News of human rights

Investigators seek blood samples to help identify 600 bodies from dictatorship era

08-12-2020 09:04 World-renowned Argentine Forensic Anthropology Team (EAAF) launches campaign calling on relatives of those who disappeared during 1976-1983 military dictatorship to come forward and provide blood samples, as group strives to identify remains of some 600 victims.

UK's Labour suspends Corbyn after 'day of shame' over anti-Semitism

29-10-2020 14:41 Labour suspends former leader Jeremy Corbyn, after a government watchdog found his office broke equality law through its "inexcusable" handling of anti-Semitism complaints.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

‘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

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.

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."

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.

'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.

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.