The Guatemalan NGO Unit for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders in Guatemala said that defenders working on rights related to land, territory and the environment faced the highest number of attacks. In January, Sebastián Alonso Juan was killed during a peaceful protest against the construction of hydroelectric projects in the Ixquisis region of San Mateo Ixtatán. In addition, human rights defenders were constantly subjected to smear campaigns to stigmatize and discredit them and their work in an attempt to force them to stop their legitimate activities. From the end of June, members of the Centre for Environmental, Social and Legal Action were targeted with smear campaigns after they challenged the licence of Minera San Rafael mining company in San Rafael Las Flores. The justice system was regularly misused to target and harass human rights defenders in an attempt to break up movements and organizations, and silence human rights defenders. A General Instruction by the Public Prosecutor’s Office containing guidelines to effectively investigate attacks against human rights defenders was under review pending its approval for several months. Despite some progress, the process to create, in consultation with civil society, a comprehensive public policy for the protection of human rights defenders had not concluded by the end of the year. LAND DISPUTES In September the Supreme Court recognized the lack of prior consultation with the Xinca Indigenous People of Santa Rosa and Jalapa, who had been negatively affected by the activities of the mine of San Rafael Las Flores. The Court ordered the Ministry of Energy and Mines to carry out a consultation, but it also allowed the company to continue mining operations. As a result, an appeal was filed before the Constitutional Court, which remained pending. In September the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights ordered Guatemala to protect the rights of around Amnesty International Report 2017/18 400 people, including children and elderly people, who were stranded at the northern border with Mexico from early June in poor sanitary conditions. They had abandoned their community situated in Laguna Larga hours before a massive eviction was carried out. By the end of the year the authorities had not facilitated their return. REFUGEES’ AND MIGRANTS’ RIGHTS Thousands of Guatemalans migrated to the USA through Mexico in an effort to escape the high levels of inequality and violence affecting marginalized groups. UNHCR, the UN refugee agency, said that between January and October 18,764 Guatemalans sought asylum in other countries. Unaccompanied children from Guatemala comprised the biggest group of arrivals apprehended at the US border. Although large numbers of people continued to be forcibly returned to Guatemala, there was no comprehensive mechanism or protocol in place to address the needs of returnees who were sent back to the same conditions and danger that they had fled. CHILDREN’S RIGHTS In March, 41 girls died in a fire in the Virgen de la Asunción government-run shelter in San José Pinula municipality while locked inside a classroom. The deaths revealed the lack of sufficient and adequate measures to protect children’s rights in Guatemala. A number of public officials were charged, but delays in the investigation were reported. High levels of child pregnancy remained a particular concern. The Observatory on Sexual and Reproductive Health registered 69,445 births by girls and young women aged from 10 to 19 between January and September. 181