News of rights

Almost 50 years on, French families still seeking answers about disappeared relatives

Today 11:14 Almost 50 years on, families are still seeking answers about French citizens who disappeared in Argentina in the late 1970s, during the 1976-1983 military dictatorship’s reign of terror. Last week’s visit to Buenos Aires by French President Emmanuel Macron put the topic back on the agenda.

Foreign relations & diplomacy

Argentina refuses to back UN draft resolution on indigenous rights

12-11-2024 10:45 Argentina the only country out of 169 to vote against a United Nations draft resolution on rights of indigenous peoples.

OBITUARY

Abuelas and Madres founder Mirta Acuña de Baravalle dies at 99

04-11-2024 14:30 Mirta Acuña de Baravalle, one of the founders of the Madres de Plaza de Mayo and Abuelas de Plaza de Mayo, has died at the age of 99.

HUMAN RIGHTS

Marchers at Pride criticise Milei's 'discriminatory' laws and policies

02-11-2024 18:25 Revellers voice criticism of President Javier Milei's government as they take to the streets of the capital for the the 33rd LGBT Pride March.

Marcha del orgullo

‘Much more than a march’ – Pride gets political in Milei era

01-11-2024 06:29 The 33rd Pride March in Argentina will take place this Saturday, November 2. But while the celebrations are sure to be joyous, this year’s incarnation will have a more political tone.

by Cimran Naik

WOMEN'S RIGHTS

Brazil introduces law increasing femicide sentences to 40 years

11-10-2024 12:42 Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva signs into law a bill that makes femicide a separate criminal offence with potential sentence of up to 40 years behind bars.

HUMAN RIGHTS

Ex-cop, ex-Army officer sentenced to lengthy jail terms for 1970s crimes

01-10-2024 15:12 Néstor Ciaramella and Enrique Del Pino found guilty of kidnapping, torture, disappearances, murder, sexual abuse and other crimes committed against 185 people between 1974 and 1977, in the lead up to the military dictatorship.

HUMAN RIGHTS

UN committee ‘deeply concerned’ for children amid cutbacks

28-09-2024 07:44 The United Nations’ Committee on the Rights of the Child expresses alarm over Milei administration cutbacks as it publishes a new report on children’s rights; Experts warn of programme closures, replacement of officials and budget reductions.

by Mattis Nurit

INTERNATIONAL AFFAIRS

Brazil, Spain struggle to shake criticism as Maduro enablers

25-09-2024 18:06 At a recent United Nations gathering, Brazilian President Lula and Spanish Prime Minister Sánchez faced scrutiny for their ambiguous stance on Nicolás Maduro's regime in Venezuela.

COURTS & HUMAN RIGHTS

Court in Argentina orders Maduro's arrest for crimes against humanity

24-09-2024 08:45 In a historic ruling, Argentina's justice system requests arrest of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro and around 30 others for alleged crimes against humanity. Interpol red alert issued for his detention.

FOREIGN POLICY & DIPLOMACY

‘Totalitarian’: Argentina votes against UN ‘Pact for the Future’

23-09-2024 19:26 Milei administration officials voice rejection of non-binding UN masterplan to address 21st-century challenges; Only seven out of 193 states vote against, including Argentina, Russia, North Korea and Venezuela.

UNREST IN VENEZUELA

Argentina, six other nations ask UN to probe ‘serious rights violations’ in Venezuela

21-09-2024 07:28 United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres voiced concern to President Nicolás Maduro about alleged human rights violations in Venezuela on Friday in a telephone conversation.

HUMAN RIGHTS

Documentary brings dictatorship 'death flights' trauma to big screen

20-09-2024 16:44 Director Nicolás Gil Lavedra premieres new film 'Traslados,' an investigative documentary on a very dark chapter of the nation’s not-too-distant history: the “death flights” carried out by the 1976-1983 military dictatorship.

HUMAN RIGHTS

Argentine seeks military trial in Italy over dictatorship deaths

09-09-2024 15:55 Lieutenant colonel Carlos Luis Malatto, accused of the murder of eight people during the country's military dictatorship from 1976 to 1983, seeks a military trial in Italy.

HUMAN RIGHTS

Madres de Plaza de Mayo activist Herenia Sánchez de Viamonte dies at 97

09-09-2024 14:12 Tributes paid to human rights activist and teacher, who passed away at the age of 97; Sánchez de Viamonte, who co-founded La Plata branch of Madres de Plaza de Mayo, remembered for tireless search for her son and daughter-in-law, who were kidnapped by the military dictatorship in 1977.

POLITICS

Milei’s move to limit access to public information condemned

04-09-2024 16:52 Milei’s decree limiting access to public information sparks widespread repudiation in Argentina; Executive Branch introduces changes to current legislation including a redefinition of the concept of “public information” that offers greater “protection” for government officials and prevents publication of "working papers."

BEYOND THE HEADLINES

When ugly ducklings are black swans

31-08-2024 05:27 How can the libertarian creed possibly have anything in common with the totalitarian model of a military dictatorship?

by Michael Soltys

LA LIBERTAD AVANZA IN CRISIS

Arrieta jumps ship after leaking bills to free dictatorship criminals

28-08-2024 23:56 Amid controversy within La Libertad Avanza over the visit of pro-government deputies to criminals convicted for crimes against humanity at Ezeiza Prison, national deputy leaks draft bills and decree that aim to force through their release.

POLITICS & POLICY

Justice minister backed as critics slam gender diversity remarks

28-08-2024 15:10 Justice Minister Mariano Cúneo Libarona criticised after declaring that Milei administration “rejects the diversity of sexual identities that do not align with biology.”

human rights & judiciary

Villarruel vows to reopen criminal cases against anti-junta guerrillas

28-08-2024 11:52 Criticism rains down from human rights groups as Vice-President Victoria Villarruel promises to reopen criminal cases against left-wing guerrillas in speech at Senate ceremony for victims of terrorism.

Human rights

Milei shutters special unit probing dictatorship-era abduction of minors

14-08-2024 13:37 Decree signed by President Milei closes special unit dedicated to investigating the kidnapping and disappearance of children during 1976-1983 dictatorship; Government justifies move on grounds it violates separation of powers; Latest in a series of controversial steps on human rights.

HUMAN RIGHTS

30,000? The debate about how many were disappeared in Argentina

10-08-2024 06:55 How many people went missing in Argentina in total as victims of state terrorism and forced disappearances during the 1976-1983 military dictatorship? And why is it important to differentiate between those categories in order to clear up debates, even when installed due to cruelty or cynicism? Why does the canonic figure of 30,000 continue to be so powerful? And what can academic research contribute?

HUMAN RIGHTS

Lula reinstates commission to probe Brazil dictatorship crimes

05-07-2024 17:16 President Lula orders reinstatement of a special commission on crimes during Brazil's 1964-1985 military dictatorship, which had been dissolved by his far-right predecessor Jair Bolsonaro.

HUMAN RIGHTS

Abuelas de Plaza de Mayo warns of move to shutter investigative unit

30-06-2024 17:54 Abuelas de Plaza de Mayo accuses government of seeking to shutter body dedicated to identifying and locating missing grandchildren.

HUMAN RIGHTS

Amnesty Int'l slams Argentina's ‘regressive’ turn on gender, environmental issues

25-06-2024 21:24 Global rights watchdog Amnesty International expresses dissatisfaction at Milei government’s shift on longstanding “historic consensus on gender, environment and human rights defenders” at Organisation of American States.

INTERVIEW / PERIODISMO PURO

Claudia Piñeiro: ‘I’ve never ever seen another president celebrate the tears of a rival’

15-06-2024 05:49 Award-winning writer, playwright and screenwriter Claudia Piñeiro on narrative, challenges to women’s rights and President Javier Milei’s rhetoric.

by Jorge Fontevecchia

WOMEN'S RIGHTS

Milei government shutters office dedicated to prevention of gender violence

06-06-2024 17:43 Three days after annual Ni Una Menos march, head of programme dedicated to protection against gender violence announces she is stepping as President Milei moves to shutter department.

HUMAN RIGHTS

Madres de Plaza de Mayo rights campaigner Nora Cortiñas dead at 94

30-05-2024 21:24 Veteran leader of Madres de Plaza de Mayo–Línea Fundadora, who defied Argentina's 1976-1983 military dictatorship after her son Gustavo was disappeared, passes away at hospital after recent operation.

argentine pontiff

Italian media claims Pope Francis used gay slur in meeting with bishops

27-05-2024 18:28 Pope Francis used an offensive gay slang word during a meeting with Italian bishops, two media outlets reported on Monday.

MIGRATION & HUMAN RIGHTS

UN: Number of children fleeing Latin America is soaring

15-05-2024 13:20 More than 30,000 children have crossed the perilous Darien Gap jungle in four months on the path to a better life in the United States, a number up 40% from the same period last year.

CRIME & SECURITY

Protesters demand justice after lethal arson attack on lesbians

13-05-2024 21:34 Protesters took to streets in Buenos Aires on Monday evening to demand justice in the wake of a deadly attack on four lesbians that left three dead and another fighting for her life.

OBITUARY

Horacio Méndez Carreras upheld dignity and decency in inglorious times

02-05-2024 09:00 Horacio witnessed so much. Some of his experiences were as hilarious as they were chilling, but he did much more than bear witness. He is a man who helped make Argentina a better place.

by Robert Cox

OBITUARY

Horacio Méndez Carreras, human rights lawyer who tracked murder of French nuns, dies at 86

02-05-2024 08:57 Heralded human rights lawyer, who was born in 1937 and passed away on Monday, worked with Abuelas de Plaza de Mayo as plaintiff in the trial probing crimes against humanity committed at ESMA Navy Mechanics School. In 1984, he was contracted by the French state to pursue an almost impossible case: investigating the forced disappearances of French nuns Alice Domon and Léonie Duquet.

HUMAN RIGHTS

Young activists call on states, tech firms to uphold digital rights

23-04-2024 18:01 Amnesty International’s Global Youth Summit convenes in Buenos Aires as rights campaigners discuss intricacies of life online.

by Girah Lundy-Joseph

CRIME & SECURITY

Prison breaks in Buenos Aires: 19 inmates escape in 20 days, many convicts at large

23-04-2024 16:04 Fugitives on the run in Argentina – overcrowding at police stations in and across the capital allows detainees to escape from jail.

HUMAN RIGHTS & DICTATORSHIP

NGOs accuse Milei government ‘dismantling’ team investigating military records

12-04-2024 08:45 Injunction against move filed with courts as human rights groups denounce firing of 10 out of 13 researchers that probe archives of Armed Forces to assist investigations into crimes against humanity.

CATHOLIC CHURCH

Against abortion, for LGBTQ rights: Vatican defends 'human dignity'

08-04-2024 16:14 Vatican publishes new text condemning "grave violations of human dignity," listing abortion, surrogacy and gender theory alongside discrimination against migrants and LGBTQ people.

POLITICS

Milei reopens debate about dictatorship, Armed Forces

04-04-2024 18:51 President enrages human rights groups by questioning estimate of those disappeared by junta’s security forces and calls for “reconciliation” of the military in Argentina.

POLITICS & HUMAN RIGHTS

Alberto González: ESMA torturer – and vice-president’s mentor

29-03-2024 21:02 He headed the dreaded “underground” of the ESMA Navy Mechanics School concentration camp. Convicted for crimes against humanity, Alberto González was also the first dictatorship-era criminal to be sentenced for rape. He is also the mentor of Argentina’s Vice-President Victoria Villarruel.

by Juan Luis González

Human rights

‘Los Pozos’: 10 handed life sentences for dictatorship-era abuses

28-03-2024 14:28 Court issues 10 lifetime prison sentences as part of a long-running, mass prosecution into incidents of kidnapping, torture, rape and disappearances at three sites during the country's 1976-83 military dictatorship.

HUMAN RIGHTS

H.I.J.O.S. rights activist provides details of attack at her home

25-03-2024 17:12 Abused HIJOS activist Sabrina Bölke goes public and speaks out about attack she suffered: "They tortured me and said they were going to kill me."

24 de MARZO

Milei government casts doubt over dictatorship crimes

24-03-2024 18:49 Milei administration echoes vice-president's line, demanding justice for "the victims of terrorism" during military dictatorship era and questioning 30,000 disappeared estimate from human rights groups.

HUMAN RIGHTS

Argentines send message with march in memory of dictatorship

24-03-2024 17:03 Huge crowds head to Plaza de Mayo to mark the 48th anniversary of the coup d'état that brought Argentina’s brutal 1976-1983 military dictatorship to power, resulting in the disappearance, exile and execution of tens of thousands of people in secret death camps across the country.

EDITORIAL

48 years and 100 days later

23-03-2024 06:34 Tomorrow is the 48th anniversary of the 1976 military coup, while last Tuesday marked the classic first 100 days of the Javier Milei Presidency.

HUMAN RIGHTS

Attack on rights activist rocks nation on eve of coup anniversary

21-03-2024 18:36 H.I.J.O.S. human rights activist brutally assaulted and sexually abused at home by assailants who threatened her and identified themselves by using slogan linked to President Javier Milei.

HUMAN RIGHTS

Judge asks Uruguay to repatriate Navy plane used in the Condor Plan

21-03-2024 14:05 Court demands repatriation of plane in Uruguay that was used to transfer detainees during the Operation Condor plan of coordination between South American dictatorships in the 1970s and 1980s.

HUMAN RIGHTS IN COLOMBIA

Buried clothes, bones and DNA help identify Colombia's missing

14-03-2024 12:42 Across Colombia, efforts have intensified to find, exhume, and identify those who have gone missing during the country's six decades of armed conflict.

8M Rally

'We will be a tsunami' – Green tide fills streets surrounding Congress on 8M

09-03-2024 19:48 Thousands of women of all ages demonstrated near Congress to make their slogans against sexist violence heard.

by Sabrina Chemen

#8M: INTERNATIONAL WOMEN'S DAY

Tens of thousands of women challenge Milei on march for rights

08-03-2024 22:53 People across Argentina marked International Women's Day Friday with protests and celebrations, with demonstrators at a large rally in Buenos Aires voicing fierce criticism of President Javier Milei's government.

#8M: INTERNATIONAL WOMEN'S DAY

#8M: Activists take to the streets for women’s rights

08-03-2024 13:34 Feminists and campaigners march nationwide under the slogan “against hunger, norms and repression” in light of the Milei administration’s recent attacks on women’s rights.

News of rights

Almost 50 years on, French families still seeking answers about disappeared relatives

Argentina refuses to back UN draft resolution on indigenous rights

Abuelas and Madres founder Mirta Acuña de Baravalle dies at 99

Marchers at Pride criticise Milei's 'discriminatory' laws and policies

‘Much more than a march’ – Pride gets political in Milei era

Brazil introduces law increasing femicide sentences to 40 years

Ex-cop, ex-Army officer sentenced to lengthy jail terms for 1970s crimes

UN committee ‘deeply concerned’ for children amid cutbacks

Brazil, Spain struggle to shake criticism as Maduro enablers

Court in Argentina orders Maduro's arrest for crimes against humanity

‘Totalitarian’: Argentina votes against UN ‘Pact for the Future’

Argentina, six other nations ask UN to probe ‘serious rights violations’ in Venezuela

Documentary brings dictatorship 'death flights' trauma to big screen

Argentine seeks military trial in Italy over dictatorship deaths

Madres de Plaza de Mayo activist Herenia Sánchez de Viamonte dies at 97

Milei’s move to limit access to public information condemned

When ugly ducklings are black swans

Arrieta jumps ship after leaking bills to free dictatorship criminals

Justice minister backed as critics slam gender diversity remarks

Villarruel vows to reopen criminal cases against anti-junta guerrillas

Milei shutters special unit probing dictatorship-era abduction of minors

30,000? The debate about how many were disappeared in Argentina

Lula reinstates commission to probe Brazil dictatorship crimes

Abuelas de Plaza de Mayo warns of move to shutter investigative unit

Amnesty Int'l slams Argentina's ‘regressive’ turn on gender, environmental issues

Claudia Piñeiro: ‘I’ve never ever seen another president celebrate the tears of a rival’

Milei government shutters office dedicated to prevention of gender violence

Madres de Plaza de Mayo rights campaigner Nora Cortiñas dead at 94

Italian media claims Pope Francis used gay slur in meeting with bishops

UN: Number of children fleeing Latin America is soaring

Protesters demand justice after lethal arson attack on lesbians

Horacio Méndez Carreras upheld dignity and decency in inglorious times

Horacio Méndez Carreras, human rights lawyer who tracked murder of French nuns, dies at 86

Young activists call on states, tech firms to uphold digital rights

Prison breaks in Buenos Aires: 19 inmates escape in 20 days, many convicts at large

NGOs accuse Milei government ‘dismantling’ team investigating military records

Against abortion, for LGBTQ rights: Vatican defends 'human dignity'

Milei reopens debate about dictatorship, Armed Forces

Alberto González: ESMA torturer – and vice-president’s mentor

‘Los Pozos’: 10 handed life sentences for dictatorship-era abuses

H.I.J.O.S. rights activist provides details of attack at her home

Milei government casts doubt over dictatorship crimes

Argentines send message with march in memory of dictatorship

48 years and 100 days later

Attack on rights activist rocks nation on eve of coup anniversary

Judge asks Uruguay to repatriate Navy plane used in the Condor Plan

Buried clothes, bones and DNA help identify Colombia's missing

'We will be a tsunami' – Green tide fills streets surrounding Congress on 8M

Tens of thousands of women challenge Milei on march for rights

#8M: Activists take to the streets for women’s rights

Farmer sentenced for mass penguin slaughter in Argentina's south

Argentina ‘sure’ of new IMF deal, says it doesn’t depend on Trump

Chau Evita? Milei officials eye demolition of iconic Buenos Aires building

Milei voices support for Israel – Argentina says ICC warrants 'ignore' right to self-defence

Long live pragmatism, carajo!

UNC: quién es el mejor promedio de la Casa de Trejo y qué carrera estudió

Abrieron las inscripciones para estudiar en la UBA en 2025: cómo anotarse y hasta cuándo hay tiempo

Gustavo Petro reveló que se peleó con Javier Milei en el G20 y que la delegación argentina "lo escondió"

Un diputado de la Libertad Avanza presentó un proyecto para prohibir el cambio de género a condenados

Sebastián Villa enloqueció a todo River y 'Pity' Martínez intentó pegarle en el camino a los vestuarios