Mutual Support Group (GAM), a Guatemalan human rights...

Mutual Support Group (GAM), a Guatemalan human rights group, said death-squad agents linked to the state committed nine summary executions in the first two months of the year. In remarks to EFE, a director of GAM, Mario Polanco, highlighted the murders of former congressional president Jose Lobo, on January 9, and Supreme Court Justice Hector Rodriguez, on January 12. Both killings took place in the capital. Polanco asserted that Guatemala's public-safety apparatus was becoming progressively weaker because the "hidden powers" behind organized crime were gaining influence. "Summary executions, torture, threats and attacks are palpable indications that human rights violations continue," he said.