Gunmen Raid Home of Leading Human Rights Lawyer in Guatemala

Gunmen broke into the home of one of Guatemala's most prominent human rights lawyers Monday morning, trashing the house as part of an intimidation campaign against officials investigating former military officials over alleged war crimes.

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Claiming they were police officers, armed men forced their way into the home of Ramón Cadena Rámila, Central America director of the Geneva-based International Commission of Jurists, reported The Guardian. Cadena has been involved in numerous high-profile human rights cases in his career, including the trial of former military dictator Efraín Rios Montt.

The gunmen pillaged the lawyer's house after forcing a security guard and Cadeana's family to wait outside, reported The Guardian. Cadena was not home at the time.

Less than two months ago, teleSUR reported that Guatemala's attorney general was also threatened with death for fighting impunity among the country's elite.

A week ago, Thelma Aldana, in charge of the corruption case involving the country's former president and vice president, reported that an unknown drone was overseeing her house.

"Threats of this nature, let alone direct acts of repression against people working for justice, are the norm in Guatemala, dating back to the 1954 U.S. coup that ousted Gautemala’s last really democratic government," Grahame Russell, director of human rights organization Rights Action, told teleSUR.

"The aim of threats and acts of repression against people working for justice is Guatemala is obviously to derail any efforts to achieve justice, particularly when members of the political, military and economic elites are implicated."