Biographical Note

SECRETARY-GENERAL APPOINTS CARLOS CASTRESANA FERNANDEZ OF SPAIN

TO HEAD INTERNATIONAL COMMISSION AGAINST IMPUNITY IN GUATEMALA

The Secretary-General has decided to appoint Carlos Castresana Fernández of Spain to head the International Commission against Impunity in Guatemala (CICIG), established under an agreement between the United Nations and the Government of Guatemala that entered into force on 4 September.  Mr. Castresana will take up his duties immediately, leading a week-long preparatory mission that will visit Guatemala from 17 to 23 September for consultations with officials of the Government, judicial and security institutions, as well as representatives of political parties, civil society and the diplomatic corps.

Mr. Castresana has extensive experience as both a criminal prosecutor and judge in areas directly relevant to the mandate of the Commission.  In 2005 he was named Public Prosecutor of the Supreme Court of Spain.  From 1995 to 2005, he worked in the Special Prosecutor’s Office against Corruption, investigating and prosecuting cases of serious corruption, white collar and economic crimes before the National Court and other Spanish courts.  From 1993 to 1995 he was assigned to the Special Prosecutor’s Office against Drug Trafficking, where he handled cases of criminal organizations charged with international drug smuggling and money laundering.  He was previously a prosecutor in the Circuit Courts of Madrid and Catalunya, and temporarily District and Investigating Judge and Magistrate of the Territorial Court of Madrid.  

Mr. Castresana is currently working for the Mexico and Central America regional office of the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), where, since 2006 he has coordinated a project on Crime Prevention and Abuse and Illegal Use of Drugs, involving a five-year programme of public security for the Federal State of Nuevo León.

Mr. Castresana earned his law degree from the Universidad Complutense de Madrid and has done graduate studies at the Institut International des Droits de l’Homme in Strasbourg, France.  In 1997 he was awarded the Human Rights National Prize in Spain.  He has honorary doctorates from the Universidad de Guadalajara (México) and the Universidad Central ( Chile), and has taught criminal law at the University of San Francisco and the Universidad Carlos III in Madrid.

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For information media • not an official record