December 3, 2014 Ref.: Case No. 12.453 Olga Yolanda Maldonado Ordóñez Guatemala Dear Mr. Secretary: I am pleased to write to you on behalf of the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights to submit to the jurisdiction of the Honorable Inter-American Court of Human Rights Case No. 12.453, Olga Yolanda Maldonado Ordóñez in respect of the Republic of Guatemala (hereinafter “the State,” “the Guatemalan State,” or “Guatemala”). The case involves an administrative proceeding which led to the dismissal of Mrs. Olga Yolanda Maldonado Ordóñez, who was a civil servant in the Office of the Human Rights Ombudsman in Guatemala. The Commission considered that, as this was a disciplinary proceeding, not only were the minimum guarantees established in Article 8.1 of the American Convention applicable, but also the principle of strict legality, the presumption of innocence, and the necessary guarantees for her to exercise her right to defense. The Commission concluded that although the applicable regulatory framework gave the Human Rights Ombudsman the competence to carry out the proceeding, the manner in which notification was made of the supposed grounds for this proceeding against Mrs. Maldonado made it difficult for her to understand its objective. In this regard, she exercised her defense without having the minimum amount of information needed to do so. Likewise, the Commission concluded that Agreement No. 81-2000 of the Human Rights Ombudsmen, the decision whereby she was dismissed, was issued in breach of the duty to state reasons, the principle of legality, and the principle of the presumption of innocence. Said agreement explained that Mrs. Maldonado was removed from her post because of a “reported situation,” with no investigation conducted of whether or not the victim’s conduct fell within the respective grounds. This fact was recognized by the State of Guatemala before the Commission. Lastly, the Commission concluded that none of the appeals brought by Mrs. Maldonado resulted in a review of the sanction or constituted an effective remedy for the due process violations. The State ratified the American Convention on Human Rights on May 25, 1978, and accepted the contentious jurisdiction of the Court on March 9, 1987. Mr. Pablo Saavedra Alessandri, Secretary Inter-American Court of Human Rights P.O. Box 6906-1000 San José, Costa Rica Attachments