A Guatemalan court on Tuesday convicted six former officials for their roles in the 2017 fire at the state-run Hogar Seguro “Virgen de la Asunción” that ultimately claimed the lives of 41 girls and injured 15 others. The facility had long faced allegations of abuse and overcrowding.
After the blaze, Judge Ingrid Cifuentes directed prosecutors to open an investigation into former president Jimmy Morales for possible responsibility tied to security deployments at the shelter. Sentences now handed down range from six to 25 years for offenses including manslaughter, mistreatment of minors, abuse of authority, and breach of duty. Former Social Welfare Secretary Carlos Rodas received 25 years. Former police officer Lucinda Marroquín was sentenced to 13 years after evidence showed she held the key to the locked room and failed to open it as flames spread, remaining on the phone and, according to a witness, responding to pleas for help with profanity and the phrase ‘let them burn’.
The fire erupted on March 8, 2017, a day after residents protested years of beatings and sexual abuse inside the home. As punishment, 56 girls were confined overnight in a small classroom with no toilet or water. When a mattress was set alight the next morning to force guards to open the door, smoke quickly filled the room. The police at the door delayed approximately nine minutes before opening it. In total, 19 girls died that day; 22 more died later in hospitals.
Warnings about conditions at Hogar Seguro predated the tragedy. A judge had ordered the facility closed by the end of 2016, but the order was not carried out.
Guatemala’s human rights ombudsman documented dozens of rights violations in late 2016, including evidence of physical abuse and allegations of sexual exploitation. International experts and the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights issued precautionary measures that went unheeded.
After the fire, follow-up for the girls has been inconsistent. Government reports to the Inter-American Commission say authorities lost track of some survivors, and many former residents were moved to other large institutions instead of family care. Advocates estimate that at least 160 children were re-institutionalized and that dozens of former residents have died in the years since. Additionally, the Guatemalan government has provided very little financial support to survivors.
