Libro Segundo Título IV. De los delitos contra la libertad y la seguridad de la persona

To the material or intellectual perpetrators of the crime of abduction or kidnapping of one or more persons for the purpose of obtaining ransom, exchange of persons or the adoption of any decision contrary to the will of the kidnapped person or with any other similar or equal purpose, *the death penalty shall be applied to them and when it cannot be imposed, imprisonment of twenty-five to fifty years shall be applied. In this case no mitigating circumstance shall be considered.

of the Constitutional Court dated 24 October 2017, File 5986-2016).

Accomplices or accessories after the fact shall be sanctioned with a penalty of twenty to forty years of imprisonment.

Those sentenced to imprisonment for the crime of abduction or kidnapping may not be granted a reduction of penalty for any cause.

Likewise, whoever imminently threatens or deprives another person of his or her liberty against his or her will regardless of the duration of such deprivation or deprives him or her of his or her rights of locomotion with risk to the life or property thereof, with danger of causing physical, psychological or material harm, in any form and by any means, shall incur commission of this crime and shall be sanctioned with imprisonment of twenty (20) to forty (40) years and a fine of fifty thousand (Q.50,000.00) to one hundred thousand quetzales (Q 100,000.00).

This crime shall be deemed consummated when the person is deprived of his or her individual liberty or the same is placed at risk or in imminent danger or is found subjected to the will of the person or persons who have apprehended, captured or illegally or unlawfully subjected him or her, by any means or form, and in no case shall any mitigating circumstance be considered.

*Torture

Commits the crime of torture whoever, by order, with the authorization, support or acquiescence of the State authorities, intentionally inflicts upon a person severe pain or suffering, whether physical or mental, for the purpose of obtaining from such person or from a third party information or a confession, on account of an act which such person has committed or is suspected of having committed, or which seeks to intimidate a person or, by that means, other persons. Likewise, members of organized groups or gangs with terrorist, insurgent, subversive purposes or any other criminal purpose commit the crime of torture.

The author or authors of the crime of torture shall likewise be tried for the crime of kidnapping.

The consequences of acts carried out by competent authority in the legitimate exercise of its duty and in the safeguarding of public order shall not be considered torture.

The person or persons liable for the crime of torture shall be punished with imprisonment of twenty-five to thirty years.

The crime of forced disappearance is committed by whoever, by order, with the authorization or support of State authorities, in any manner deprives of liberty one or more persons, for political motives, concealing their whereabouts, refusing to reveal their fate or to acknowledge their detention, as well as the public official or public employee, whether or not belonging to the State security forces, who orders, authorizes, supports or gives acquiescence to such actions.

The deprivation of liberty of one or more persons constitutes the crime of forced disappearance, even when there is no political motive, when it is committed by members of the State security forces, while in the exercise of their office, when they act arbitrarily or with abuse or excess of force. Likewise, members or participants of groups or organized bands with terrorist, insurgent, subversive purposes or with any other criminal purpose commit the crime of forced disappearance when they commit abduction or kidnapping, participating as members or collaborators of said groups or bands.

The crime is considered continuing for as long as the victim is not released. The person convicted of forced disappearance shall be sanctioned with imprisonment from twenty-five to forty years. *The death penalty shall be imposed in place of the maximum of imprisonment, when by reason of or on the occasion of the forced disappearance, the victim sustains serious or very serious injuries, permanent psychic or psychological trauma or dies.

of the Constitutional Court dated 24 October 2017, File 5986-2016).

Whoever reduces a person to servitude or to another analogous condition, and those who keep them therein, shall be punished with imprisonment of two to ten years.

Discrimination shall be understood as any distinction, exclusion, restriction or preference based on grounds of gender, race, ethnicity, language, age, religion, economic situation, illness, disability, marital status, or on any other ground, reason or circumstance, that prevents or hinders a person, group of persons or associations from exercising a legally established right including customary law or custom, in accordance with the Political Constitution of the Republic and the International Treaties on human rights.

Whoever by action or omission engages in the conduct described in the preceding paragraph shall be sanctioned with imprisonment of one to three years and a fine of five hundred to three thousand quetzales.

The penalty shall be aggravated by one third:

a)When the discrimination is for linguistic, cultural or ethnic reasons.

b)For whoever in any manner and by any means disseminates, supports or incites discriminatory ideas.

c)When the act is committed by a public official or public employee in the exercise of their office.

d)When the act is committed by a private individual in the provision of a public service.

The recruitment, transportation, transfer, retention, harboring or receipt of one or more persons for purposes of exploitation constitutes the crime of trafficking in persons.

Whoever commits this crime shall be sanctioned with imprisonment of eight to eighteen years and a fine of three hundred thousand to five hundred thousand quetzales. In no case shall the consent given by the victim of trafficking in persons or by his or her legal representative be taken into account.

For the purposes of the crime of trafficking in persons, the following shall be understood as purpose of exploitation: The prostitution of others, any other form of sexual exploitation, forced labor or services, any type of labor exploitation, begging, any form of slavery, servitude, the sale of persons, the extraction and trafficking of human organs and tissues, the recruitment of minor persons for organized criminal groups, irregular adoption, irregular adoption proceedings, pornography, forced pregnancy or forced or servile marriage.

Whoever, for himself or for third parties, in exchange for the exploitation activities to which the crime of trafficking refers, gives or promises to a person or to third parties an economic benefit or of any other nature, shall be sanctioned with a penalty of imprisonment of six to eight years.

The penalty established in the preceding paragraph shall be increased by two thirds if the remuneration is given or promised in exchange for exploitation activities of a person under fourteen years of age; and it shall be increased twofold if it involves a person under ten years of age.

Any person who locks up or detains another, depriving him of his liberty, shall be sanctioned with imprisonment of one to three years. The same sanction shall be imposed on whoever provides a place for the commission of this crime.

The penalties prescribed in the preceding articles shall be increased by one-third if any of the following circumstances concur:

1.If the kidnapping or abduction, confinement or detention lasts more than three days.

2.If in the commission of the crime there is a threat of death or cruel or degrading treatment of the offended person.

3.If the crime was committed by more than two persons.

4.If the will of the victim was weakened or nullified, intentionally or by any means.

5.If the victim, as a consequence of the act, is mentally affected, temporarily or permanently.

If the penalties refer to the crimes contemplated in Articles 191, 192, 193, 193 Bis, 194, 195, 195 Bis, 195 Ter, 195 Quáter, 202 Ter and 202 Quáter, the penalty shall be increased by one-third if any of the following circumstances concur:

a.Violence is resorted to.

b.Recourse is had to servile marriage, substitution of one child for another, supposition of childbirth or suppression or alteration of civil status.

c.The victim is a person with volitional, cognitive or resistance incapacity or an older adult.

d.The perpetrator is a relative of the victim or a person responsible for his or her education, keeping, custody, care, guardianship, or is the spouse, former spouse, cohabitant or former cohabitant of the victim or of one of his or her parents.

e.The perpetrator acts with the use of weapons, alcoholic, narcotic, stupefacient substances, other instruments or substances that seriously injure the health of the offended person.

f.The victim is pregnant.

g.The perpetrator of the crime of trafficking in persons is a public official, public employee or professional in the exercise of his or her functions.

The penalty to be imposed shall be increased by two-thirds if, in the cases covered by Articles 201 and 203, the act was executed with impersonation of authority or if the victim is a person under eighteen and over fourteen years of age; by three-quarters if he or she is under fourteen and over ten years of age; and doubled if the victim is a person under ten years of age.

Any private individual who, outside the cases permitted by law, apprehends a person in order to present such person to the authority, shall be sanctioned with a fine of fifty to two hundred quetzales.

A private individual who, without authorization or against the express or tacit will of the occupant, clandestinely or by deceit, enters another person's dwelling or its dependencies or remains therein, shall be sanctioned with imprisonment of three months to two years.

If the acts described in the preceding article are carried out with simulation of authority, with arms, with violence or by more than two persons, the sanction shall be two to four years of imprisonment.

The provisions of Articles 206 and 434 are not applicable to a person who enters another's dwelling to avoid serious harm to himself, to the occupants, or to a third party.

Nor shall it apply with respect to cafés, canteens, taverns, inns, lodging houses and other similar establishments, while they are open to the public.

Private rooms of hotels and other establishments referred to in the preceding paragraph that constitute a dwelling for the person inhabiting them are not covered by this exception.

Whoever removes a minor under twelve years of age or an incapacitated person from the authority of his or her parents, guardian, or person in charge of the same and whoever retains him or her against the will of the latter shall be sanctioned with imprisonment of one to three years.

The same penalty shall apply if the minor is over twelve years of age and there is no consent on his or her part.

The penalty to be imposed shall be six months to two years, if the minor over twelve years of age has given consent.

Whoever, being in charge of the person of a minor, does not present him to his parents or guardians, nor give satisfactory explanation of his disappearance, shall be sanctioned with imprisonment of one to three years.

In case of disappearance of the abducted person, if those responsible do not prove the whereabouts of the victim or that the victim's death or disappearance was due to causes unrelated to the abduction, they shall be punished with imprisonment of six to twelve years. However, if the abducted person is found, the penalty shall be reduced in the corresponding manner, through a remedy of review.

Whoever induces a minor, but over ten years of age, to abandon the house of their parents, guardians, or persons in charge of them, shall be sanctioned with imprisonment of six months to two years.

Whoever, having charge of the upbringing or education of a minor, delivers him to a public establishment or to another person, without the consent of the person who entrusted him to him, or of the authority in default thereof, shall be sanctioned with a fine of one hundred to five hundred quetzales.

Whoever, without being legitimately authorized, by violent, intimidating means or means that in any way compels another, obliges the latter to do or to omit doing what the law does not prohibit him from doing, to perform or consent to what he does not want, or to tolerate another person doing so, whether it be just or not, shall be sanctioned with imprisonment of six months to two years.

If the coercion is committed against a judicial public official so that he decides in a particular sense or refrains from deciding on a matter within his cognizance, the penalty to be applied shall be two to six years of imprisonment.

Whoever threatens another with causing to that same person or to his relatives within the degrees established by law, harm to their person, honor or property, whether or not such harm constitutes a crime, shall be sanctioned with imprisonment of six months to three years.

If the threat is committed against a judicial public official by reason of the exercise of his office, it shall be sanctioned with imprisonment of two to six years.

Whoever, outside the cases provided for in the respective special laws, by means of violence or threats prevents or curtails the exercise of any political right, shall be sanctioned with imprisonment of six months to three years.

The sanction established for this crime shall be increased by two-thirds in the following cases:

a)If the perpetrator is a public official or employee of the Supreme Electoral Tribunal or a member of a Departmental Electoral Board, Municipal Electoral Board or Vote Receiving Board;

b)If the perpetrator is a public official or employee of the State, in any of its bodies or autonomous, decentralized and non-governmental institutions, regardless of their form of election or type of legal employment relationship.

Whoever, intentionally or to discover the secrets of another, opens correspondence, a sealed document or telegraphic, telephonic or other dispatches not addressed to him, or whoever, without opening them, learns of their contents, shall be sanctioned with a fine of one hundred to one thousand quetzales.

Whoever, improperly, takes possession of correspondence, sealed packet or dispatches referred to in the preceding article, or of any other private paper, even if they are not sealed, or whoever suppresses them or diverts them from their destination, shall be sanctioned with a fine of one hundred to one thousand quetzales.

Whoever, using fraudulent means, intercepts, copies or records televised, radio, telegraphic, telephone or other similar communications or of the same nature, or prevents or interrupts them, shall be sanctioned with a fine of one hundred to one thousand quetzales.

The sanctions prescribed for the criminal acts defined in the three preceding articles shall be imprisonment of six months to three years, in the following cases:

1º.If the perpetrator takes advantage of their status as manager, director, administrator or employee of the respective department, company or entity.

2º.If official matters are involved.

3º.If the perpetrator makes the information obtained public, by any means.

4º.If the perpetrator is a public official or public employee.

The provisions of Articles 217, 218 and 219 of this chapter are not applicable to parents with respect to their minor children, nor to guardians or protutors with respect to persons under their custody or guardianship.

Whoever, being lawfully in possession of correspondence, papers or recordings, photographs not intended for publicity, makes them public without due authorization, even if they were addressed to him, when the act causes or could cause harm, shall be sanctioned with a fine of two hundred to two thousand quetzales.

Whoever, without just cause, reveals or uses for their own benefit or that of another a secret of which they have learned by reason of their status, occupation, employment, profession or art, without thereby causing or being able to cause harm, shall be sanctioned with imprisonment of six months to two years or a fine of one hundred to one thousand quetzales.

Whoever interrupts the celebration of a religious ceremony or performs acts in contempt of or with offense to the worship or to the objects destined for the same, shall be sanctioned with imprisonment of one month to one year.

Whoever violates or vilifies a grave, sepulcher or funerary urn, or in any other manner profanes the corpse of a human being or its remains, shall be sanctioned with imprisonment of six months to two years.

Whoever, without the woman's consent, procures her pregnancy using medical or chemical artificial insemination techniques shall be sanctioned with imprisonment of two to five years and special disqualification of up to ten years.

If pregnancy results, imprisonment of two to six years and special disqualification of up to fifteen years shall apply.

If the woman suffers very serious injuries or death, imprisonment of three to ten years and special disqualification of ten to twenty years shall apply.

Imprisonment of one to three years and special disqualification of up to ten years shall be imposed on any person who fraudulently alters the agreed conditions for performing an artificial insemination or obtains consent through deceit or false promises.

From one to three years of imprisonment and special disqualification for up to ten years shall be imposed on whoever, even with the consent of the woman, performs on her experiments intended to cause her pregnancy.

The various attempts to procure pregnancy carried out in accordance with an already tested and approved technique shall not be considered experiments.