The Special Mission of the Organization of American States (OAS) for Strengthening Democratic Institutions in Guatemala expresses its strongest condemnation and profound institutional alarm at the execution of actions by the Public Prosecutor's Office at locations where the electoral day of the Guatemalan Bar Association (Colegio de Abogados y Notarios de Guatemala, CANG) is taking place, within the framework of the election of the principal and alternate magistrates to the Constitutional Court.
The carrying out of coercive measures -including raids, inspections, or the securing of documents- at polling centers while the electoral process is underway constitutes an extremely high constitutional risk, as it materially interferes with the free exercise of suffrage; generates an intimidating effect on voters and the association's electoral authorities; jeopardizes the chain of custody of electoral material; and affects the continuity, validity, and legitimacy of the vote count and of the results.
The Mission recalls that second-tier electoral processes that affect the composition of the Constitutional Court form part of the structural core of the democratic order and the system of checks and balances. In that context, any state action that impacts their development must be subject to heightened scrutiny for constitutionality and conventionality.
While the State has an obligation to investigate possible unlawful acts, the exercise of criminal prosecution cannot be carried out in a timing or manner that produces immediate effects on an ongoing election. When a prosecutorial intervention coincides with the decisive phase of an electoral process, an evident risk of deviation from purpose arises, insofar as the criminal justice instrument may become a mechanism to influence the outcome.
Of particular concern is the fact that these actions have judicial authorization. Judicial approval of intrusive measures in an electoral context requires strict, heightened, and proportionate reasoning, especially when their execution may translate into undue interference in the autonomy of an association's electoral process with direct constitutional effects.
The Mission warns that the strategic use of criminal or judicial tools at critical moments of constitutional appointments constitutes a pattern of institutional instrumentalization that erodes public trust, compromises judicial independence, and weakens the rule of law.
Accordingly, the Mission:
1. Demands that the unrestricted continuity of the electoral day be immediately guaranteed, without physical, documentary, or administrative interference that alters its development.
2. Urges the Public Prosecutor's Office to channel any investigation through subsequent and non-disruptive means, avoiding measures that compromise suffrage or the count.
3. Calls on the competent judicial authorities to exercise strict control over legality, necessity, and proportionality, ensuring that no judicial order is used in ways that materially affect the electoral outcome.
4. Recalls that the integrity of second-tier electoral processes is an essential component of democratic governance, and that their impairment produces structural consequences for institutional legitimacy.
Guatemala is undergoing a simultaneous cycle of constitutional appointments of the greatest significance. The stability of the rules and the neutrality of the authorities responsible for criminal prosecution are indispensable conditions for preserving the independence of constitutional bodies and confidence in the democratic system.
Reference: E-021/26
