Supreme Court, evacuating the judges due to fears of subsequent attacks. Other members of the judiciary have called for enhanced security measures, especially for judges issuing rulings related to very sensitive crimes.

On May 11, two attackers on a motorcycle fired repeatedly through the windshield of Judge Lady Gissela Pachar Huanga’s vehicle while she was driving in the southwestern city of Machala, killing her immediately. Judge Pachar, a judge of the Criminal Judicial Unit of Santa Rosa, was already relying on police protection due to previous threats on her life. In a statement, Ecuador’s Council of the Judiciary characterized the killing as a “grave attack” against the country’s justice system.

Other judges in Bolivia and Ecuador have faced death threats and assassination attempts. In October 2025, Judge Marcos Mendoza Pinargote of the Criminal Judicial Unit of Manta, Ecuador, who was overseeing investigations into a local criminal group, was killed in a targeted attack.

“These assassinations, carried out against members of the judiciary in response to the exercise of their duties, constitute serious assaults on judicial independence, the rule of law, and democracy,” the statement says. It calls on the States of Bolivia and Ecuador to swiftly investigate each case and take effective measures to prevent repeated offenses against jurists.

Protecting Judicial Independence

Although these attacks are different in scope and severity, and occurred in a range of countries, the statement notes the City Bar’s concern that the broader pattern of violence and threats against judges may become normalized, fostering a climate of intimidation that undermines the rule of law in Latin America.

“These manifestations, while differing in nature and severity, form part of an increasingly widespread and recurring phenomenon in the region,” the statement says. The sequence includes authorities resorting to public reprisals against court rulings, bypassing ordinary mechanisms for judicial review, and sending an institutional message that delegitimizes those who impart justice. This delegitimization is then amplified by negative public rhetoric that presents judges as obstacles, adversaries, or accomplices without substantiating these accusations with evidence or through due process

“The result is an environment in which judges are exposed not only to adverse professional consequences, but also to concrete risks to their personal safety, as hostile public discourse normalizes the notion that judicial decisions may be responded to by means outside the scope of law,” the statement concludes.

The City Bar urges authorities in the region, particularly in Mexico, Peru, Bolivia, and Ecuador, to reaffirm their commitment to the rule of law by ensuring the protection and autonomy of their judges. In each individual country, it calls for:

Peru

• The immediate cessation all acts of retaliation against Judge Ordóñez, ensuring he has the opportunity to challenge the decision through an effective remedy , and ensuring that he is not punished for his legitimate participation before international human rights bodies; and
• More broadly, the immediate cessation of any actions designed to punish a judge for participating in legitimate inquiries by respected international organizations.

Mexico

• Authorities in the judicial disciplinary body and the Attorney General’s Office to ensure that disciplinary and criminal proceedings against judges strictly adhere to international standards on judicial independence.

Bolivia and Ecuador

• Thorough investigations into the assassinations of Judges Claure and Huanga, and into other violent crimes against justice operators.
• Reevaluation of current protection mechanisms and security policies to prevent any further deadly incidents.

It also calls on Latin American governments to uphold and fully protect the autonomy of their judiciaries, in accordance with their respective constitutional mandates and external legal standards set by bodies like IACHR and the UN, and for the international community, including human rights mechanisms, to continue monitor the state of judicial independence across the region.

The City Bar’s Task Force on the Independence of Lawyers and Judges also signed on to the statement.

Read the full statement here.