A/HRC/43/3/Add.1 7. Divisions within Congress increased in 2019. The outgoing legislature only passed 8 decrees in 2019 compared with 50 in 2016, its first year. Certain members continued to push bills aimed at undermining the protection of human rights, sparking numerous statements of concern at the national and international levels. 4 However, none of these bills gained sufficient cross-party support for adoption. Some members of Congress conducted hearings to question persons engaged in the promotion of human rights and the fight against corruption and impunity, including the Ombudsperson, judges, prosecutors and former staff of the International Commission against Impunity in Guatemala (CICIG). However, in 2020, the balance of power in Congress could shift. Only 50 out of 160 members of Congress were reelected. The 2020–2024 legislature will consist of 19 caucuses. Despite increasing their seats from 24 to 31, women will only represent 19 per cent of Congress. 8. The previous general elections were held in 2015 in the context of a massive mobilization against corruption, which brought President Morales to power on an anticorruption platform. Just over three years later, on 7 January 2019, President Morales announced that Guatemala was unilaterally withdrawing from the agreement with the United Nations establishing CICIG (A/HRC/40/3/Add.1, para. 5). On 9 January, the Constitutional Court suspended the Executive’s decision to withdraw from the agreement, allowing CICIG to operate until the end of its mandate, on 3 September. The Executive did not renew the mandate, leaving uncertain both the future of the cases still under investigation with the support or participation of CICIG, and the commitment of the State to continue the fight against corruption and impunity. 9. During 2019, the justice system was seriously undermined on several occasions, including as a result of the failure of the Government to abide by decisions of the Constitutional Court and owing to constant attacks by “pro-impunity” sectors against judicial independence (see paras. 33–36). The process to appoint new judges to the Supreme Court of Justice and to Appeals Courts, initiated on 13 August, generated legal challenges by civil society alleging a lack of objectivity, transparency and merit-based evaluations. Owing to these concerns, on 16 September, the nomination process was temporarily suspended by the Constitutional Court. On 2 December, the Court decided on a road map for the nominations. On 9 and 11 December, the nominating commissions were established (see paras. 29–32). 10. On 26 July, the Governments of Guatemala and the United States of America signed a cooperation agreement on protection requests, known as the “Safe Third Country” agreement. It stipulates that non-Guatemalans of legal age who arrive in the United States (through any port of entry) for the purposes of requesting asylum or another form of protection will be sent to Guatemala for a determination of such requests. There are serious concerns that the implementation of the agreement could lead to violations of human rights, such as collective expulsions, lack of due process guarantees and arbitrary detention, as well as violations that could result from the lack of respect for the principle of non-refoulement (see paras. 78–81). 11. On 4 September, the Government declared a state of siege due to “a series of violent events that took human lives and endangered the constitutional order, governance and security of the State”.5 The decree followed an incident in El Estor, Izabal, on 3 September, in which three soldiers were killed and five people injured. The state of siege was extended over 22 municipalities, mainly in indigenous-populated and rural areas where land conflicts are common and extractive and agro-industrial projects operate. It lasted 60 days and involved the suspension of constitutional rights, including freedoms of movement, association and protest, resulting in human rights organizations halting their activities for fear of detention of their staff.6 OHCHR was concerned that these measures were not necessary and proportional to achieve a legitimate justification in accordance with international human rights norms and standards. 12. A significant advance in 2019 was the publication of the results of the 2018 census, the first since 2002. The data collected are essential for the development of public policies to address the numerous challenges in the enjoyment of human rights. According to the results 4 5 6 ohchr.org/sp/NewsEvents/Pages/DisplayNews.aspx?NewsID=24098&LangID=S (in Spanish); ohchr.org/EN/NewsEvents/Pages/DisplayNews.aspx?NewsID=24273&LangID=E; and ohchr.org/EN/NewsEvents/Pages/DisplayNews.aspx?NewsID=24300&LangID=E. minfin.gob.gt/images/downloads/leyes_acuerdos/decreto1_050919.pdf (in Spanish), art. 2. oas.org/es/cidh/prensa/comunicados/2019/288.asp (in Spanish). 3