HIGHLIGHTS OF RESULTS HIGHLIGHTS OF RESULTS Accountability (A) AFTER 37 YEARS WAITING FOR JUSTICE Strengthening the rule of law and accountability for human rights violations Accountability in numbers 40,000 victims of torture in victims of contemporary forms of slavery in 78 27 countries obtained assistance countries received rehabilitation support 2,101 7,504 1,130 visits to places of detention were conducted monitoring missions were undertaken to investigate and document human rights situations worldwide trials were monitored worldwide Working Group on Enforced or Involuntary Disappearances transmitted 692 new cases of allegations to States 193 were under its urgent action procedure The Working Group clarified 503 cases 5 In countries transitional justice mechanisms have been established or improved their compliance with international human rights norms and standards 40 UN HUMAN RIGHTS REPORT 2018 1 new independent mechanism established to collect evidence of the most serious international crimes committed in Myanmar ”After almost 37 years, we have closed a chapter in our search for justice, with a verdict that validates our truth.” With those words, Emma Theissen Álvarez de Molina expressed the feelings of her family after Guatemala’s High Risk Court “C” sentenced four former high-ranking military officials and intelligence agents, on 23 May 2018, to long prison sentences for the enforced disappearance of her 14-year-old son, Marco Antonio, and for crimes against humanity and aggravated sexual violence committed against her daughter, Emma Guadalupe (aged 15 at the time). “This historic and revolutionary verdict recognizes values and places victims of atrocious crimes at the very centre of justice and validates their testimonies,” added Mrs. Theissen. Emma Guadalupe Molina Theissen was captured on 27 September 1981 after attending a political meeting and taken to a military base for interrogation. She was kept in illegal custody at the Manuel Lisandro Barillas military barracks in Quetzaltenango, Guatemala. She was held incommunicado and handcuffed to bunk beds. She was interrogated under violence over a long period, suffering various kinds of torture and other cruel treatment, such as repeated (gang) rapes by several military members, beatings, kickings, electric shocks and psychological torture. Nine days after her capture, Emma Guadalupe managed to escape. The following day, her brother Marco Antonio was taken by force from the family’s home in Guatemala City, put into a nylon sack and driven to an unknown destination in a vehicle with official license plates, allegedly in retaliation for The Molina Theissen family members called for sentencing in the case of the enforced disappearance of Marco Antonio Molina Theissen and aggravated sexual assault of his sister Emma Guadalupe Molina Theissen during a demonstration in March 2018. © OHCHR/Guatemala the escape of his sister from the military torture chamber and as a punishment for a family that was considered dissident during the internal armed conflict. He was never found. Since the judgement, the court has ordered an array of reparations, including the long-awaited national commission, financial rewards for individuals who provided credible information about clandestine graves and the conversion of the base where Emma was tortured into a museum of memory. The ruling recognized that the practices of sexual violence, torture and enforced disappearance were part of the military’s strategy during the internal armed conflict in Guatemala. It sends a clear message that it is possible for the country to advance in the fight against impunity of the past, which in turn strengthens the fight against impunity and the consolidation of the rule of law. UN Human Rights monitored all stages of the case of Ms Molina Theissen to ensure that guarantees related to the rights of victims and their families, judicial independence and due process were respected. UN Human Rights also provided support to the Molina Theissen family, their lawyers and the judiciary. UN HUMAN RIGHTS REPORT 2018 41