The ICJ strongly condemns the attack against the Deputy Prosecutor for Human Rights, Sonia Elizabeth Montes Valenzuela, carried out on 15 February by unknown gunmen in the central Zone 1 of Guatemala City.
Sonia Montes was on her way to work at the Public Prosecutors Office when two gunmen on motorbikes drove past and fired six bullets into the car.
Fortunately both Sonia Montes and her driver, Néstor Valdes Antonio, were unharmed.
“This is a vile attack against the justice system in Guatemala and the whole human rights movement in the country. These types of attacks seek to destabilize democracy and the rule of law,” Ramón Cadena, the ICJ Director stated.
“We call on President Jimmy Morales to carry out a full and impartial investigation in order to identify the material and moral authors of these acts,” he added.
The ICJ also expresses its solidarity with the families of the victims of the attack and with the Attorney General, Thelma Aldana, and the Commissioner of the International Commission against Impunity (CICIG), Iván Velásquez.
The Public Prosecutors’ Office and the CICIG are working tirelessly to investigate crimes and to end impunity and corruption in Guatemala.