UN condemns Guatemala for keeping journalist in inhumane jail conditions

A group of UN experts said Wednesday that a prominent Guatemalan journalist who has been in prison for more than two years was being kept in inhumane conditions "that may amount to torture and put his life in danger."

Jose Ruben Zamora, 68, a stark critic of the government of former right-wing president Alejandro Giammattei, was sentenced to six years in jail in May 2023 for money laundering.

That case has since been overturned and a new trial ordered, but he has yet to be released due to another pending charge of obstruction of justice brought against him by the prosecutor's office.

Zamora "has reportedly been subjected to nearly twenty months of solitary confinement in almost constant darkness. Such treatment would amount to torture," a panel of independent experts reported, according to a statement from the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights.

"It is further alleged that he has endured different forms of inhuman or degrading treatment, including being deprived of sleep, forced nudity, arbitrary cell searches and a failure to respond to a mite infestation in his cell," the statement said.

The journalist has been held in a prison inside a military barracks in the capital since July 29, 2022.

Described as a "prisoner of conscience" by Amnesty International, Zamora maintains the charges against him were trumped up in retaliation for his newspaper's reporting on alleged government corruption under Giammattei.

The conditions of his detention improved after social democrat President Bernardo Arevalo came to power in January in a country wracked by corruption, inequality, and violent crime.

Arevalo recently slammed an "abuse of power" by the attorney general and prosecutors with whom he has been locked in dispute after accusing them of an attempted coup d'etat over legal efforts to block him from taking power.

Attorney General Consuelo Porras, who is under US and EU sanctions for corruption, has repeatedly refused to resign.

The UN panel of experts also raised concerns about alleged violations of Zamora's "due process and reported irregularities in court proceedings."

"We are equally concerned that the charges against him are connected to his work as an investigative and anti-corruption journalist and that such tactics create a chilling effect on other journalists in the country," the statement said.