86
with the obligation to respect and ensure human rights […] it has taken the [following]
measures”: (a) adoption of decrees such as the Law against Femicide […] and the Law
against Sexual Violence, Exploitation and People Trafficking”; (b) creation of the
Coordinating Body for the Prevention, Punishment and Eradication of Family Violence and
Violence against Women (CONAPREVI), the Presidential Secretariat for Women (SEPREM),
the Secretariat against Sexual Violence, Exploitation and People Trafficking (SVET), the
Presidential Commission to tackle Femicide in Guatemala (COPAF), the Ombudsman for
Indigenous Women of the Presidency of the Republic, the Task Force against Femicide under
the Bureau for Women’s Affairs of the Ministry of the Interior (GEM), the Program for the
Prevention and Eradication of Family Violence (PROPEVI), the Judiciary’s Unit for Women’s
Affairs and Gender Analysis (based on Decision 69/2012 of April 30, 2012, of the Presidents
of the Judiciary and of the Supreme Court of Justice of the Republic of Guatemala, entitled
Secretariat for Women’s Affairs and Gender Analysis of the Judiciary), “courts and tribunals
with competence in cases of femicide and all forms of violence against women, the
Committee for Women’s Affairs of the Legislature, the Special Prosecutor's Office for
Women's Affairs, special prosecution offices for “the crimes of femicide,” and the
Department of Sexual Offenses, People Trafficking, Minors, Children, Adolescents and
Missing Persons (DESEXTRANA); (c) formulation of the following public policies: National
Policy for the Promotion and Comprehensive Advancement of Women (PNPDIM), Equity and
Opportunities Plan (PEO), and National Plan for the Prevention and Eradication of Family
Violence and Violence against Women (PLANOVI), and (d) actions of the Attorney General in
“coordination with the early warning system of the Alba-Kenneth Law, [which] seeks to
protect children and adolescents from kidnapping, trafficking and exploitation for any
purpose or of any kind to the greatest extent possible.”
D.1.2. Considerations of the Court
264. The Court appreciates the efforts made by the State to establish laws, other legal
instruments, public institutions, and policies aimed at combating gender-based violence, as
well as its efforts to adapt its criminal investigation system. 352 This progress provides
352
It should be noted that the body of evidence and non-contested affirmations reveal that the State has
created the Presidential Commission to tackle Femicide, “coordinate by the Presidential Secretariat for Women’s
Affairs and composed of representatives of human rights and security agencies, and of the Executive, Legislature
and Judiciary, as well as of the Public Prosecution Service.” The Commission was officially created on March 8,
2006 (file of annexes to the motions and arguments brief, annex 97, f. 10,810 to 10,824). On October 6 that year,
according to the Inter-American Commission, the Supreme Court of Justice created the Judiciary’s Unit for
Women’s Affairs and Gender Analysis, actually the Secretariat for Women’s Affairs and Gender Analysis of the
Judiciary (Merits Report, supra), an entity whose creation was also described by the State. Also, as indicated by the
Inter-American Commission, on November 23, 2007, the Congress of the Republic in plenary session adopted
Resolution 15-2007 in which it condemned femicide in Guatemala (Merits Report, supra). In 2008, the Law against
Femicide and Other Forms of Violence against Women was enacted (supra footnote 68). In addition to introducing
offenses subject to public prosecution, this law established a series of State obligations such as training public
officials on gender violence and the creation of a national information system on violence against women. The law
also established the creation of “centers to provide comprehensive support to women survivors of violence,” and
that “CONAPREVI shall be responsible for creating them” (Law against Femicide, supra, articles 18, 20 and 16,
respectively; file of annexes to the motions and arguments brief, annex 93, fs. 10,776 to 10,786.). In the judicial
sphere, according to information provided by Guatemala (supra para. 263), and also the Commission (Merits
Report, supra), the State has a Unit for Women’s Affairs and Gender Analysis. Furthermore, information presented
by the State indicates that, at the end of 2012, it had other agencies involved in the problem of violence against
women, such as the Task Force against Femicide, attached to the Ministry of the Interior, or the GEM (supra para.
263). In addition, as already mentioned, Guatemala indicated the existence of the PLANOVI and the PEO (supra
para. 263), adopted by Government Agreement No. 302-2009, of November 11, 2009 (file of annexes to the
answering brief, annex 26, fs. 14,272 to 14,471). The State indicated that one of the elements of the PNPDIM and
the PEO is “the ‘eradication of violence against women’ and, as a specific objective, ‘to prevent, punish and
eradicate the different manifestations of violence: physical, economic, social, psychological, and sexual violence
and discrimination.’” It also mentioned the enactment, by Decree No. 9-2009, of the Law against Sexual Violence,
Exploitation and People Trafficking, creating a Secretariat in this regard, the SVET (supra para. 263). Furthermore,
it indicated that, the working committees of the “Legislature” include the Committee for Women’s Affairs (supra
para. 263) and, according to the State, its “functions [include …] recommending the approval of norms and
procedures to the different State entities in matters that fall within its terms of reference.” Moreover, as regards
criminal investigations in general, according to the representative and as revealed by the body of evidence, the