The Observatory for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders (OMCT-FIDH) and other human rights organisations and associations in solidarity with Ramón Cadena, lawyer and human rights defender, call for an end to the criminalisation of human rights defence in Guatemala. #SolidarityWithRamónCadena.
The undersigned human rights organisations address the Guatemalan authorities and national and international public opinion to express our deep concern and active solidarity ahead of the judicial hearing scheduled for 23 October 2025 against the lawyer and human rights defender Ramón Cadena Rámila, in the case labelled by the Public Prosecutor’s Office as “Botín Político USAC”. Mr Cadena has been criminalised for his legal advisory work with students defending the right to academic freedom, a process that, nearly two years after it began, still lacks a final resolution.
Mr Cadena and others linked to this case are due to appear on 23 October 2025 at 1:30 p.m. before the Tenth Court of First Criminal Instance of Guatemala, presided over by Judge Víctor Cruz. This is a preliminary hearing that could pave the way for criminal prosecution, in a context of judicial persecution and criminalisation clearly motivated by his work in human rights defence and legal support to university students.
Ramón Cadena, aged 70, is a prominent Guatemalan human rights lawyer, internationally recognised for his work in the defence of human rights, especially in cases related to the rights of Indigenous peoples and communities, land rights, and environmental justice. He served as Director of the International Commission of Jurists (ICJ) for Central America for more than 14 years, supporting several human rights organisations and legal defence groups in Guatemala. In 2016, his home was raided as retaliation for his work as a lawyer and human rights defender. Subsequently, the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) granted him precautionary measures (IACHR 661-16), which remain in force to this day.
On 16 November 2023, the Guatemalan Public Prosecutor’s Office issued 31 search warrants and 27 arrest warrants against students, academic staff, human rights defenders, and lawyers, for the alleged crimes of “aggravated usurpation on a continuous basis”, “depredation of cultural property on a continuous basis”, “sedition on a continuous basis”, and “illicit association”.
The criminal prosecution against Mr Cadena, alongside that of 27 other defenders, students, and professionals from academic and social sectors, constitutes a serious violation of the right to defend human rights, academic freedom, and the right to peaceful protest. It should be noted that this is not an isolated case but part of a systematic pattern of judicial persecution, reprisals, and criminalisation of human rights defence in Guatemala, which has led many defenders to situations of arbitrary detention or forced exile.
These patterns of persecution and instrumentalisation of the justice system have been documented and condemned by international bodies, such as the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights in 2023, the European Union Special Representative for Human Rights following his visit to Guatemala in February 2025, and the United Nations Special Rapporteur on the Independence of Judges and Lawyers following her visit to Guatemala in May 2025.
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Guatemala: Dozens of human rights organisations express solidarity with Ramón Cadena
