July 9, 2025
Washington, D.C. and Guatemala City — Disability Rights International (DRI), the Colectivo Vida Independiente de Guatemala (CVI), and the O’Neill Institute’s Center for Health and Human Rights (CHHR) welcome the Inter-American Court of Human Rights’ (IACtHR) decision to formally open the case concerning persons institutionalized at the Federico Mora psychiatric hospital in Guatemala. This marks the opening of the written and oral proceedings before the Court.
This case presents a critical opportunity for the Inter-American Court to address serious and long-standing human rights violations against a large number of persons with disabilities detained at the Federico Mora psychiatric hospital. The Court will be asked to rule on the practice of non-consensual institutionalization and treatment, which stems from an outdated legal framework that continues to deprive persons with disabilities of their legal capacity and reinforces a cycle of exclusion and abuse. In doing so, the case brings attention to broader systemic issues in Guatemala, including the absence of community-based assistance, support and services for persons with disabilities.
The case began in 2012, when the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) granted precautionary measures to protect patients at the Federico Mora Hospital following evidence of arbitrary detention and abuse. Continued violations led to a 2014 petition detailing indefinite institutionalization, lack of informed consent, inadequate medical care, systematic physical and sexual violence, and Guatemala’s failure to investigate. In its merits report, the IACHR found that Guatemala violated multiple rights under the American Convention on Human Rights and other regional instruments, including those to life, integrity, health, equality before the law, juridical personality and judicial protection. Due to ongoing violations and non-compliance with its recommendations, the Commission referred the case to the Inter-American Court on May 21, 2025, seeking reparations, legal reforms, and urgent deinstitutionalization.
The Court’s decision to open the case is a crucial step toward ending the abuses at Federico Mora, combating impunity, and advancing the rights of persons with disabilities across the region. Many of the dangerous and inhumane conditions at the Federico Mora persist, underscoring the urgent need to end the arbitrary detention of persons with disabilities at the facility.
As representatives of the victims and their families, DRI, CVI, and CHHR will seek a ruling by the Inter-American Court that can not only deliver justice but also have broader implications for Guatemala, helping to drive reforms to the mental health system and address the root causes of the violations in this case. We hope and trust that the Court will take this opportunity to provide guidance to States in the region on how to eradicate institutionalization based on disability, implement progressive deinstitutionalization processes in line with international standards, and ensure the right to community-based living for persons with disabilities.
****For media inquiries, please contact sjs357@georgetown.edu (O’Neill’s Center for Health and Human Rights), erosenthal@driadvocacy.org (Disability Rights International), or Silvia Quan at phone +502 4751 1902 or Silvia.quan@gmail.com (Colectivo Vida Independiente de Guatemala).