Constitutional Provisions
Article 3 of the 1985 Constitution of Guatemala (as amended) provides that: "The State guarantees and protects the human life from its conception, as well as the integrity and security of the person." Article 19 prohibits torture and other forms of cruel treatment, but only in custodial settings.
Article 33 on the Right of Assembly and Demonstration provides as follows:
The right of peaceful assembly and without weapons is recognized.
The rights of assembly and of public demonstration may not be restricted, diminished, or restrained; and the law shall regulate them with the sole purpose of guaranteeing the public order.
The religious manifestations outside of temples are permitted and are regulated by the law.
For the exercise of these rights a prior notification by the organizers before the competent authority will suffice.
The Constitution does not address police use of force.
Treaty Adherence
Global Treaties
| 1966 Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) | State Party |
| ICCPR Optional Protocol 1 | State Party |
| 1984 Convention against Torture (CAT) | State Party |
| Competence of CAT Committee to receive individual complaints | Yes |
| CAT Optional Protocol 1 | State Party |
| 1998 Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court | State Party |
Regional Treaties
| 1948 Charter of the Organization of American States | State Party |
| 1969 Inter-American Convention on Human Rights | State Party |
| Competence of Inter-American Court on Human Rights | Yes |
National Legislation
Police Use of Force
The National Civilian Police (PNC) is the primary law enforcement agency in Guatemala although the military are also involved in law enforcement tasks. In its report published in March 2018 (discussed below), the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights called for the army to be no longer engaged in law enforcement.
A new law on the police was adopted in 2024, entering into force in 2025. It stipulates that
When the use of firearms is unavoidable, members of the National Civil Police will exercise restraint and act in proportion to the threat, the seriousness of the crime, and the nature of the legal right protected, always prioritizing the protection of life, the integrity of persons, and their property.
But the law also provides for a presumption of immunity for a police officer using his or her firearm in the course of duty if someone is killed or injured as a result:
Whenever members of the National Civil Police, in the exercise of their functions within the service and in the fulfilment of their duty, must use their firearms and as a result the aggressor is injured or dies, it will be presumed that they carried out an act ordered or permitted by law, in the exercise of the public office they hold, the profession they are dedicated to, the authority they exercise, or the assistance they provide to justice.
The 1997 Law on the National Civilian Police provides that the PNC is a professional armed institution but it does not lay down rules governing the use of force. According to the PNC Disciplinary Regulations, negligence or lack of care in the use of firearms is a serious disciplinary offence.
The Public Order Act exceptionally allows the authorities to disperse using force an unauthorised assembly.
Police Oversight
There is no independent civilian police oversight body in Guatemala, although a human rights ombudsman (defensor del pueblo) exists.
Caselaw
Global
Views and Concluding Observations of United Nations Treaty Bodies
In a 2025 report on human rights in Guatemala, the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights highlighted the problems with Decree-Law No. 35 of 2024 with respect to the rights to life and to freedom from ill-treatment.
In its 2018 Concluding Observations on Guatemala, the Human Rights Committee expressed its concern about the fact that complaints of police abuse that may amount to torture are addressed by means of disciplinary measures.
In its 2018 Concluding Observations on Guatemala, the Committee against Torture reiterated its concern
regarding allegations of torture and ill-treatment from credible sources, which include asphyxiation with bags impregnated with pepper spray and electric shocks, mainly delivered by police officers, and sexual harassment and violence during detention and within other places of deprivation of liberty.
The Committee called on Guatemala to: "Promote a structural reform of the National Civil Police, including the review of internal investigation mechanisms, in order to increase its effectiveness and ensure its total institutional and hierarchical independence from the persons investigated".
Regional
Ruiz Fuentes v. Guatemala (2019)
This case concerned alleged torture and later summary execution by State agents. The Court noted that when Mr Ruiz Fuentes was found dead he had two wounds caused by firearm bullets. It highlighted that
the autopsy performed in the early morning hours of November 15, 2005, which indicated that the first bullet wound had an entry orifice in the right eye with “a tattooed area around it.” ... The Court notes that this first bullet that hit Mr. Ruiz Fuentes was fired from a short distance and this is due precisely to the presence of a tattooed area around the entry orifice. It is difficult to reconcile this short distance (no more than 15 centimetres) with the State’s version that Mr. Ruiz Fuentes died due to an armed confrontation if either the first version of the State (confrontation with unknown persons) or the second version (confrontation with members of the State’s law enforcement agencies) is accepted.
IACHR Report on the Situation of Human Rights in Guatemala
In March 2018, the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) released a report on the situation of human rights in Guatemala. The IACHR criticises police violence during protests, including the use of live ammunition, rubber bullets, and tear gas during certain demonstrations. The Commission stated that
police operations organized in the context of protests should be guided, as a general rule, to guarantee the exercise of this right and the protection of protesters and third parties present. In this sense, the Commission has considered that the mere deconcentration of a demonstration does not constitute, in itself, a legitimate end that justifies the use of force by the security forces.
The IACHR has continued to underscore
the importance for the armed forces to be removed from internal security duties, because the Army and the police are substantively different institutions insofar as the purposes for which they were created and their training and preparation are concerned. Additionally, each entity is legally empowered to fulfill two entirely different duties under their respective jurisdictions
The use of police stations as permanent detention facilities and of military bases to house persons deprived of liberty indefinitely constitutes a special situation of concern to the IACHR.
Downloads
Jurisprudence
Ruiz Fuentes v. Guatemala (IACHR, 2019)
This case concerned alleged torture and later summary execution by State agents. The Inter-American Court of Human Rights noted that when Mr. Ruiz Fuentes was found dead he had two wounds caused by firearm bullets. It highlighted that
the autopsy performed in the early morning hours of November 15, 2005, which indicated that the first bullet wound had an entry orifice in the right eye with “a tattooed area around it.” ... The Court notes that this first bullet that hit Mr. Ruiz Fuentes was fired from a short distance and this is due precisely to the presence of a tattooed area around the entry orifice. It is difficult to reconcile this short distance (no more than 15 centimetres) with the State’s version that Mr. Ruiz Fuentes died due to an armed confrontation if either the first version of the State (confrontation with unknown persons) or the second version (confrontation with members of the State’s law enforcement agencies) is accepted.