Sebastian Elgueta [researcher, Central America Team, Amnesty International]: "Amnesty International was deeply disappointed at the passage of Decree 06-2008 by the Congress of Guatemala which effectively aims to restart executions of those condemned to death. The Decree establishes the procedure by which the President can grant a pardon to a death row inmate. Executions had been stalled since 2000 when the law that allowed pardons was abrogated. This de facto moratorium was further strengthened in 2005 when the Inter-American Court, in the case of Raxcacó vs Guatemala, held that a pardon law was a prerequisite and that it must include the specific criteria on which a pardon could be granted. Nevertheless the Decree itself not only omits such criteria but, instead, introduces the concept of "negative administrative silence" which establishes that if the President does not provide an answer to the pardon request within 30 days it is assumed that it has been denied. This procedure, of course, would make it impossible to know what criteria the rejection was based on. In sum, this appears to be a non-fulfilment of the Court's judgement and a breach of the American Convention which establishes that all the Court's judgements must be adhered to by signatory States.

The passing of Decree 06-2008 in Congress came after a particularly violent week in Guatemala. According to press reports, in one day six bus drivers were killed allegedly by gangs, known as maras. Amnesty International , however, has expressed its concern at what it sees as an ineffective and ultimately counterproductive way of tackling the public security crisis that Guatemala is currently experiencing. Aside from the well established fact that the death penalty has no real deterrent effect, Amnesty International has for many years been drawing attention to one of the root causes of violent crime and the dire public security situation: the prevailing culture of impunity. Although there is a very high rate of murders (hovering around 44 per 100,000, some 5780 murders in 2007) the conviction rate is approximately 1%. This in itself may seem shocking (and indeed it is) but it is not surprising in a country which saw genocide, hundreds of massacres and widespread torture committed during the internal armed conflict which ended in 1996 — and those responsible for these crimes continue unchallenged and occupying powerful positions in society.

For these reasons AI is asking the President of Guatemala to veto the decree."