News of human rights

Chile's wounded look to referendum, a year on from start of protests

14-10-2020 23:37 A year after the start of Chile's tumultuous social protests and as the country prepares for a landmark referendum, several protesters who suffered eye injuries believe their loss will not be in vain.

UNITED NATIONS

China and Russia win seats on UN rights council, Saudis lose

14-10-2020 08:53 China, Russia and Cuba win seats on the United Nations’ Human Rights Council, despite opposition from activist groups over their abysmal human rights records. Saudi Arabia misses out.

AS I SEE IT

In thrall to an abject failure

10-10-2020 10:21 Like many others, the Kirchnerites put their own ideological hang-ups first and human rights a long way second.

by James Neilson

EDITORIAL

Uncertainty amid the malaise

10-10-2020 09:41 Burning as all these problems are, literally so in the case of the fires and metaphorically in the case of the economic and monetary crisis and the coronavirus pandemic, none of them are really being faced by a government seeking or obsessed with another agenda.

HUMAN RIGHTS

UN vote on Venezuela opens up faultline in Frente de Todos

10-10-2020 09:32 Argentina throws support behind a UN human rights report in Venezuela, sparking criticism from Kirchnerite figures and the resignation of key ambassador.

HUMAN RIGHTS

Nearly 40 nations criticise China's human rights policies

07-10-2020 01:39 Nearly 40 mainly Western countries criticised China’s treatment of minority groups, especially in Xinjiang and Tibet, on Tuesday and expressed grave concern at the impact of its new national security law on human rights in Hong Kong.

HUMAN RIGHTS

Chile President Piñera condemns police violence against protesters

07-10-2020 01:09 Sebastián Piñera condemns police violence against protesters in Santiago after an officer threw a young demonstrator from a bridge.

HUMAN RIGHTS

Police officer in Chile accused of throwing teen from bridge

04-10-2020 19:13 Authorities in Chile have arrested a police officer who allegedly threw a teenager from a bridge into a river bed during a protest.

CRISIS IN VENEZUELA

Government’s approach to Venezuela crisis falls under spotlight

03-10-2020 09:54 Argentina's Ambassador to the OAS Carlos Raimuni sparks controversy with criticism and pushback after criticising UN report on human rights violations in Venezuela.

HUMAN RIGHTS

Court grants Etchecolatz house arrest – but other rulings keep him behind bars

26-09-2020 09:35 Infamous human rights violator, guilty of multiple crimes against humanity dating back to 1976-1983 military dictatorship, granted house arrest by court, but previous rulings prevent him from leaving jail.

HUMAN RIGHTS

Volkswagen pay-out to Brazil regime victims reopens debate on justice

25-09-2020 12:31 Volkswagen confirms it has signed a historic deal with the Brazilian state and federal prosecutors to pay US$6.4 million in compensation for its part in atrocities of military dictatorship.

Murders in Colombia

Wave of massacres signals new chapter in Colombia's conflict

23-09-2020 17:35 Rather than a national dispute between guerrillas and the state, violence in rural Colombia is now marked by a patchwork of local feuds between criminal groups who fight over drug routes, illegal mines and even gasoline smuggling routes.

HUMAN RIGHTS

Experts cite 'crimes against humanity' in Maduro's Venezuela

16-09-2020 15:25 Independent experts for UN's top human rights body accuse Maduro administration of torture and killings, claiming security forces have used techniques like electric shocks, genital mutilation and asphyxiation against detainees.

HUMAN RIGHTS

Victims, feminists take over Mexico human rights office

09-09-2020 08:49 Demanding justice for victims of femicide, gender violence, sexual assault, and forced disappearances, feminist activists and victims' relatives have taken over the offices of Mexico's Human Rights Commission.

HUMAN RIGHTS

Argentina, IACHR demand Paraguay explain deaths of two 11-year-old 'rebels'

06-09-2020 17:33 Government and human rights watchdog call on Paraguay to explain circumstances behind the death of two 11-year-old girls – both allegedly Argentine – during operation against rebel guerrillas.

Human rights

Former Spanish minister questioned by local judge over Franco-era deaths

04-09-2020 14:20 Rodolfo Martín Villa, 85, served as Spain's interior minister in the late 1970s. On Thursday, during a five-hour session, he testified over his alleged role in 12 deaths during Spain's transition to democracy.

HUMAN RIGHTS

Ex-Spanish minister to testify over Franco-era deaths before Argentine judge

03-09-2020 17:06 Rodolfo Martín Villa, 85, who served as Spain's interior minister in the late 1970s, will testify from the Argentine Embassy in Madrid, answering questions from Buenos Aires over alleged role in 12 violent deaths dating back to end of Franco dictatorship.

HUMAN RIGHTS

Uruguayan Army colonel killed ‘in several countries’ during dictatorship

03-09-2020 00:40 Army colonel imprisoned for crimes during Uruguay’s 1973-1985 dictatorship admitted to killing and torturing detainees, as well as confirming existence of clandestine death flight in Argentina, according to official documents.

HUMAN RIGHTS

OAS chief Almagro under fire for removal of top rights official

01-09-2020 16:05 OAS secretary general and ombudswoman at centre of bitter feud with the leadership of the Inter-American Commission of Human Rights (IACHR), the region’s top rights watchdog.

CRISIS IN VENEZUELA

Venezuela's Maduro pardons dozens of political opponents

31-08-2020 23:11 Venezuelan government pardons more than 100 people, including dozens of political opponents who are in prison, have taken refuge in foreign embassies in Caracas or fled the country.

HUMAN RIGHTS

United Nations condemns spike in Colombia 'massacres'

18-08-2020 08:46 The United Nations peace mission in Colombia condemns a spiral of violence engulfing the country, saying it had documented 33 massacres so far this year.

FACUNDO ASTUDILLO CASTRO

Search for Facundo Castro: Body found by investigators

16-08-2020 17:00 Skeletal remains of corpse discovered near where missing 22-year-old's mobile phone was last detected. Body has yet to be identified, though family believe remains may be from their relative.

HUMAN RIGHTS

Portland's Wall of Moms builds on a long protest tradition

13-08-2020 00:38 Kelsy Kretschmer, associate professor of sociology at Oregon State University, explains why the Wall of Moms protest group attracted so much attention in the coverage of the Black Lives Matter protests in Portland, and how the group draws on a long tradition of mothers’ movements around the world.

POLICE BRUTALITY

Complaint filed after 17-year-old 'tortured with cattle prod' by police officers

31-07-2020 01:57 Members of Buenos Aires provincial force formally denounced by rights group for allegedly beating up a 17-year-old youth and torturing him with an electric cattle prod.

UNITED STATES

Portland: Trump administration agrees to withdraw federal forces

29-07-2020 23:53 US government agrees conditional withdrawal of federal forces to defuse weeks of clashes in the city of Portland.

CRISIS IN VENEZUELA

Fernández plays down talk of foreign policy shift on Venezuela

18-07-2020 10:08 President reiterates government’s rejection of economic sanctions against Venezuela, days after Argentina condemned human rights abuses in troubled nation.

HUMAN RIGHTS

Bacacay 3570: Floresta family home identified as dictatorship torture site

18-07-2020 08:47 Declassified CIA file helps Federal Judge Daniel Rafecas identify clandestine detention centre in Floresta, Buenos Aires, that remained unidentified for more than four decades.

by Luciana Bertoia

Abortion rights

City lawmakers vote to adopt ILE abortion protocol

17-07-2020 15:57 After two hours of debate and with 50 votes in favour, the Buenos Aires Legislature grants approval to law guaranteeing national protocol for the voluntary interruption of pregnancy.

Global pandemic

Colombia: Illegal groups using violence to enforce lockdowns

16-07-2020 23:27 Illegal armed militias are imposing strict Covid-19 quarantines in parts of Colombia where the state has a weak presence, threatening those who don’t comply, Human Rights Watch has warned.

LGBT+ Rights

Argentina celebrates a decade of legal same-sex marriage

15-07-2020 15:20 Ten years on from the nation's landmark marriage equality law, buildings in Buenos Aires go rainbow-coloured to celebrate a decade of increasing rights and visibility for its LGBT+ community.

Facundo Astudillo Castro

UN demands ‘exhaustive’ probe into 22-year-old’s disappearance

13-07-2020 13:48 Facundo Astudillo Castro was last seen on April 30 after being stopped by police in Buenos Aires Province for breaching Covid-19 lockdown. UN Committee on Enforced Disappearances demands ‘all possible hypotheses’ be considered, as family alleges officers may have been involved in their relative’s disappearance.

HUMAN RIGHTS

Mexico identifies remains of another of missing 43 students

07-07-2020 23:50 Argentine Forensic Anthropology Team (EAAF), which has been advising Mexican Attorney General’s Office on investigation, confirms remains have been identified of a second of the 43 Ayotzinapa students who disappeared in September 2014.

PRIDE WEEKEND

Gay Pride events go online to mark 50th anniversary

28-06-2020 09:10 In Argentina, public buildings and monuments were lit up in the rainbow colours of the gay rights movement, and local activists organised a week of online events, even though Gay Pride is normally celebrated here in November.

POLICE BRUTALITY

‘It’s always the same,’ says relative of attacked Qom family in Chaco

06-06-2020 08:56 The violent police invasion of Qom community dwellings in Banderas Argentinas, Chaco, has sparked outrage.

by Ayelén Bonino

SAME-SEX MARRIAGE

Costa Rica legalises same-sex marriage in first for Central America

26-05-2020 15:53 Celebrations were cancelled because of the coronavirus pandemic, but a special programme about LGBT rights was broadcast on public television and online after a court ruling came into force at midnight.

HUMAN RIGHTS

Government asks Brazil to extradite suspect accused of ESMA crimes

13-05-2020 15:17 Gonzalo Sánchez, who was arrested in Rio de Janeiro last week, is wanted for a raft of crimes committed during the 1976-1983 military dictatorship, including the murders of Rodolfo Walsh and Dagmar Hagelin.

HUMAN RIGHTS

Ex-Navy officer wanted for dictatorship crimes arrested in Brazil

12-05-2020 17:51 Gonzalo Sánchez, 69, also known as "Chispa," taken into custody. He is suspected of participating in dozens of disappearances and killings, including that of journalist and writer Rodolfo Walsh in 1977.

HUMAN RIGHTS

France strips jailed human rights violator of decoration

09-05-2020 10:51 Naval officer Ricardo Cavallo, alias "Sérpico" or "Marcelo,” was part of Task Force 332, which was responsible for thousands of kidnaps, tortures, rapes and murders at ESMA.

VICE-PRESIDENT

Cristina Fernández de Kirchner files ‘lawfare’ writ with IACHR

05-05-2020 23:22 Télam confirms former president has filed writ before Inter-American Commission on Human Rights accusing previous Macri government of "political discrimination and persecution."

WIKILEAKS FOUNDER

Assange had two children while inside Ecuador's London Embassy

13-04-2020 08:51 Julian Assange's partner revealed Sunday that she had two children with him while he lived inside the Ecuadorean Embassy in London, issues plea for the WikiLeaks founder to be released from prison over health fears.

HUMAN RIGHTS

Dictatorship-era criminals request release from jail, citing virus risk

28-03-2020 10:15 More than 70 prisoners convicted of crimes against humanity have asked for house arrest, citing fears they will be infected by the novel Covid-19 coronavirus while behind bars.

by Luciana Bertoia

NUNCA MÁS

Quarantined Argentines use balconies, networks to remember 1976 coup

24-03-2020 16:51 Today marks the anniversary of the 1976 military coup, but with a mandatory quarantine in place to help contain the spread of the coronavirus, Argentines are finding other ways to mark the day.

Abortion rights

Argentina braces anew for abortion battle

05-03-2020 07:00 In his first speech to Congress upon the arrival of a new legislative session, Alberto Fernández vowed to begin a project to legalise abortion in the coming weeks. Campaigners on both sides are preparing for another showdown.

HUMAN RIGHTS

'Tex' Harris, US diplomat who detailed dictatorship's crimes, dies at 81

25-02-2020 13:04 US diplomat, who was sent to Buenos Aires in 1977, famously opened the US Embassy's doors to relatives of those disappeared by the dictatorship and created a detailed catalogue of the 1976-1983 military regime's human rights abuses.

Democracy in Crisis

Protests in Chile hit LatAm's biggest music festival

24-02-2020 09:48 Protesters, using rocks and molotov cocktails, engaged in clashes with the police during the Viña del Mar Music Festival in a demonstration against Chilean President Sebastián Piñera.

International Honour

Argentine Forensic Anthropology Team nominated for Nobel Peace Prize

14-02-2020 15:36 The group, known as the EAAF, has worked with victims in more than 60 countries of various catastrophes and conflicts.

Poverty and Hunger

8th Wichí child dead as malnutrition crisis sweeps through Salta

12-02-2020 17:23 In 2020 alone, the Wichí communities near northern province of Salta have lost eight children, sparking outrage and concern in equal measure.

Abortion debate

Government will seek to legalise abortion with bill, Gómez Alcorta confirms

10-02-2020 14:36 Women, Gender, and Diversity Minister Elizabeth Gómez Alcorta reiterates that government will seek to do more than just decriminalise the procedure when it eventually sends a bill to Congress.

Freedom of the Press

Brazil judge rejects hacking accusation against Greenwald

07-02-2020 11:22 A judge in Brasilia dismissed accusations that Glenn Greenwald was involved in hacking phones of Brazilian officials, following weeks of criticism that his prosecution would infringe on constitutional protections for journalists.