"In Bolivia, justice is far from the people": UN rapporteur presents preliminary observations

  García-Sayán ends his official visit to Bolivia after seven days of intense meetings with different sectors. He considers the cases of release of convicted criminals worrying.

Diego García-Sayán, United Nations special rapporteur for judicial independence and lawyers, issued on Tuesday nine preliminary observations at the conclusion of his official visit to the country.

His first conclusion was that "in Bolivia justice is far from the people", while expressing concern about the cases of release of convicted criminals and the increase in acts of violence against women, which are not punished by a "gap" that exists in access to timely attention.

"In Bolivia, justice is far from the people, to the extent that there is an urgency in Bolivian society for justice to respond to daily dramas, the understandable and legitimate reaction to the release of convicted criminals through corrupt means," he said.

He also referred to the situation of former president Jeanine Áñez, who could not be transferred to a medical center to be evaluated. He maintained that the State must be responsible for guaranteeing the wellbeing of all persons deprived of liberty, in addition to invoking that the guarantees and norms of "due process" be respected in this and other cases.

His observations:

"I cannot respond, Mrs. Áñez has her legal defense, the rapporteur cannot be able to advance an impression on innocence or criminal responsibility, we can only advocate for the respect of the due process", he said almost at the end of his press conference.

Likewise, he regretted that only half of one percent of the national budget is destined to the judicial area and that only 44 percent of the country's justice administrators are career administrators, most of them being transitory.

He considered that it should be evaluated whether it is appropriate to maintain the election of magistrates through the ballot box, admitting that evidence shows that this mechanism "does not work". He urged the different social sectors to reach a national agreement to face the reforms in this body.