The changes in the prosecutor’s offices promoted by Attorney General Gabriel García Luna generated different assessments among analysts and former prosecutors of the Public Ministry (MP), who agree on the importance of evaluating personnel performance and strengthening key areas of criminal prosecution.
On the afternoon of June 2, the MP completed a series of transfers and appointments in different specialized and section prosecutor’s offices. Among the movements is the transfer of Raul Figueroa to the Anti-Kidnapping Prosecutor’s Office; the appointment of Alfredo Solorzano in the Prosecutor’s Office against Human Trafficking; the designation of Hassen Coy López in the Prosecutor’s Office against Transnational Crimes; and the transfer of Cinthia Monterroso to the Western regional headquarters.
It was also known that Freddy Santoswith more than a decade of experience in the Prosecutor’s Office against Kidnapping to the Prosecutor’s Office against Economic crimes. Besides, Nelly Morataya She was appointed to head the Special Prosecutor’s Office against Impunity (Feci), although she did not accept the position and would have submitted her resignation.
Experience must be decisive
For Edgar Gómez, former MP prosecutor and security and justice analyst, the changes were foreseeable within a new administration, but they had to be made based on a detailed evaluation of the trajectory of each official.
“Prior to making these changes, I believe that the Attorney General and his work team had to carry out an analysis of the profile of each of the prosecutors, their previous experience, in which prosecutor’s office they have been trained, what specializations they have had and what courses they have received,” Gómez commented.
The former prosecutor explained that the specialization acquired during the years of work is essential to direct certain prosecutor’s offices, because criminal phenomena require different knowledge.
“It is very different to investigate a property crime, an economic crime, a corruption crime, from investigating a crime against life, a sexual crime against a girl, a woman or an adolescent,” he said.
Gómez warned that transferring personnel without considering their experience can affect the pace of the investigations.
“There is a risk that the investigations will be delayed, since it will have to convene all its investigation teams almost daily to regain control and reins of the work of each of the section prosecutors’ offices,” he indicated.
In his opinion, the prosecutor’s offices that require greater attention in the current situation are those related to corruption, administrative crimes, extortion, organized crime, crimes against life, violence against women, children and adolescents, protection of journalists and human rights defenders, as well as electoral crimes.
“I consider that one cannot discriminate between one prosecutor’s office or another, because all of them were designed to protect a specific protected legal asset,” he said.
The changes were timely, says former prosecutor
Alan Ajiatas, former MP prosecutor and security and justice analyst, considers that the movements were necessary because some prosecutors carried out investigations that, in his opinion, deviated from the principle of objectivity that should govern the institution.
Ajiatas recalled that the MP is a single and indivisible institution and that the fiscal career is designed so that officials can work in different areas.
The former prosecutor pointed out that the experience accumulated in different agencies strengthens the work of investigators and prosecutors.
“The prosecutorial career allows the different positions that one holds within the Public Ministry to give one the ability to learn about different phenomena,” he explained.
Regarding the elimination of the Feci announced by the new administration, Ajiatas supported it being one of the first areas to intervene.
“It was important to address it immediately, because it was one of the precursors of these biased investigations. So, that’s where it was important to start,” he said.
However, he considered that the main challenge is not only to strengthen some prosecutor’s offices, but to consolidate the entire institutional structure.
Analyst says that the MP began to put the house in order
Gustavo García Fong, independent security and justice analyst, considers that Gabriel García Luna’s first decisions respond to a logic of institutional evaluation.
“One of the first tasks that the new attorney general had to carry out, as announced in his inauguration speech, was to carry out an audit of everything carried out in the previous administration and an evaluation of the work carried out,” he stated.
According to García Fong, the review of the performance of fiscal and administrative personnel was a necessary measure to begin a new stage in the institution.
“This was the starting point that can be summarized as starting to put the house in order. An unquestionably necessary step to get his management off to a good start,” he said.
The analyst considers that personnel rotation must be supported by the mechanisms established in the Organic Law of the Public Ministry.
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“The law indicates what conditions must be taken into account to enter new positions, carry out promotions, removals and strengthen the professional career. Following the technical criteria established by the law, I value with optimism and positivity that these types of actions are being carried out,” he indicated.
García Fong also supported the audit announced for the FECI and the review of salaries within the institution.
“Faced with such extensive management, any expert in human resources or personal performance evaluation would suggest not only an audit, but a thorough evaluation of all its results,” he added.
The expert said that any official who assumes a new leadership must undergo constant evaluations.