FREEDOM OF THOUGHT, EXPRESSION, ASSEMBLY AND ASSOCIATION I.
FREEDOM OF THOUGHT AND EXPRESSION 1. Guatemalan law Article 5 of
the Guatemalan Constitution states that no one "may be
persecuted or molested for his opinions..." and that the right
to freedom of expression may not be subject to censorship and no
form of prior permission may be required (Article 35). By giving
human rights treaties preeminence over domestic law, the
Constitution gives the freedom of thought and expression upheld
in Article 13 of the American Convention the force of
constitutional law. The Guatemalan legal system contains
specific guarantees against restricting freedom of expression by
such indirect means as state or private control of mechanisms to
prevent opinions from being circulated openly; the mass
communication media are regarded as being in the public interest
and their expropriation is prohibited, just as it is prohibited
to shut them down or suspend them for crimes relating to freedom
of expression. In this sense, the Guate