Attorney-General's alleged role in illegal adoptions rocks Guatemala

United Nations experts have called for an investigation into Guatemalan Attorney General Consuelo Porras for her alleged involvement in illegal adoptions of a number of indigenous children, which she denies.

The group of experts says that scores of indigenous children from the same children's home were reportedly put up for illegal adoption abroad during Guatemala's civil war.

In a statement, they say that Porras served as the home's director - and as the legal guardian of the children there at the time - for seven months in 1982.

Porras has categorically rejected the allegations that she was involved in any wrongdoing as false, adding that they "were being used for political purposes".

According to the experts, who are independent of the UN but appointed by it to advise on human rights matters, the allegations are "gravely concerning".

The accusations centre around the cases of at least 80 indigenous children who were sent abroad for adoption from Hogar Temporal Elisa Martínez.

The experts say that the children were put up for adoption "following their capture and enforced disappearance between 1968 and 1996 in Guatemala".

During Guatemala's 36-year-long civil war (1960-1996) , the country's military governments often targeted the indigenous Maya population, whom it suspected of siding with far-left guerrillas.

While many children's homes cared for minors left orphaned after mass killings, there were also cases of parents being tricked into handing their children over or even having them forcibly removed - and then put up for private adoption abroad for profit.

In their statement, the UN experts describe how illegal adoptions "may occur through a range of illicit acts or unlawful practices, including fraud in the declaration of adoptability, falsification of official documents, coercion or lack of free and informed consent of biological parents and improper financial gain for intermediaries" .

They add that they are "particularly troubled that no prompt, thorough, independent and impartial investigation has been conducted into the alleged involvement of some State authorities in these processes".

The public prosecutor's office, which Porras leads, called the accusations "baseless, factually unfounded and completely malicious", AFP news agency reported.

The UN statement came at a sensitive time for Porras, who has been campaigning for a spot on the Constitutional Court, Guatemala's top judicial body, and as she is seeking re-election for a third term as the attorney-general.

Her bid for a seat on the Constitutional Court was denied on Monday when she failed to garner enough support among the country's Bar Association - which had begun voting on the matter last week.

The prosecutor's office under Porras's leadership has faced international condemnation before.

In 2024 it was accused of trying to prevent President Bernardo Arévalo - who was elected following an anti-corruption campaign - from taking office.

Porras herself has been the subject of international sanctions over alleged corruption, which she has denied.

The US state department barred her from entering the United States in 2022.