Two activists fighting corruption in Guatemala yesterday won this year’s Rights Livelihood Prize, the jury for the Swedish human rights prize announced.
Thelma Aldana of Guatemala and Ivan Velasquez of Colombia were honored for their “innovative work in exposing abuse of power and prosecuting corruption, thus rebuilding people’s trust in public institutions,” the jury said in a statement.
Aldana, 62, is a former president of Guatemala’s Supreme Court and served as attorney general until May, when she stepped down.
Velasquez, 63, is the head of the UN’s International Commission against Impunity in Guatemala (CICIG).
“This prize comes at a particularly dramatic moment in the fight against impunity and corruption,” Velasquez said in a statement.
“It is very important because it will turn the eyes of the world to Guatemala, and hopefully also provide international solidarity with those who are committed to the transformation of the country,” he said.
On Thursday last week, thousands of students and activists demonstrated in Guatemala’s capital calling for the resignation of Guatemalan President Jimmy Morales, whom the CICIG alleges failed to report nearly US$1 million in financing to electoral authorities during his 2015 presidential campaign.
The UN mission has asked for Morales’ presidential impunity to be lifted so it can investigate the matter.
Morales late last month said he would not ask the UN to renew the CICIG’s mandate beyond September next year.
Four days later, Morales banned Velasquez from entering the country.
The two laureates have collaborated together and been responsible for several high-profile and sensitive criminal investigations, most notably the “La Linea” corruption case, which led to 60 prosecutions, including the arrest of then-president Otto Perez Molina, who was forced out in 2015 after three years in power.
Swedish-German philatelist Jakob von Uexkull founded the donor-funded prize in 1980 after the Nobel Foundation behind the Nobel Prizes refused to create awards honoring efforts in the fields of the environment and international development.
REBUILDING: A researcher said that it might seem counterintuitive to start talking about reconstruction amid the war with Russia, but it is ‘actually an urgent priority’ Italy is hosting the fourth annual conference on rebuilding Ukraine even as Russia escalates its war, inviting political and business leaders to Rome to promote public-private partnerships on defense, mining, energy and other projects as uncertainty grows about the US’ commitment to Kyiv’s defense. Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy were opening the meeting yesterday, which gets under way as Russia accelerated its aerial and ground attacks against Ukraine with another night of pounding missile and drone attacks on Kyiv. Italian organizers said that 100 official delegations were attending, as were 40 international organizations and development banks. There are
TARIFF ACTION: The US embassy said that the ‘political persecution’ against former Brazilian president Jair Bolsonaro disrespects the democratic traditions of the nation The US and Brazil on Wednesday escalated their row over US President Donald Trump’s support for former Brazilian president Jair Bolsonaro, with Washington slapping a 50 percent tariff on one of its main steel suppliers. Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva threatened to reciprocate. Trump has criticized the prosecution of Bolsonaro, who is on trial for allegedly plotting to cling on to power after losing 2022 elections to Lula. Brasilia on Wednesday summoned Washington’s top envoy to the country to explain an embassy statement describing Bolsonaro as a victim of “political persecution” — echoing Trump’s description of the treatment of Bolsonaro as
Pakistani police yesterday said a father shot dead his daughter after she refused to delete her TikTok account. In the Muslim-majority country, women can be subjected to violence by family members for not following strict rules on how to behave in public, including in online spaces. “The girl’s father had asked her to delete her TikTok account. On refusal, he killed her,” a police spokesperson said. Investigators said the father killed his 16-year-old daughter on Tuesday “for honor,” the police report said. The man was subsequently arrested. The girl’s family initially tried to “portray the murder as a suicide” said police in
The military is to begin conscripting civilians next year, Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Manet said yesterday, citing rising tensions with Thailand as the reason for activating a long-dormant mandatory enlistment law. The Cambodian parliament in 2006 approved a law that would require all Cambodians aged 18 to 30 to serve in the military for 18 months, although it has never been enforced. Relations with Thailand have been tense since May, when a long-standing territorial dispute boiled over into cross-border clashes, killing one Cambodian soldier. “This episode of confrontation is a lesson for us and is an opportunity for us to review, assess and
RSS