Vance Center Participates in Meetings with Guatemala’s President and Officials to Present Report on Use of Criminal Law Against Indigenous Communities

Vance Center Institutional Integrity Program Advisor Cuitláhuac Castillo (fourth from right) and civil society representatives after meeting with Guatemalan President Bernardo Arévalo to present the findings of the report on criminalization of Indigenous communities in Guatemala City, March 9, 2026. Photo credit: Juan Castro

On March 9 and 10, the Vance Center’s Institutional Integrity Program attorneys joined the Due Process of Law Foundation (DPLF), the Institute for Comparative Studies in Criminal and Social Sciences (INECIP), and the Indigenous Peoples Law Firm, a Guatemalan firm, for a series of events to launch a new report, “Evictions and Criminalization of Indigenous Peoples in Guatemala: The Role of the Public Prosecutor’s Office.”

The organizations presented the report and its findings to Guatemala’s President Bernardo Arévalo and other high-level government officials. They also offered recommendations for concrete steps for authorities to address the issues raised in the report. The series of meetings concluded with a public launch event for the report.

The report analyzes the use of criminal law in territorial conflicts affecting Indigenous communities in Guatemala. It aims to encourage an informed debate about the role of the Public Prosecutor’s Office in these cases and offer guidance about institutional reforms that can ensure fair criminal proceedings consistent with international human rights standards.

The Vance Center contributed legal research and conducted a substantive review of the report.

Meeting with Guatemalan President Bernardo Arévalo

On March 9, representatives of the organizations, including Vance Center Institutional Integrity Program Advisor Cuitláhuac Castillo, met with Guatemalan President Bernardo Arévalo and staff from the Secretary of the Presidency to discuss the concerns documented in the research. They presented the officials with an executive summary containing the report’s principal findings and recommendations.

The organizational representatives outlined the patterns identified in the report and key challenges the State faces in addressing evictions, criminal proceedings, and territorial conflicts affecting Indigenous communities.

Some of the main issues included:

• Law enforcement and prosecutors’ repeated use of the crimes of usurpation and aggravated usurpation to justify evictions of indigenous groups from their ancestral lands, along with the structural problems created by these broadly defined criminal offenses.;
• Cases of evictions carried out without adequate notice, involving the use of force, and without sufficient verification of the property titles underlying the complaints;
• Legal and institutional barriers that hinder progress toward the State’s collective recognition of Indigenous territories;

The presentation also noted how these practices undermine legal certainty, access to land, and the protection of collective rights of Indigenous communities.

President Arévalo and his team received the report and listened to the concerns raised. The exchange offered an opportunity to discuss possible institutional responses to prevent unjust criminalization and advance structural solutions to territorial conflicts.

The report presents specific recommendations for the Executive Branch, including:

1. Promote a comprehensive public policy to address agrarian conflicts that prioritizes administrative, civil, and dialogue-based mechanisms over criminal proceedings. The policy should also align with the State’s obligation to demarcate, title, and regularize the traditional territories of Indigenous peoples and communities.
2. Strengthen and adequately resource agrarian institutions, including entities responsible for mediation, land registry, and land tenure regularization, ensuring an intercultural approach and respect for the collective property rights of Indigenous peoples and communities.
3. Develop specific mechanisms for the prevention, response, and reparation of internal forced displacement, guaranteeing dignified resettlement alternatives, access to basic services, and effective protection of the economic, social, cultural, and environmental rights of displaced communities.

Dialogue with the Presidential Commission for Peace and Human Rights (COPADEH)

Earlier that morning, the organizations also met with the Presidential Commission for Peace and Human Rights (COPADEH) to share the report’s findings and discuss the role of state institutions in addressing complaints related to evictions and territorial conflicts.

COPADEH is an advisory mechanism that reports to the Executive branch on human rights issues. It works with different government agencies to make sure human rights are respected, monitor the commitments made in Guatemala’s Peace Accords, and to address conflicts that affect communities.

During the meeting, the organizational representatives presented evidence of patterns of criminal prosecution against Indigenous communities and highlighted how those practices contribute to community displacement and the escalation of agrarian conflicts.

The COPADEH authorities acknowledged the need to strengthen institutional coordination and explore measures to address territorial conflicts from a human rights perspective, avoiding relying on criminal law as the primary mechanism for resolving land disputes.

The officials also stated that COPADEH is aware that some evictions did not adhere to the national or international human rights standards. They indicated that the Commission had warned about these cases in its reports to prosecutors on the feasibility of some of the evictions.

Public Report Launch

On March 10, the organizations held a public launch event in Guatemala City to present the report to a national and international audience, including members of the media.

The panel featured speakers from the authoring and contributing organizations DPLF, INECIP, and the Vance Center. They were joined by Juan Castro, a Guatemalan attorney representing the communities involved in some of the cases, and Claudia Martin, Co-Director of the Academy on Human Rights and Humanitarian Law at American University’s Washington College of Law.

The presenters highlighted the report’s key findings, examining how prosecutors have used criminal offenses such as “usurpation” to bring charges against Indigenous individuals and groups in contexts where they have asserted historical land claims.

The Vance Center’s Cuitláhuac Castillo pointed to concerning patterns in the conduct of the Public Prosecutor’s Office. The report found that prosecutors have repeatedly pursued criminal proceedings and judicial evictions without adequate due process guarantees or respect for international standards on Indigenous territorial rights.

These practices are facilitated by additional factors in the criminal justice system and judiciary, including overly broad drafting of relevant criminal offenses, judicial oversight that does not incorporate an intercultural perspective, and failures to apply international standards of due diligence, the report concluded.

Vance Center Institutional Integrity Program Advisor Cuitláhuac Castillo speaks on a panel at the public launch event for the report in Guatemala City, March 10, 2026. Photo credit: Vance Center

Moderator Daniel Cerqueira, director of DPLF’s Climate Justice and Human Rights program, noted that the tactics documented in the report showcase one aspect of a broader strategy by the Public Prosecutor’s office that uses specific criminal charges – in this case the crime of “usurpation” – to target different groups like anti-corruption actors, journalists, human rights defenders, and Indigenous communities.

Attorney Juan Castro, who is representing some of these cases at the national level, noted that criminal investigations often fail to substantiate or even consider the historical relationship between Indigenous communities and land. According to Castro, many of these criminal cases are built on “half-truths,” such as accusations of usurpation against families who have lived in a community for decades and have already established schools, churches, and other community structures. The charges in these cases frequently rely on the alleged “entry” onto the land on a specific date – a claim that weakens in the face of evidence that these communities have been present in these territories for many years.

Victoria Llorente, Deputy Director of INECIP, emphasized that the process of selecting the next Attorney General represents an opportunity to review criminal policy and strengthen institutional legitimacy through a more strategic prosecution approach focused on protecting victims. In concluding remarks, Martin reiterated the urgency of the appointment process, observing how the criminal justice system has been weaponized to pressure and intimidate Indigenous communities, violating their rights under Guatemalan and international law.

Watch the conversation here

About the Report and Recommendations

In addition to its points for the Executive branch, the report also includes recommendations for the judiciary and the Public Prosecutor’s Office. They include:

Recommendations to the Judiciary

1. Exercise effective judicial oversight over the actions of the Public Prosecutor’s Office, particularly in authorizing arrest warrants, evictions, and precautionary measures, ensuring compliance with constitutional requirements and compatibility with international human rights standards.
2. Properly assess evidentiary elements related to Indigenous communal property, including historical expert reports, communal titles, and evidence of ancestral possession, especially when communities present evidence of communal ownership or when territorial disputes remain unresolved through constitutional, civil, or administrative proceedings.
3. Establish judicial protocols for handling these cases with an intercultural approach and in accordance with constitutional and international human rights standards.
4. Ensure the timely processing of hearings and procedural stages, conducting rigorous review of charges and evidence presented by prosecutors, and avoiding the undue prolongation of criminal proceedings when sufficient evidence to sustain the accusation is lacking.

Recommendations to the Public Prosecutor’s Office:

1. Conduct a comprehensive review of its institutional policy on criminal investigation and prosecution to ensure that criminal law is not used as the primary mechanism for resolving disputes over land ownership, possession, or tenure, particularly where Indigenous peoples assert historical or ancestral rights;
2. Strengthen standards of due diligence and objectivity in investigating the frequently-misused crimes of usurpation and aggravated usurpation;
3. Adopt more flexible evidentiary criteria to recognize ancestral possession of property;
4. Refrain from relying on arrest warrants and forced evictions as automatic or means of intimidation
5. Incorporate an intercultural approach into prosecutorial action, ensuring that prosecutorial decisions align with international standards on Indigenous peoples’ rights, particularly ILO Convention 169 and Inter-American jurisprudence.

For the full list of recommendations, see the report, which is available in English and Spanish.