Killer's Paradise (review)

This film documents the explosion of female homicides in Guatemala and the enormous indifference of the police force to these murders. Hundreds of Guatemalan women are killed every year, and although the police blame gangs, domestic violence, and drug wars for the skyrocketing murder rate, they rarely apprehend the perpetrators. This is because the authorities seldom investigate the crimes or botch investigations when they do, according to filmmaker Portenier. Especially worrisome is the police tendency to dismiss victims as worthless individuals who do not merit serious treatment because of their presumed involvement with prostitution, gangs, or the illegal drug traffic.

Killer's Paradise references the massive violence against women that took place during the thirty-six year Guatemalan civil war, which ended with the signing of peace accords in 1996, but its concern is the current wave of homicides involving women. The documentary unfolds primarily in Guatemala City, where it focuses on the recent unsolved murders of several young, Ladino women. It also travels briefly to the Petén province, which has the highest rate of female homicide in Guatemala. Portenier documents the case of a young rape victim whose attacker wants to marry her in order to avoid prosecution, and who has threatened her family for refusing to accede to his demands.

Portenier describes efforts to reform the police force and to up-grade its investigative methods, but these initiatives have done little to stem the rising tide of murders. A new homicide squad created to investigate crimes against women has lost personnel, and up-dated investigative techniques have found little use outside the classroom. Despite this lack of progress, Guatemalan President Berger berates Portenier in an interview for not sharing his optimism about the future. The film is strongest at communicating the anguish of the victims' families and their frustration with police incompetence and unresponsiveness. Portenier also conveys some of the consequences of impunity for Guatemalan society. These include witnesses who refuse to talk because they fear reprisals, and a mass murderer who confessed his crimes to a bus full of people but remained free to continue terrorizing women.

The film could provide more context to help viewers who are unfamiliar with Guatemala understand the particular cases presented in it. The Guatemalan security forces have historically done less to provide for the safety of average citizens than to aggravate a widespread sense of insecurity. Human rights organizations have held them responsible for the fast majority of rights violations during the civil war, but widespread impunity has shielded officials from accounting for their crimes. In the post-war period, new criminal networks have emerged that often include members of the police and military who nowadays are interested less in counterinsurgency than in profiting from illegal activities. These criminal elements continue to avoid prosecution through powerful political connections. Before women and men can feel safe, unlawful networks must be dismantled, and criminals and perpetrators of human rights crimes, especially those in the security forces, must be brought to justice.

The film could go beyond an examination of police incompetence to consider in greater detail how the security forces aggravate the problems of crime and citizen insecurity. Nevertheless, Killer's Paradise is a compelling account of female vulnerability and insecurity in contemporary Guatemala that has a wide variety of classroom uses.