RECUSAL OF CONSTITUTIONAL COURT MAGISTRATES

UNCLAS GUATEMALA 001774 SIPDIS SENSITIVE E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: PGOV KDEM PINR KJUS GT SUBJECT: RECUSAL OF CONSTITUTIONAL COURT MAGISTRATES GENERATES GREATER UNCERTAINTY OVER RIOS MONTT CANDIDACY REF: GUATEMALA 1760 ¶1. (SBU) Summary: The recusal of one Constitutional Court magistrate and attempted recusal of five others on July 9 created a temporary crisis in the Court's consideration of the case involving the eligibility of Efrain Rios Montt to be a presidential candidate. The crisis was resolved when the Court accepted the recusal of the first magistrate, but then turned down the recusal of the remaining five. The Court replaced the recused magistrate with the only alternate that did not attempt to recuse himself, and the public hearing of the Rios Montt case is scheduled to proceed on the evening of July 10. The court has five days after the hearing to present its ruling. The recusals and consequent replacement of one magistrate create greater uncertainty over the outcome of the case, as the magistrate that recused himself was widely viewed as pro-Rios Montt, and the loyalties of the replacement is uncertain. End summary. ¶2. (SBU) The decision by President of the Constitutional Court Mario Ruiz Wong to select two alternate members of the court hearing the Rios Montt candidacy case by a lottery that was not transparent (reftel),led permanent member Nery Saul Dighero on July 8 to recuse himself from hearing the case. Dighero was widely viewed as being sympathetic to Rios Montt's candidacy, and his departure threatened the presumed 4 to 3 majority Rios Montt was believed to have in the court. In response, on July 9 two other permanent members of the court and three alternates (all viewed as opposing Rios Montt's candidacy) wrote the President of the Court to recuse themselves also from the case. These recusals, if accepted, would have deprived the Constitutional Court of the quorum necessary to decide the Rios Montt case. ¶3. (SBU) Court President Ruiz Wong called an urgent meeting of the Court (which the recused members attended),and voted on the recusals. The Court, by a one vote majority accepted the recusal of Dighero, replaced him with alternate magistrate Carlos Reynoso Gil, and turned down the recusals of the other five magistrates. The action permitted the Court to go ahead with the public hearing of the Rios Montt case, scheduled for the evening of July 10. The Court has five days after the hearing to render a verdict. ¶4. (SBU) Comment: Opponents of Rios Montt's candidacy viewed the recusal of the five magistrates as a way to force Constitutional Court President Ruiz Wong to re-hold the lottery for the two alternate magistrates in a transparent manner that would ensure that the composition of the Court was not manipulated in favor of Rios Montt. The decision of the Court, by a majority vote with all magistrates present, to not accept the five recusals, however, allowed the Court, as conformed, to proceed with the hearing. The only question now is how the new magistrate, Carlos Reynoso Gil, will vote. Opponents of Rios Montt's candidacy suspect, from his refusal to join the other magistrates in recusing themselves, that he may favor Rios Montt and be the vote tipping the Court in favor of the former General, but this remains to be seen. HAMILTON