News of human rights

Luis Moreno Ocampo: ‘Death cannot be a political weapon’

22-09-2022 23:50 The upcoming film 'Argentina, 1985,' released nationwide this coming Thursday, recounts the events leading up to the Trial of the Military Juntas – a milestone in contemporary national history, as well as a model for the world, in which those chiefly responsible for the crimes against humanity committed during the brutal 1976-1983 dictatorship were convicted and sentenced. In an exclusive interview, Luis Moreno Ocampo, one of the prosecutors in the trial together with Julio Strassera, recalls that historic moment and shares his thoughts on contemporary Argentina.

by Agustino Fontevecchia

Alleged dictatorship torturer Mario Sandoval stands trial, 46 years on

15-09-2022 13:54 Trial of the former police officer Mario Sandoval, extradited from France in 2019 and charged with the disappearance of a young man during Argentina's dictatorship, begins in Buenos Aires.

‘Isabelita’: the unknown agent who infiltrated the Madres de Plaza de Mayo

26-08-2022 10:06 Report by journalist Luciana Bertoia reveals a second federal agent, in addition to Alfredo Astiz, managed to obtain first-hand information about the human rights group after infiltrating their inner circle.

Volcano goes from ‘sacred’ to secular in 24 hours as Mapuche tensions rise

12-08-2022 10:04 Environment Ministry’s controversial recognition of the Lanín volcano and mountain as ‘sacred’ Mapuche site sparks immediate backlash from Neuquén Governor Omar Gutiérrez and host of opposition leaders, followed by a U-turn the next day; As tensions rise, local indigenous leaders decry “fragility” of government policy.

Iran urges Argentina to lift plane crew's exit ban 'immediately'

21-07-2022 18:34 Iran has demanded that Argentina allow the five crew members of the seized plane to leave the country. They have been in Argentina since the plane was stopped in June.

Giovanola, one of the founders of the Grandmothers of the Plaza de Mayo, has died

20-07-2022 15:42 Delia Cecilia Giovanola, a founding member of the Grandmothers of the Plaza del Mayo who searched for their disappeared children, died last Monday. Subject of a famous photograph in which she protested during the dictatorship, she succeeded in finding her grandson.

Nobel Peace Prize winner Adolfo Pérez Esquivel puts his artistic life on display

05-07-2022 22:28 Legendary human rights activist takes his art public in a new exhibition at the Lucy Mattos Museum in Béccar, San Isidro.

Four sentenced to life imprisonment for Campo de Mayo ‘death flights’

05-07-2022 15:09 Courts recognise that planes from Campo de Mayo military garrison were used to throw disappeared detainees to their death in Río de la Plata; Four ex-Army officers handed life terms for crimes against humanity.

Colombian Truth Commission hands over grim final report on civil conflict

28-06-2022 21:35 Final 896-page report probes atrocities committed during Colombia’s near six-decade civil conflict and includes testimony from more than 14,000 victims of the fighting between leftist guerillas, far-right paramilitary groups and state agents.

As United States undoes abortion rights, Chile works to enshrine them

27-06-2022 13:22 As the United States loses a five-decade-old right to abortion, Chile is gearing up to enshrine the same right in its constitution.

Shock over Brazil police 'torture, executions' in drug raid

27-05-2022 08:37 Bodies from a Rio de Janeiro police raid show signs of torture and summary execution, lawyers allege.

UN human rights chief falls under wheels of China's propaganda machine

27-05-2022 08:37 Beijing has outwitted the United Nations' human rights chief on her visit to China, campaigners say.

Mothers of Plaza de Mayo mark 45 years of indefatigable search for disappeared

01-05-2022 09:34 Mothers of Plaza de Mayo commemorate 45th anniversary of the human rights group's first march in front of the Casa Rosada.

US official Blinken seeks 'strong' Latin American pact on migration

22-04-2022 00:06 United States seeking a strong declaration to coordinate on rising migration when Latin American leaders meet in Los Angeles.

Fury over alleged war crimes in Ukraine has been swift – justice likely won't be

08-04-2022 23:56 Ukrainian investigators began to exhume a mass grave in Bucha on Friday, opening the early stages of what police say will be a war crimes case targeting Russian troops who occupied the Kyiv commuter town.

With Argentina’s backing, UN votes to suspend Russia from Human Rights Council

08-04-2022 00:11 UN General Assembly votes to suspend Russia from the global body's Human Rights Council as punishment for its invasion of Ukraine; Of 193 members, 93 backed vote, 58 abstained and 24 voted against.

Argentines take to streets, marking 46th anniversary of 1976 military coup

24-03-2022 22:00 Tens of thousands of Argentines march to the Plaza de Mayo on the 46th anniversary of the coup that installed the brutal 1976-1983 military dictatorship.

145 human rights activists killed in Colombia in 2021, says ombudsman

18-01-2022 09:33 Colombia saw 145 community leaders and rights defenders killed in 2021, a year marked by anti-government protests that were brutally put down, the country's human rights ombudsman said this week.

Nobel Prize winner Adolfo Pérez Esquivel in hospital after stroke scare

02-01-2022 17:33 Human rights activist Adolfo Pérez Esquivel, recipient of the 1980 Nobel Peace Prize, was taken to hospital following a health scare.

Lucia Hiriart, widow of Chile's Pinochet, dead at 98

17-12-2021 02:31 Lucia Hiriart, 98, widow of former Chilean dictator Augusto Pinochet, died on December 16 at the residence where she lived in the company of all her children and grandchildren.