Information service of the Pontifical Mission Societies since 1927
Guatemala City (Agenzia Fides) – The international community has expressed its concern at a resolution of the Guatemalan Congress which leaves the President to decide on the application of the death penalty by lethal injection for those convicted by courts of justice. The European Union (EU), one of the major development partners of Guatemala, was among the first to deplore the resolution of the Members of Guatemala, considering it an "warning sign" sent to the international community, precisely at a time in which there is a global consensus in support of universal abolition of the death penalty.
In Guatemala, which has sought to achieve results without the reform of the judiciary and public safety, there are 41 prisoners sentenced to death for kidnapping and murder. This Central American nation, along with Cuba and the United States, are the only countries in America that still have the death penalty in force, although in Guatemala it was in fact suspended by the Government of President Alfonso Portillo (2000-2004). The possible resumption of the death penalty, with the initiative of the presidential pardon, was adopted last October 5 by lawmakers in Guatemala, now goes under the responsibility of President Alvaro Colom.
The European Union has acknowledged that violence and organized crime are a problem in Guatemala, however, they have also insisted that the authorities of the Central American country should work for the "phasing out" of the death penalty. President Colom has already claimed to reject the responsibility of deciding whether or not to administer the lethal injection to a convicted person.
The restitution to the President of the power to grant or deny pardon to prisoners sentenced to death by lethal injection has been proposed by various political parties on the grounds of fighting the crime that plagues the nation. Defenders of Human Rights have judged the decision to be a political maneuver.
The Catholic Church of Guatemala, through the Bishops' Conference, has spoken repeatedly in favor of life, as it has always been one of the key points of the pastoral. In the Pastoral Letter, "The Glory of God is Man's Life", of April 20, 2007, the bishops state: "The Church, with her benevolent presence in all strata of society, cannot renounce her clear mission to be, like her founder Jesus Christ, a faithful defender of life." (CE) (Agenzia Fides 25/10/2010)
