Expand / Collapse search
Watch TV
Menu

This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. ©2024 FOX News Network, LLC. All rights reserved. Quotes displayed in real-time or delayed by at least 15 minutes. Market data provided by Factset. Powered and implemented by FactSet Digital Solutions. Legal Statement. Mutual Fund and ETF data provided by Refinitiv Lipper.

World

Guatemala Congress forms commission to replace crusading attorney general under court's ruling

Associated Press
Published | Updated
  • Guatemala Attorney General
    Image 1 of 3

    Guatemala's Attorney General Claudia Paz y Paz speaks during an interview at her office in Guatemala City, Monday, Feb. 10, 2014. Guatemala's Supreme Court upheld its ruling that the country's crusading attorney general must step down in May, seven months before her term was to end, drawing complaints from human rights activists who back her efforts to prosecute civil war-era military officials. (AP Photo/Moises Castillo) (The Associated Press)

  • ed75dd00-Guatemala Attorney General
    Image 2 of 3

    Guatemala's Attorney General Claudia Paz y Paz, left, and Assistant Secretary of State for International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs (INL) William R. Brownfield shakes hands during a photo opportunity in Guatemala City, Monday, Feb. 10, 2014. Brownfield is in an official visit to Guatemala and Honduras this week. (AP Photo/Moises Castillo) (The Associated Press)

  • 1637759b-Guatemala Attorney General
    Image 3 of 3

    Human rights activist Iduvina Hernandez shouts slogan in support of Guatemala's Attorney General Claudia Paz y Paz during a protest in front of Congress in Guatemala City, Monday, Feb. 10, 2014. Human rights groups in Guatemala are protesting the Supreme Court's decision to oust the country's crusading attorney general seven months before her term was set to end. (AP Photo/Moises Castillo) (The Associated Press)

GUATEMALA CITY – Guatemala's Congress has formed a commission to pick a replacement to take over from the country's crusading attorney general in May despite demands from human rights groups to keep her until December.

The commission was formed Monday after 94 of 158 lawmakers voted in favor of replacing Attorney General Claudia Paz y Paz.

Guatemala's Supreme Court ruled last week in favor of a lawyer who says Paz's four-year term technically began in May 2010, when the official she replaced was appointed, and not in December 2010, when she took the post.

The court's decision has been condemned by human rights groups, which say it favors opponents of Paz. Since assuming the post she has vigorously pursued organized crime suspects as well as military officers for alleged rights abuses.