IACHR: Request for a visit to Argentina to assess violations against indigenous peoples
Rights organizations and representatives of indigenous communities highlight an increase in violence and structural racism by the state, denial of access to territory, lack of prior consultation and the critical situation in the province of Jujuy.
2023 Emilio Mignone International Human Rights Award: nominations are open
Candidates will be admitted from July 10 to September 15, 2023. The award is inspired by the life and work of a founding member of CELS.
Guatemala: We call for the electoral process to be respected.
The national elections on June 25 were suspended by the courts. Almost two hundred organizations urge the State of Guatemala to take the necessary actions to ensure the integrity of the electoral process.
Migrants: serious human rights violations at international borders
Alongside 195 organizations worldwide, we demand that the UN establish an independent monitoring mechanism to investigate the treatment of migrants in border areas and its underlying structural causes.
We filed a complaint against a company in the Techint Group for the disappearance of two human rights defenders in Mexico
The complaint was filed jointly with their families and organizations from Mexico and Luxembourg. We requested that urgent and necessary measures be taken in the search for lawyer Ricardo Lagunes Gasca and Antonio Díaz Valencia, who have not been heard from since mid-January. They disappeared after a community assembly regarding the Ternium company’s failure to make payments to the community for its mining activity.
Brazil: the threat of the anti-democratic far right
The move to action by these groups is a call for reflection and urgent action. What happens when democracies provide the tools and possibilities for some groups to seek to limit or do away with those same democracies? And what tools do we have to defend democracy in the face of attacks like this one?
Criminalization of LGBTI+ people: petition before IACHR to guarantee rights
On October 28 we took part in the thematic hearing as members of the LGBTI+ Litigators of the Americas Network alongside other organizations from the region. We put in an urgent call for reform of Argentina’s drug law and repeal of the misdemeanor codes that allow the criminalization of sex trafficking in public spaces.
At the final hearing before the Inter-American Court for the AMIA bombing, the Argentine State acknowledged its responsibility
On October 13-14, the final hearing was held in Montevideo, Uruguay in the case filed by CELS and Memoria Activa in 1999 charging the Argentine State with international responsibility for the attack on the AMIA Jewish Community Center in Buenos Aires.
Right to protest: meeting of Latin American organizations
On July 25-27 we held an event in Buenos Aires to debate current reality in our region with colleagues from Brazil, Colombia, Chile, Honduras, Ecuador and Mexico.
Continental actions for migration with rights and dignity
A group of organizations in the region urge the governments that signed the Los Angeles Declaration on Migration and Protection to put these commitments into action to defend the rights of migrants, asylum seekers and refugees.
Campaigners petition UN to investigate racial and gender discrimination in global COVID-19 vaccine roll-out
US, UK, Germany, Norway, and Switzerland in violation of international human rights law in “prolonging the pandemic” ahead of vital World Trade Organisation meeting .
Milagro Sala: New complaint submitted to Inter-American System
We submitted our complaint against the Argentine State for the process of harassment and criminalization that Sala and the Tupac Amaru organization have suffered since her arrest in 2016. Government policy in Jujuy reaches much further, seeking to demobilize and limit the right to protest.
AMIA attack: We ask that Argentina be held responsible and the case be sent to the Inter-American Court
On November 11, a pleading hearing in the AMIA case took place at the 174th session of the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR), held in Quito, Ecuador. The participants in the hearing included Diana Wassner de Malamud and Adriana Reisfeld, from the Memoria Activa association of family members of AMIA victims, as well as … Continued
Chile: Preliminary report by an international human rights mission
The mission visited Santiago, Valparaíso and Temuco to meet with human rights and civil society organizations and other groups, as well as state institutions. The initial result is a report that provides a survey of human rights violations and recommendations for the Chilean state.
25 years without justice for the AMIA bombing
The scheming behind the AMIA case is still present and explains many of the problems that concern us today. The pacts between the judicial, political, intelligence and media sectors that built the impunity around the bombing have never been broken, nor have ways of doing things been transformed.
Intimidation of Brazilian human rights defenders engaging with the UN
During two side events at the United Nations, Jean Wyllys and Luciana Zaffalon were intimidated by Brazilian officials.
The impact of new authoritarianism on human rights
Representatives of various organizations gathered in Geneva discussed the situation in the United States, the Philippines and Brazil, in light of authoritarian governments that have a sharp anti-rights discourse.
The United Nations recognizes the rights of peasants
The Declaration on the Rights of Peasants and Other People Working in Rural Areas promotes measures to guarantee access to land, the protection of seeds in light of their commodification and a stop to evictions, among many other issues.
The Global Compact for Migration was adopted
More than 160 UN member countries endorsed the Global Compact for Migration at an intergovernmental conference held on December 10-11. This agreement includes some important advances, above all in a context of growing xenophobia and nationalism in Latin America and the world.
IACHR sounds alarm over rising militarization in the region
In a hearing they described as “historic,” members of the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) affirmed that the militarization of public security leads to an exponential increase in human rights violations. They also cautioned about the return of the national security doctrine in the region.
Militarization of the region at the IACHR
The militarization of public security is on the rise across the Americas, with very troubling consequences. For that reason, 17 organizations from 10 countries requested a regional hearing before the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR), which will be held on December 6.
Urgent action needed over US threats to the International Criminal Court
US National Security Adviser John Bolton made explicit and concrete threats against ICC judges, prosecutors and personnel if they proceed with an investigation into alleged war crimes committed by US forces in Afghanistan. A group of national and international organizations requested that the UN Assistant Secretary-General for Human Rights take urgent action in response. Our joint letter to him follows.
The state of economic, social and cultural rights in Argentina
Autor/a: Various
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INCLO welcomes historic win against UK mass surveillance
In a landmark win for seven members of the International Network of Civil Liberties Organizations (INCLO), the European Court of Human Rights ruled that the UK’s mass surveillance practices violate privacy and freedom of expression. CELS joins all its fellow INCLO members in celebrating this victory.
Institutional violence and gender-based violence: A year without Ivana Rosales and another year without reparation
Thirty-five organizations published an open letter demanding that the Argentine state and Neuquén province fulfill the commitment they made to Ivana Rosales before the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights. Her daughter continues to demand justice, a year after Ivana’s death.
Milagro Sala: Supreme Court ordered that Jujuy’s judiciary comply with the Inter-American Court’s provisional measures
In a unanimous ruling, the Argentine Supreme Court enjoined the judiciary of Jujuy province to urgently adopt the measures needed to safeguard the life, personal integrity and health of Milagro Sala, as ordered by the Inter-American Court of Human Rights.
Global Compact for Migration: Progress, shortcomings and the way forward
The new Global Compact represents a turning point in the international management of migration. But much work remains to ensure that its implementation is focused on the protection of the rights of migrants.
Grave human rights crisis in Nicaragua
The repression of social protest carried out by Nicaraguan security forces and para-police groups has left at least 273 people dead and 1800 injured in the last three months. What started with demonstrations against a pension reform has ballooned into a human rights crisis.
Treating migration as a security problem violates human rights
During the final round of negotiations on the Global Compact for Migration, 40 organizations urged UN member states to ensure that the accord fully incorporate a rights-based approach. The last draft includes changes that reinforce a focus on control and security. If this is validated, countries will have wasted a historic opportunity to fuel a paradigm shift.
Defending Dissent: Report launch at the UN Human Rights Council
Joint research by the International Network of Civil Liberties Organizations (INCLO) and the International Human Rights Clinic of the University of Chicago Law School (IHRC) offers practical guidance on how law enforcement can protect human rights when policing protests.
Response to the US about its withdrawal from the UN Human Rights Council
The US ambassador to the UN said that her country’s decision to abandon the Human Rights Council was partly due to the opposition of 18 organizations to the Council reform proposal backed by Washington. CELS, one of these organizations, responded to her.
Global Compact negotiations: States discuss migratory regularization
At the fourth of six rounds of negotiations on the Global Compact for Migration, state delegations from various regions defended the importance of addressing regularization procedures.
A Global Compact to return migrants?
The latest draft of the Global Compact for Migration avoids mentioning the regularization of those who are already living in their destination country, which is a serious omission. Opinion piece by Camila Barretto Maia, Diego Morales y Raísa Ortiz Cetra.
IACHR hearing: Regressive fiscal policies violate economic and social rights
As demonstrations against public service rate hikes and the influence of international creditors take place in Argentina, this hearing before the IACHR made clear that fiscal policy cannot be addressed without taking human rights into account.
IACHR hearing on abortion: Legalization is a human rights imperative
More than half a million women undergo clandestine abortions every year in Argentina and since 1983, more than 3,000 women have paid for the criminalization of abortion with their lives.
Assassination of Marielle Franco: A message of terror that seeks impunity for military and security forces in Rio de Janeiro
The murder of Brazilian human rights defender Marielle Franco is an extremely grave incident that has caused concern in Argentina and throughout the region.
Incorporating human rights perspectives into housing strategies
The UN Special Rapporteur on adequate housing presented a report on housing strategies that promote socioeconomic equality and inclusion. It mentions examples from numerous countries, including Argentina.
Global Compact for Migration: Stop the hypocrisy and listen to the Global South
UN member states began negotiations on the Global Compact for Migration. This agreement represents an unprecedented opportunity to establish specific obligations for protecting the human rights of migrant persons, but the process faces numerous challenges. Opinion piece by Camila Barretto Maia, Diego Morales and Raísa Ortiz Cetra.
Aligning Agendas: Drugs, Sustainable Development, and the Drive for Policy Coherence
Autor/a: International Expert Group on Drug Policy Metrics
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Emergency decree against migrant persons: a selective and discriminatory policy
Today marks one year since the national government modified via emergency decree the country’s Migration Law, a product of years of collective struggle for democratic migration legislation. The result is a policy of selectivity that puts people under permanent suspicion.
Privacy at risk: Telegram sanctioned in Russia for protecting its users
The Russian government fined Telegram and could block use of the instant messaging app, because the company refused to grant it access to users’ communications. Members of INCLO, including CELS, seek to curb such measures.
Protest, social movements and state crackdowns
A fresh round of content published on our Right to Protest platform covers ground across the world: from Kenya, Hungary and Australia to Peru, Canada and Argentina. The threats to this fundamental right can be seen on the street, with violent repressions, and in terms of state surveillance and judicial persecution. This online project was developed by openDemocracy, CELS and INCLO, with support from the ACLU.
Mexican Congress should reject law that would normalize role of Armed Forces in public security
In a joint statement by 11 organizations, we call attention to the dangers of approving a law that allows for militarizing domestic security in Mexico, due to the impact it would have on human rights in that country and the negative precedent it would set in Latin America.
Milagro Sala: IACHR requests Inter-American Court intervention since state failed to comply with precautionary measure
The Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) indicated that “the conditions of extreme gravity, urgency and risk of irreparable damage” set forth in the American Convention on Human Rights have been met.
UN Briefing: Pushing ahead to incorporate human rights into drug policy
We debated about what the UN can do to introduce human rights in the implementation and monitoring of drug policies during a briefing in Geneva.
Milagro Sala: The risks increase as Argentina flouts the IACHR’s precautionary measure
At a working meeting convened by the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR), representatives of Amnesty International and CELS warned that the risks she runs have intensified.
The Right to Protest worldwide
We are unveiling an online platform that brings together original articles, videos and interviews on the right to protest, at a time when demonstrations are proliferating worldwide and states often respond with violence. This project was developed by openDemocracy, CELS and INCLO, with support from the ACLU.
Milagro Sala: Appeals court revoked her house arrest
The Chamber of Appeals and Control of Jujuy province revoked Milagro Sala’s house arrest today, without revealing the grounds for its decision and in utter breach of the precautionary measure ordered by the IACHR. The federal state, guarantor of Argentina’s international obligations, must take all the steps needed to fully comply with IACHR Resolution 23/2017.
Mexican government spies on critical voices
In the midst of a wave of unpunished violence against journalists and human rights defenders, it has come to light that the Mexican government is running surveillance and spying on members of the press, activists and political parties. Human rights organizations are calling for an investigation of these acts by a panel of independent experts.
Places of confinement: the provincial state must adopt urgent measures
In the 163rd period of IACHR hearings, the Comisión Provincial por la Memoria (CPM), Center for Legal and Social Studies (CELS) and the Public Appeals Defender exposed the crisis in the system of confinement in the province of Buenos Aires and called on the provincial and national states to take measures to reduce overcrowding, overpopulation, inhuman conditions, lack of access to health, and torture in prisons.
