Amnesty International Argentina warns Milei government scaling back protections

Amnesty International has delivered a sharp rebuke of President Javier Milei, warning that his government has entrenched a model in which social control outweighs the protection of human rights.

In its latest to Amnesty’s annual assessment, the international rights watchdog’s chapter in Argentina said 2025 marked a turning point, with the state prioritising repression while scaling back its social obligations.

Milei's so-called ‘chainsaw’ austerity policies became “a defining feature of governance, applied without human rights impact assessments or democratic participation mechanisms, and with direct consequences for people’s lives and physical integrity,” said Amnesty International Argentina in a press statement. 

Public spending fell by more than 41 percent in real terms between 2023 and 2025, said Amnesty, reaching its lowest level in two decades. The NGO said the cuts were not evenly distributed: sectors tied to basic rights – including “healthcare, education, housing and social security” – were among the hardest hit, while security and intelligence budgets were largely protected.

“This model sends an unequivocal message: the state has chosen to impose austerity precisely on those it should be protecting,” said Mariela Belski, executive director of Amnesty International Argentina, in the statement.

The organisation warned that the rollback of public policy has coincided with a tightening state grip on dissent. It cited growing criminalisation of protest, harassment of journalists and the stigmatisation of critical voices, alongside repeated use of force to disperse demonstrations.

“Peaceful protests continued to face increasing restrictions and violent repression, including the unlawful use of force,” said the NGO.

Press freedom has come under particular strain, noted Amnesty, which cited at least eight cases of legal action against reporters and a broader climate of hostility towards the media.

At the same time, violence against women remains persistent, said the NGO. According to a state registry, 228 femicides were recorded in 2024 – one every 39 hours – while support services for victims have been scaled back.

Amnesty said barriers to accessing abortion have “increased alarmingly” and warned of a broader dismantling of gender policies since late 2023, including setbacks in sexual and reproductive health and comprehensive sex education.

“The state’s purchase and distribution of essential supplies to guarantee access to abortion has been suspended since December 2023,” noted the NGO.

Amnesty also noted that Milei’s government “withdrew Argentina’s candidacy for the UN Human Rights Council for the 2026–2028 period.”

Meanwhile, the impact of austerity has been felt most acutely by vulnerable groups, with older people and those with disabilities disproportionately affected by spending cuts.

The report also criticises Argentina’s climate policies as “grossly insufficient," warning that government action falls far short of what is required to address the crisis.

“Argentina remained mired in an economic and social crisis, with 31.6 percent of the population living in poverty and unemployment reaching 6.6 percent,” it noted.

Two years into Milei’s Presidency, Amnesty concludes that the deterioration in rights reflects a broader political project to redefine the role of the state, reducing its responsibility for social protection while expanding its coercive capacity.

The findings form part of the global report presented by Amnesty’s secretary general Agnès Callamard, who warned of a wider international trend towards “anti-rights” governance and the erosion of democratic safeguards.