On August 12, PBI-Guatemala posted:
“Justice for the girls of Safe Home
Today #PBIaccompanies the Bureau of Human Rights (BDH) in the reading of the sentence of the #CasoHogarSeguro [Safe Home Case].
The judge, Ingrid Vanessa Cifuentes, has imposed sentences between 6 and 25 years for crimes of abuse of minors, guilty homicide, abuse of power and failure of duties for the ex-director of the Safe House, Santos Torres; the ex-secretary of Social Welfare, Carlos Antonio Rodas Mejía, the ex-agent of the PNC, Lucinda Eva Marroquín, the former instructor of the PNC Luis Armando Perez Borja and the workers Gloria Patricia Castro and Brenda Julissa Chamán Pacay. Harold Flores, a former employee of the Nation’s Attorney General’s Office, was acquitted.
In addition, the court ordered the MP [Public Ministry] to take other measures, including opening a criminal investigation against former president Jimmy Morales, who had broken the chain of command and ordered to increase the presence of police officers at the scene of the incident.
On August 14, the hearing of dignified repair measures will take place.
#Justice #WeAreMissing41 #WeMourn56”
Sentences of up to 25 years in prison
The New York Times further reports: “Six former Guatemalan public officials were convicted on Tuesday [August 12] in connection with a 2017 fire that killed 41 girls who had been locked in a classroom in a government-run group home. Ingrid Cifuentes, a judge in Guatemala City, handed down cumulative prison sentences as long as 25 years and some as short as six years against the six defendants, who had pleaded not guilty. Prosecutors had sought longer sentences.”
The BBC has notes: “The highest sentences were for Santos Torres, former director of the Safe Home, and Carlos Rodas, former secretary of Social Welfare, sentenced to 25 years in prison each.”
And El Pais reports: “At the end of the sentence, the relatives of the deceased and survivors shouted ‘Justice!’, applauded and hugged each other to celebrate the ruling.”
Sentences may be appealed
The New York Times article adds: “Edgar Pérez, a human rights lawyer who represented some of the victims and their families, said that it was unlikely that the former public officials would soon end up in jail because the sentences may be appealed. But he said the sentencing showed ‘that the state failed and the public officials that oversaw the child-protection system didn’t fulfill their duties.’”
Former Guatemalan president could be investigated
Prensa Comunitaria also highlights: “Unexpectedly, the Court also determined that two of the highest-level officials at the time of the fire must also be investigated, after years of having remained unpunished: former President Jimmy Morales and his former advisor, Carlos Beltetón.”
El Pais explains: “Morales was mentioned by some witnesses as part of the chain of command that ordered the minors to be locked up.”
Background
Forty-one girls, who were 14 to 17 years of age, died in a fire at the Hogar Seguro Virgen de la Asuncion shelter south-east of Guatemala City on March 8, 2017.
In November 2017, The Guardian reported: “It has emerged that 56 girls had been locked inside a room measuring 6.8 metres by 7 metres as punishment for organising a protest the day before against cramped conditions and abuse by staff. More than 700 children lived at the home, which had capacity for 400-500.”
In July 2024, The Guardian also reported: “In January, the trial of eight government officials and police officers charged in connection with the fire finally got under way. …The trial is expected to last for months… [BDH lawyer Edgar] Pérez says that from the testimonies given at the trial so far, ‘if the staff at the home had acted more promptly, many lives would have been saved’. ‘In fact, [the fire] could have been avoided altogether if there had been trained personnel, people with conscience [working there] and real policies for the care of children and adolescents in the country.’”
Accompaniment
PBI-Guatemala has accompanied this case for more than six years.
Further reading:
PBI-Guatemala observes commemoration of the lives lost in the Hogar Seguro Virgen de la Asuncion shelter fire (PBI-Canada, September 20, 2019)
PBI-Guatemala accompanies law firm at hearing related to the Hogar Seguro shelter fire (PBI-Canada, January 10, 2020).
