UN raises alarm over Guatemala illegal child adoptions News
CARLOS SEBASTIÁN, CC BY 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
UN raises alarm over Guatemala illegal child adoptions

UN experts released a statement on Monday expressing concern over historic illegal intercountry child adoptions in Guatemala and allegations that Attorney General María Consuelo Porras had handled at least 80 Indigenous children who were eventually sent abroad.

Experts decried the current lack of transparency and investigatory process, stating:

We are particularly troubled that no prompt, thorough, independent and impartial investigation has been conducted into the alleged involvement of some State authorities in these processes and that mothers affected by these illegal adoptions have reportedly not received adequate recognition or reparations.

The Guatemalan public prosecutor’s office, led by Conseulo Porras, denied the allegations, stating they are “baseless, factually unfounded and completely malicious.”

During Guatemala’s civil war (1960-1996), the country’s military government targeted Indigenous Maya populations. In many cases, children orphaned by the war moved into children-homes. In other cases, officials allegedly tricked parents into giving up their children or forcibly removed them. These children were then put up for private adoption abroad for profit.

After being taken to “Hogar Temporal Elisa Martínez” (Elisa Martínez Temporary Home), at least 80 Indigenous children were put up for adoption. Consuelo Porras was the director of this home at the time and allegedly served as the children’s “legal guardian” from January 21 to August 30, 1982.

Illegal intercountry adoptions often run afoul of international prohibitions on abduction, child trafficking, and enforced disappearances. Under international law, Guatemala has an obligation through the 1993 Hague Convention on Protection of Children and Co-operation in Respect of Intercountry Adoption to take action to prevent and eradicate such practices. The nation ratified this convention May 27, 2007.

In December 2007, the Congress of Guatemala passed a landmark adoption reform bill (Decree No. 77-2007) aimed at tightening controls on international adoptions and complying with the Hague Adoption Convention.

The UN urged all actors in Guatemala’s ongoing judicial appointment process to consider these serious allegations which have yet to be investigated. Consuelo Porras is currently up for election to the Constitutional Court and may run for re-election as attorney general this week. The UN has already expressed concern over the maintenance of judicial independence through the ongoing elections.

“Victims have the right to access all available remedies under international and national law, including judicial and non-judicial mechanisms, truth-seeking initiatives, criminal prosecutions, reparations and guarantees of non-repetition,” experts said.

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