According to David Custodio Boteo, general director of the PNCan ex officio investigation was initiated together with the Public Ministry (MP), after detecting the dissemination of images in which naked students appear, while they were bathing or during a medical examination in the facilities of that institution’s academy.
During a meeting with deputy José Chicthe director of the PNC stated that the person who spread the videos in which the students appear has already been identified.
“It seems to me to be a quite complicated issue, which could even give rise to complaints and criminal prosecution,” the congressman commented to Custodio Boteo.
The director pointed out that the head of the Sexual Crimes Department of the PNC was the one who reported the images.
“Within the legal framework, article 190 of the Penal Code indicates that anyone who disseminates videos of a sexual nature without the person’s authorization can face imprisonment of two to four years,” explained Custodio.
In the images you can see how a group of women bathe in the academy’s basins. At the director’s discretion, there are areas designated for this, but some choose to do so with crates.
“Sometimes, for reasons of time, since there are other people bathing, some agree to shower very quickly. And it not only happens with women, but also with men,” said the official.
Abelardo Cucul Maaz, deputy director of Studies and Doctrine of the PNC, clarified that students are not allowed to bring cell phones into the facilities.
“Before entering, everything they bring is inspected: their clothing and what they will wear during their stay, to prevent the entry of devices such as phones,” he indicated.
The authorities indicated that the preliminary investigation indicates that it was an acting agent who disclosed the images, although it is also being investigated whether an external person was the one who recorded them.
“It could also have been one of the people who work at the place. The person who uploaded it was a police officer, but we consider that it could have been recorded by someone external,” Custodio explained.
The congressman questioned the lack of controls at the academy, which would allow outsiders to enter cell phones and record in the facilities where new agents are trained.
“I am concerned that there is no surveillance. If it is someone who works for a company outside the academy, it is even more worrying that they can enter and carry out these types of actions without any supervision,” Chic added.
Cucul ruled out that the workers of the company hired by the Police had taken the videos.
“The workers do not spend the night at the academy. Those videos, I believe, were taken in the morning. Therefore, I believe it must have been a uniformed police officer. This rules out the possibility that it was external personnel,” concluded the deputy director.
What crime is committed
Taking, disseminating or sharing images of a person’s body seeking to affect their dignity is a crimeis punishable by law and there are cases that have reached sentences, thus setting a precedent in Guatemala, says lawyer Esteban Celada, a Human Rights specialist.
Although the defender recognizes that there is still a need to “raise awareness” of the issue in the Courts, he assures that there is progress and More and more victims are seeking legal advice so that their attackers can face justice.
From his experience defending cases of this nature, Celada explained what the violation of sexual privacy, In what contexts do these cases occur, and what does the legal norm dictate for those who commit this crime?
Violation of sexual intimacy
In March 2009, when the Law Against Sexual Violence, Exploitation and Human Traffickinga reform was included to article 190 of the Penal Code. From that change, the crime of violation of sexual privacy.
In summary, this article strengthens legislation to protect people’s sexual privacy, imposing sanctions for those who attack or violate a person’s sexual privacy without their consent through capture, unauthorized access and dissemination of sensitive information and data, which includes images.
The standard covers both physical and electronic media, adapting to the current digital reality, where privacy can be violated through various technologies.
- Capture without consent: Whoever captures messages, conversations, communications, sounds, images in general or of a person’s body without their consent and with the purpose of affecting their dignity, will be punished with imprisonment of 1 to 3 years.
- Unauthorized access and use: The same penalties, prison of 1 to 3 years, apply to anyone who, without authorization, seizes, accesses, uses or modifies reserved communications or data with sexual content of a personal, family or other nature. These data may be recorded in any type of file or medium, whether computer, electronic, telematic, etc., to the detriment of the person who owns the data or a third person.
Delving into the above, as the article describes, the penalties can apply to any person who, without authorization, performs any of the following actions regarding reserved communications or data with sexual content of a personal, family, or other nature:
- Seize: Take control or possession of data or communications without the consent of the affected person.
- Access: Enter or view these data or communications without authorization.
- Use: Use the data or communications for any purpose without the permission of the affected person.
- Modify: Alter the content of data or communications without the consent of the owner of the information.
This data can be recorded in any type of file or medium, including:
- IT: As in computers, servers, databases, hard drives, etc.
- Electronic: On devices such as mobile phones, tablets, USB drives, etc.
- Telematic: In telecommunications systems and networks, such as emails, instant messaging services (WhatsApp, Messenger), cloud storage, etc.
Harm to the owner of the data or to a third person:
- Data owner: The person to whom the intimate or sensitive data belongs.
- Third person: Any other person who may be negatively affected by unauthorized access, use, or modification of this data.
More severe sanctions for dissemination
For those who disseminate, reveal or transfer the information captured, the penalties are more severe.
Unlike the act of seizing, capturing, accessing, using or modifying content, which carries a penalty of 1 to 3 years in prison, For those who disseminate or share the images or information captured, the imposition is 2 to 4 years in prison.