human rights defender

Basilio Bernardo Puac García

© ntnoticiastoto

HRD's Gender

Man

Type of HRD

  • Social and community leader

HRD's thematic area of engagement

  • Civil and political rights
  • Environmental rights
  • Fight against corruption
  • Indigenous peoples’ rights

HRD's geographical origin

Urban

HRD's bio and work

(AI Translated) Basilio Bernardo Puac García is a former vice president of the 48 Cantons of Totonicapán; he participated in the protests carried out in 2023 to ensure that the will of the people of Guatemala was respected during that year's elections and the democratic process, which is why he and other community leaders are being criminalized.

Current Status

End of prosecution (charges dropped)

Detained since

Jan 14, 2026

Sentence

(AI Translated) The head of the Third Criminal Court issued a dismissal in the judicial process against the defender and other indigenous authorities and a public apology that the State must offer to the 48 Cantons of Totonicapán and to the Ancestral authorities.

Latitude: 14.637417396812422

Longitude: -90.47845780849458

Geolocation of detention

Country or area of detention

Region of detention

  • Americas: Latin America and the Caribbean

Location of detention - City/Town

(AI Translated) Guatemala City

Location of detention - Facility

(AI Translated) Marshals Zavala Men's Detention Center

Recent case update / evolution

(AI Translated) Case under seal at the request of the Public Prosecutor's Office

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