Direct Request (CEACR) - adopted 2025, published 114th ILC session (2026)

Forced Labour Convention, 1930 (No. 29) - Guatemala (Ratification: 1989)

Articles 1(1), 2(1) and 25 of the Convention. Trafficking in persons. 1. Public Policy With reference to the implementation of the Public Policy to Combat Trafficking in Person and Provide Full Protection for Victims (2014–24), the Committee takes due note of the detailed information provided by the Government in its report, according to which: (i) the Mobile Units for the Prevention of Sexual Violence, Exploitation and Trafficking in Persons (UNIVETs) and the Secretariat against Sexual Violence, Exploitation and Trafficking in Persons (SVET) have developed prevention measures and training for vulnerable groups, as well as the personnel of institutions dealing with trafficking in persons, civil society and other key actors; (ii) the Inter-Institutional Commission to Combat Trafficking in Persons (CIT) has contributed to the formulation of a new Public Policy to Combat Trafficking in Persons 2025–40, the principal objective of which is to protect and fully compensate victims of sexual violence and trafficking in persons in the country; and (iii) the State Inter-Institutional Indigenous Coordinator (CIIE) and the Working Group for the Prevention of the Crimes of Sexual Violence, Exploitation and Trafficking in Indigenous Peoples have carried out awareness-raising and training on tools for the prevention of trafficking in persons from a community perspective.

With regard to the difficulties encountered during the implementation of the Public Policy, the Government indicates that it has faced limitations in: the execution and follow-up to the implementation and evaluation of plans of action; the absence of their own budget for most of the institutions engaged in combating trafficking in persons; and financing for the maintenance and services provided by the UNIVETs. The Committee also notes that the State publishes biennial reports analysing the Public Policy and making recommendations.

The Committee encourages the Government to continue taking measures to prevent and combat trafficking in persons and hopes that the difficulties encountered in the implementation of the Public Policy can be remedied. It requests the Government to provide information on: (i) the adoption of a new Public Policy to Combat Trafficking in Persons and Provide Full Protection for Victims and the measures taken for its effective implementation; and (ii) the measures promoted to prevent and raise awareness of the risks of trafficking in persons for vulnerable groups, including members of indigenous peoples.

2. Protection and assistance to victims. The Committee notes the Government’s indication that, through the Secretariat against Sexual Violence, Exploitation and Trafficking in Persons (SVET), specialized support is provided, with priority being given to protecting their lives, physical safety, health, education, psychotherapeutic and social care and technical and vocational training. The CIT has developed and updated tools for detection, provision of care, protection and repatriation, such as the guide for the detection and identification of victims of trafficking in persons (2023), the inter-institutional coordination protocol for the protection and support of victims of trafficking in persons (2022); and the inter-institutional coordination protocol for the repatriation of victims of trafficking in persons (2023–24), With regard to the number of victims supported, the Government indicates that, through the SVET, 231 case received external care in 2022, 188 in 2023 and 208 in 2024. The Social Welfare Secretariat of the Office of the President of the Republic provided support to a total of 201 victims of trafficking in persons between 2022 and 23 April 2025, of whom 51 received support in 2022, 91 in 2023, 43 in 2024 and 16 in 2025.

On the other hand, the Committee notes that, according to the State report on trafficking in persons (2023–24), in 2023, 12 per cent of the victims supported were from the indigenous population and the largest number of victims and survivors who received external support in the first quarter of 2024 were from the Maya ethnic group (54 per cent). In this regard, the Committee notes that, in its concluding observations of 2023, the United Nations Committee for the Elimination of Discrimination against Women expressed concern at the heightened risk of sex trafficking run by indigenous women, Garifuna women and women of African descent, rural women, migrant women and internally displaced women (CEDAW/C/GTM/CO/10).

The Committee requests the Government to continue taking the necessary measures to ensure that victims of trafficking receive the assistance, protection and rehabilitation measures set out in the Act to combat sexual violence, exploitation and trafficking in persons. It requests the Government to indicate haw the SVET ensures that such protection is provided with a gender perspective. Please provide information on the victims identified and provided with support, the type of assistance provided, and the measures intended to facilitate the repatriation of Guatemalan victims under the inter-institutional coordination protocol for the repatriation of victims of trafficking in persons.

3. Prosecution and application of criminal penalties. The Committee notes the Government’s reference to the protocol of the General Labour Inspectorate on the detection and referral of cases of trafficking of persons in relation to labour, which establishes an operating framework for the detection and referral of potential cases of trafficking of workers, including migrant workers. The indicators of potential cases of trafficking in persons take into account evidence of coercion or lack of consent and the imposition of forced labour through physical or sexual violence.

In relation to the investigations carried out into possible cases of the forced recruitment of migrants on the northern frontier by criminal organizations, the Government indicates that no complaints have been received or cases identified of Guatemalan persons who have been the victims of forced recruitment by organized criminal groups during their transit along the migration route heading north. With reference to the investigations and rulings issued in cases of trafficking for sexual and labour exploitation, according to the detailed information provided: (i) in 2022, a total of 232 investigations were carried out into cases of trafficking for sexual exploitation, and the numbers were 449 in 2023, 652 in 2024 and 72 up to April 2025; (ii) in 2022, investigations were launched in 108 cases of trafficking for labour exploitation, and the figures were 106 in 2023, 203 in 2024 and 31 up to April 2025; (iii); the number of rulings issued in cases of trafficking for sexual and labour exploitation between 2022 and April 2025 were 82 cases for sexual exploitation and 20 for labour exploitation; and (iv) between 2022 and 17 March 2025, a total of 88 cases were initiated for trafficking in persons, and the figures were nine in 2022, 25 in 2023, 30 in 2024 and 29 in 2025.

With reference to convictions for the crime of trafficking in persons for sexual or labour exploitation, the Government indicates that in 2022 there were 18 (13 for sexual exploitation and five for labour exploitation), in 2023 there were 11 for sexual exploitation and there were 18 in 2024 (16 for sexual exploitation and two for labour exploitation) and two in 2025 (one for sexual exploitation and one for labour exploitation).

The Committee requests the Government to continue strengthening the capacity of the authorities responsible for identifying and investigating situations of trafficking in persons so that evidence is gathered as a basis for convicting those responsible and requests it to provide information on this subject. In this regard, it requests the Government to indicate the manner in which the general labour inspection services cooperate with the police and the Office of the Public Prosecutor for the referral of potential cases of trafficking in persons. Please continue to provide information on investigations, current judicial processes, convictions and the penalties applied under section 202 ter of the Penal Code, which criminalizes trafficking in persons.

Article 2(2)(a). Civic service. With regard to enlistment for civic service, the Committee takes due note of the Government’s indication that, since the establishment of the service, public lottery has not been used as a method of enlistment, and recruitment is voluntary.

Article 2(2)(c). Prison labour. The Committee noted previously that both persons held in pretrial detention and persons who have been convicted to a sentence of imprisonment have the obligation/duty to work (section 47 of the Penal Code and sections 4 and 17 of the Prisons Act) and it requested the Government to indicate whether this requirement is applied in practice to persons who have not been convicted. In this regard, the Government indicates that persons who are detained have the right and duty to work as from their entry into prison. Noting that section 33 of the Regulations of the Prisons Act provides that persons in pretrial detention may not be deprived of their rights or faculties, nor shall they be required to perform other prison activities, except those related to the purpose of their detention, the Committee requests the Government to clarify whether the obligation to work of detainees, as set out in section 47 of the Penal Code, is also applicable to persons in pretrial detention.