surgery. In June, the Athens Magistrates’ Court allowed a transgender man to change his gender marker in his identification documents without gender reassignment surgery. GUATEMALA Republic of Guatemala Head of state and government: Jimmy Morales Cabrera (replaced Alejandro Maldonado Aguirre in January) Smear campaigns and the misuse of the criminal justice system to harass and intimidate human rights defenders continued. Defenders working on land, territorial and environmental issues were at particular risk. People continued to flee the country to escape high levels of inequality and violence. There was a landmark decision by the High-Risk Court A in a case concerning sexual violence and the domestic slavery of 11 Indigenous women during the internal armed conflict. Other high-profile cases against former members of the military continued to suffer setbacks and undue delays. The Congressional Human Rights Commission presented a bill to abolish the death penalty. TRANSITIONAL JUSTICE In January, the trial of José Efraín Ríos Montt, former President and Commander-in-Chief, and José Mauricio Rodríguez Sánchez, former Military Intelligence Director, on charges of genocide and crimes against humanity was postponed.1 In March, the trial began before a High-Risk Court and, in May, a Court of Appeals found in favour of the plaintiffs’ request to be tried separately. The Rios Montt trial had to take place behind closed doors in light of the special provisions adopted after it was determined that he was mentally unfit to stand trial. Both trials remained stalled at the end of the year. Five former members of the military, including Benedicto Lucas García, former head of the High Command of the Guatemalan Army, were charged in relation Amnesty International Report 2016/17 to the illegal detention, torture and sexual violence committed against Emma Guadalupe Molina Theissen, and the enforced disappearance of Marco Antonio Molina Theissen. According to local NGOs, several hearings were suspended and the judiciary imposed restrictions and requirements on the victim’s family and the general public. Members of the Molina Theissen family were subjected to harassment, including online. Women family members faced particular forms of genderbased violence, including harassment and vilification. In a landmark decision by the High-Risk Court A in February, two former military officials were found guilty of crimes against humanity for the sexual and domestic enslavement of and the sexual violence against 11 Indigenous Maya Q’eqchi’ women. The crimes took place in the military base located in the community of Sepur Zarco during the internal armed conflict.2 In June, High-Risk Court A ruled that eight former members of the military should face trial on charges related to cases of enforced disappearances and unlawful killings carried out in a military base now known as Creompaz in the northern Alta Verapaz region.3 Relatives of the victims were the targets of online harassment, intimidation inside and outside the courtroom, surveillance and threats. Civil society organizations continued to push for the approval of Law 3590, which would create a National Commission for the Search for Victims of Enforced Disappearance and Other Forms of Disappearance. The law, which was first presented before Congress in 2006, had not been discussed by the end of 2016. HUMAN RIGHTS DEFENDERS Human rights defenders faced continuing threats, stigmatization, intimidation and attacks. According to the NGO UDEFEGUA, 14 human rights defenders were killed. The environmental human rights defenders were the group who faced the highest number of attacks. Defenders of the land, territory and 173