UN rapporteur visits Bolivia amid judicial crisis

RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – The United Nations Special Rapporteur on the Independence of Judges and Lawyers, Diego García-Sayán, travels Monday to Bolivia, which is in the midst of a judicial crisis.

The day before, the Peruvian jurist wrote on his Twitter account, “Tomorrow I begin my official visit as UN rapporteur, during which I will address issues related to the structure, organization and independent and impartial functioning of the judiciary, prosecutors and the practice of law.”

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The independence of the judiciary was called into question when a trial was opened against former interim president Jeanine Áñez and after several cases of the release of convicted wife-killers were revealed.

Justice Minister Iván Lima announced that García-Sayán’s arrival is scheduled for Monday. His official program will begin Tuesday with a meeting with Vice President David Choquehuanca, after which he will meet with various actors in Bolivia’s justice system. He will also meet with representatives of civil society, members of UN agencies, academics, and the diplomatic community. His visit will last until February 22.

The rapporteur’s visit is to conduct an international and national review of the Áñez case and the judicial system to ensure due process, Lima said, according to Bolivia’s state information agency (ABI).

The 54-year-old Áñez had begun a hunger strike in her cell last Thursday to demand that she be sentenced to an accountability trial rather than an ordinary trial for decisions made in violation of the constitution and the law after she took power following Evo Morales’ resignation from the presidency in 2019 after a crisis that left 37 people dead.

Two-thirds of the Legislative Assembly must approve an accountability process.

The former governor asked that the reporter visit her in jail in downtown La Paz. Her lawyer, Alaín De Canedo, said they were waiting for confirmation.

The opposition does not have much confidence in the rapporteur’s arrival. The president of the Comunidad Ciudadana (CC) bench, Carlos Alarcón, said the government is trying to “give a lifeline of legitimacy to this judicial system that is subservient and dependent on the ruling Movimiento Al Socialismo party.”

In 2020, García-Sayán criticized the Áñez government, asserting that it could have been “a democratic transition; but no, there is a political persecution that uses the judiciary,” referring to the arrest of former Morales government officials charged by transitional government authorities with crimes ranging from sedition to corruption.

The questioning of the justice system reached a scandalous point after police recaptured femicide and serial rapist convicted in 2014. A judge released the 34-year-old man. Five convicted femicide and murder offenders were arrested shortly after. The investigation was expanded to include more judges.

Victims’ families held a large demonstration demanding justice, a review of the cases, and an acceleration of proceedings for those not yet convicted.

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