Amnesty International announced Sept. 12 that Guatemala's judiciary has closed criminal proceedings against four indigenous leaders who had been charged over their role in protests during the country's October 2023 national strike, hailing it as a victory for the right to freedom of assembly. 

Commending the court's decision, Astrid Valencia, Amnesty International's deputy research director for the Americas, stated: "Luis Pacheco and Héctor Chaclán should never have been imprisoned. This ruling is a first step towards ending the arbitrary actions against them."

Luis Pacheco, Héctor Chaclán, Basilio Puac and Esteban Toc were charged with unlawful association, terrorism, obstruction of justice, sedition, and obstruction of criminal prosecution. Pacheco, Chaclán and Puac are traditional authorities of the 48 Cantons of Totonicapán, and Toc was a leader of the Indigenous Municipality of Sololá. The charges against them stemmed from their participation in protests that indigenous authorities led across Guatemala in October 2023 to defend that year's presidential election results against efforts by judicial authorities to challenge the transfer of power to now-President Bernardo Arévalo.

Pacheco and Chaclán, who at the time of their arrest served as president and treasurer of the Maya K'iche' Council of the 48 Cantons, were arrested on April 23, 2025, and held in pre-trial detention for more than 15 months. The charges carried combined sentences of over 30 years.

Amnesty International designated the pair as prisoners of conscience in May 2026. Both men were later moved to house arrest, although the charges remained outstanding. According to Human Rights Watch, Toc, who was arrested separately in August 2025 on similar charges, was also placed under house arrest.

The proceedings drew criticism from the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights, which said in an April 2025 statement that the Guatemalan government’s prosecutions targeted Indigenous leaders who played an instrumental role in preserving the democratic order during the 2023 crisis. The Commission described the charges as a "politically motivated misuse of criminal law" by the Public Prosecutor’s Office.

Although the closure of the proceedings ends the criminal cases against the four leaders, Amnesty International said it will continue monitoring similar cases against indigenous leaders and human rights defenders still pending in Guatemala's courts. The organization cited broader concerns over the use of criminal prosecutions against Indigenous activists in the country.

From JURIST, Sept. 13. Used with permisison. Internal links added.