creation of agencies to provide support, the enactment of specific laws, and the elaboration
of proposals. However, the limited number of direct actions implemented had been
insufficient to combat the phenomenon. Moreover, such actions were isolated and were not
inserted in a specific policy; therefore, it was difficult to evaluate their results.”200
f)
In June 2005, in its report “No protection no justice: Killings of women in Guatemala,”
Amnesty International “acknowledge[d] that some positive steps to prevent violence
against women have been taken by the Guatemalan authorities […]. However, these
measures ha[d] frequently not been effectively implemented, monitored or reviewed and
have therefore seldom prevented women from suffering violence.”201
119. In addition, in an expert opinion submitted to this Court, expert Karen Musalo indicated
that, even though the Guatemalan Government had launched some initiatives to address
violence against women between 2000 and 2005, these were limited, mainly “owing to the
failure to allocate the funds needed to meet their objectives” and “the absence of political
will.”202
120. In this regard, the Court notes that, in August 2005 – that is, at the time of the facts of
this case – the State had implemented actions aimed at addressing the problem of violence
against women. However, both the national and international agencies indicated above, and
expert witness Musalo agree that those measures were insufficient to resolve the problem owing
to the scant resources allocated to them, and the absence of coordination between the different
institutions and a comprehensive protection strategy (supra paras. 118 and 119). Accordingly,
the Court notes that, in the August 7, 2012, National Report submitted to the Working Group on
the Universal Periodic Review of the UN Human Rights Council, the State acknowledged that,
among the challenges it faced, was “implementation of a coordinated inter-agency strategy for
preventing violence against women in all circumstances.”203
B.2. Before the discovery of the body of Claudina Velásquez: specific obligation to
prevent violations of the rights to integrity and life of Claudina Velásquez
121. Regarding the second moment – before the discovery of Claudina Velásquez’s corpse – it
is necessary, first, to verify the moment when the State authorities knew or ought to have
known about the existence of a real and immediate danger to the life and integrity of Claudina
Velásquez. In this regard, the case file reveals that, around 2.50 or 2.55 a.m., her parents,
Jorge Velásquez and Elsa Paiz, made telephoned the National Civil Police and, in response, a
patrol came to the main guardhouse of Colonia Panorama at approximately 3 a.m. At that time,
Claudina Velásquez’s parents advised the police that they were searching for their daughter who
Cf. The Guatemalan Ombudsman, Compendium “Muertes Violentas de Mujeres, 2003 a 2005,” p. 93. Available
at: http://www.acnur.org/t3/uploads/media/COI_1343.pdf?view=1
201
Cf. Amnesty International, “Guatemala. No protection no justice: Killings of women in Guatemala,” June 2005
(evidence file, folio 1365).
202
“Even though the Guatemala Government had launched some initiatives to address violence against women
between 2000 and 2005 – including the Presidential Secretariat for Women (SEPREM) and the Coordinating Body for the
Prevention, Punishment and Eradication of Domestic Violence and Violence against Women (CONAPREVI) – all of these
initiatives were limited or somewhat ineffective, mainly owing to the failure to allocate the funds required to meet their
objectives. The lack of funds should not be seen merely as the Guatemalan Government’s lack of resources, but also as
a reflection of the absence of political will; if the will had existed, the Government would have made this issue an
absolute priority and would have found and allocated adequate funds within the national budget.” Cf. Expert opinion of
Karen Musalo provided by affidavit on April 13, 2015 (evidence file, folio 6658).
203
National Report submitted to the Working Group on the Universal Periodic Review of the UN Human Rights Council
dated
August
7,
2012,
A/HRC/WG.6/14/GTM/1
para.
58.
Available
at:
https://documents-ddsny.un.org/doc/UNDOC/GEN/G12/157/60/PDF/G1215760.pdf?OpenElement.
200
44