A/HRC/43/3/Add.1 status, language and indigenous origin. 30 OHCHR is concerned that victims could suffer additional stigmatization and reprisals from the defendants and their families, given the lack of adequate protection mechanisms. 44. On 27 May, the Minister of the Interior announced his intention to take control of the historical archive of the national police, sparking concerns over potential interference with or destruction of the over 70 million documents that are crucial for transitional justice cases and the historical memory of Guatemala. On 7 June, the Supreme Court of Justice granted an injunction filed by the Office of the Ombudsperson to prevent the transfer. On 1 July, the Ministry of Culture and Sports adopted an internal agreement 31 to store, digitalize and conserve the documents. However, there are concerns about the capacity of the Ministry of Culture and Sports to properly care for the archive. 45. Between 1 January and 30 September, 288 reparations were made out of the 22,186 total cases identified by the National Reparations Programme, 32 which continues to operate with an inadequate budget and insufficient human resources (A/HRC/40/3/Add.1, para. 23). 46. Moreover, delays were documented in the implementation of measures ordered in transitional justice cases, such as in the Molina Theissen case of 2018,33 including measures ordered by the court to search for Marco Antonio Molina Theissen, who was disappeared in 1981. 47. Despite the provisional injunction granted by the Constitutional Court on 18 July for the purposes of suspending the debate on Bill No. 5377 on the reform of the National Reconciliation Law, Congress continued discussions on the initiative, raising concerns regarding respect for judicial independence and the rule of law. The proposed reforms foresaw granting general amnesty for grave human rights violations committed during the internal armed conflict and the release within 24 hours of persons accused and convicted of such crimes. E. Security 48. Institutional weaknesses, corruption and lack of accountability contribute to an environment conducive to the proliferation of national and transnational criminal networks. The presence of organized crime throughout the country, reportedly in collusion with local and national authorities in some cases, results in perceptions of widespread insecurity, fear and despair. This is amplified by the frequent practice of extortion, especially in urban areas. Reportedly, in 2019 complaints of extortion reached almost 14,000 cases registered, reflecting an increase of 66 per cent compared with 2018. In 2019, a total of 29 criminal structures extorting people were disbanded.34 49. In 2019, the officially reported number of violent deaths decreased by 3.8 per cent compared with 2018, but remained alarming, with 3,558 victims (2,729 men, 430 women, 271 boys, 115 girls and 13 unspecified). 35 Young men and women aged 13 to 29 years represented over half of the victims (51.5 per cent). 36 Violent deaths of women and girls decreased by 5.8 per cent compared with 2018. 37 Firearms continued to be the leading cause of violent deaths, claiming 69 per cent of fatalities. 50. The adoption of new guidelines on the use of force by the National Civil Police (General Order No. 11-2019) before the general elections was a positive step. OHCHR provided technical assistance for the development of these guidelines. On 28 August, the 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 Complaint C-15002-2014-00315, Of.6, file MP001-2012-69161. Ministerial Agreement 523-2019. See Office of the Ombudsperson (Procuraduría de los Derechos Humanos), “Informe sobre el monitoreo de las oficinas regionales del Programa Nacional de Resarcimiento”, May 2018. Case file C-01077-1998-00002, May 2018. Available at gazeta.gt/wpcontent/uploads/2018/06/sentencia-caso-molina-theissen.pdf (in Spanish). Information provided by the State, 23 december 2019. Information provided to OHCHR by the National Institute of Forensic Science, Doc. No. DG-04652019, necropsies conducted between 1 January and 30 September 2019. Ibid. Ibid. 9