Over the past year, month by month, the government—operating with minimal political or judicial oversight—has systematically dismantled the vision of an egalitarian nation. Key pillars of its policies include the transfer of wealth to affluent sectors, the erosion of civic space, the enforcement of social conformity, and unchecked surveillance.
The international tribunal confirmed that the Argentine State is responsible for violating the human rights of the victims and their families, and the collective right to truth, and must commit to investigations and reparation measures. Joint statement from Memoria Activa and CELS.
For the past four months, since the composition of the Chambers in Congress changed, the commission tasked with overseeing intelligence agencies and activities has been inactive. Alongside members of the Iniciativa Ciudadana de Control del Sistema de Inteligencia (ICCSI) [Civil Initiative for Intelligence System Oversight], we urge parliamentary authorities, deputies, and senators to rectify this situation.
Joint statement with Memoria Activa following a ruling by judges Carlos Mahiques, Diego Barroetaveña, and Ángela Ledesma on April 11 regarding the cover-up.
Javier Milei’s government vindicates the criminal plan of the armed forces carried out during the 1970s. But it is not just an attempt to rewrite history and deny these crimes; it also aims to legitimize his policies in the present.
The Argentine government led by Javier Milei seeks to dismantle essential procedures and implement regressive measures affecting human rights and democracy. Within a span of three weeks, from Decree 70/23 to the proposed “Bases…” law, the Executive Branch introduced 1649 articles altering the entire social and political landscape, protection parameters, and state architecture. Congress bears the political responsibility to refrain from validating it.
The ruling confirms what CELS and the Observatorio de Derecho Informático Argentino (ODIA) have denounced: the system was operated outside the law that regulates it and without oversight mechanisms.
More than 17 years later, the Argentine State acknowledged before the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights its international responsibility for the incident and committed to put a series of measures in place to prevent such cruel deaths from ever happening again. CELS and the Colectivo de Investigación y Acción Jurídica (CIAJ) took part in the hearing as representatives of the victim’s families.
On October 13-14, the final hearing was held in Montevideo, Uruguay in the case filed by CELS and Memoria Activa in 1999 charging the Argentine State with international responsibility for the attack on the AMIA Jewish Community Center in Buenos Aires.
The ruling recognizes the gravity of jail and prison overcrowding in the province. Since 2012, the number of persons permanently jailed in police stations has risen 426%.
The publication is a compilation of stories showing how the use of FRT impacts the rights and everyday lives of citizens across 13 countries in the Americas, Africa, Europe, Asia and Australia.
Imposing house arrest without guaranteeing access to fundamental human rights, particularly in low-income homes, can be as punitive as imprisonment.
The number of serious acts of police violence recorded across the country shows how necessary it is for the authorities to promote substantial reforms in the national and provincial security forces.
CELS endorses letter addressed to the UN in which family members of victims of racial police violence and human rights organizations worldwide ask for independent inquiries.
The scheming behind the AMIA case is still present and explains many of the problems that concern us today. The pacts between the judicial, political, intelligence and media sectors that built the impunity around the bombing have never been broken, nor have ways of doing things been transformed.
Today the trial over the AMIA attack that began on August 6, 2015 concluded. Former judge Galeano, former prosecutors Mullen and Barbaccia and the former secretary of intelligence Anzorreguy were among those convicted.
Throughout this period, the judiciary has failed to investigate the criminal responsibilities of those who led the operation.
We requested information on how the use of these stun guns will be regulated from the governments of the city and province of Buenos Aires and of the nation. The “lesser lethality” of Tasers cannot serve as an excuse to expand the grounds for using police force.
The National System’s annual assembly analyzed the grave humanitarian situation in places of confinement and demanded justice for the victims of a fire in Police Station 3 of Esteban Echeverría, Buenos Aires province. Participants included representatives of the judicial branch and civil society, as well as family members of victims.
In a hearing they described as “historic,” members of the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) affirmed that the militarization of public security leads to an exponential increase in human rights violations. They also cautioned about the return of the national security doctrine in the region.
The militarization of public security is on the rise across the Americas, with very troubling consequences. For that reason, 17 organizations from 10 countries requested a regional hearing before the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR), which will be held on December 6.
The government modified regulations on the use of firearms by security force members. The move weakens judicial oversight, and the broad nature of what is defined as an “imminent danger” justifies and enables the abusive use of lethal force.
The Argentine state is responsible for the country’s detention conditions at the international level. The trial over the deaths that occurred 13 years ago bore witness to the grave consequences of a penitentiary system in crisis.
Six members of the Naval Prefecture were convicted of torturing Iván Navarro and Ezequiel Villanueva Moya in 2016. The national Security Ministry must stop the violence by security forces in the southern neighborhoods of Buenos Aires city.
In a landmark win for seven members of the International Network of Civil Liberties Organizations (INCLO), the European Court of Human Rights ruled that the UK’s mass surveillance practices violate privacy and freedom of expression. CELS joins all its fellow INCLO members in celebrating this victory.
The executive branch published a decree that modifies Argentina’s Armed Forces policy. The changes alter the cross-party agreement on the missions assigned to the Armed Forces, forged after the return of democracy and over the following 30 years.
The UN Special Rapporteur on torture, upon concluding his visit to the country, said that detention conditions in provincial police stations and prisons “severely contravene international standards and are incompatible with human dignity.” He also denounced the “degrading” conditions in the Melchor Romero psychiatric hospital and police violence in low-income neighborhoods. At the same time, he urged the Argentine state to allocate “sufficient resources to ensure the timely processing and adjudication of the remaining cases and trials for crimes against humanity.”
The murder of Brazilian human rights defender Marielle Franco is an extremely grave incident that has caused concern in Argentina and throughout the region.
Twelve years after the fact, the justice system convicted three officials from the Buenos Aires Penitentiary Service for the 33 deaths that occurred in a fire at the Magdalena prison. For the first time, high-ranking officials from the provincial penitentiary service received long sentences for a prison blaze and its consequences.
Twelve years after the fact, a criminal court convicted three officials from the Buenos Aires Penitentiary Service over the 33 deaths that occurred in a prison in the town of Magdalena.
The Russian government fined Telegram and could block use of the instant messaging app, because the company refused to grant it access to users’ communications. Members of INCLO, including CELS, seek to curb such measures.
The government rejected the accreditations of 65 people who planned to participate in the WTO Ministerial Conference in Buenos Aires and sent the list to immigration officials as a security “alert.” Two people on the list were ultimately deported.
The Argentine government has revoked the accreditation of key civil society actors before the World Trade Organization. It attempted to justify this action by admitting it was based on an analysis of organizations’ social networks that aimed to exclude those considered “disruptive.” CELS and other organizations jointly submitted a letter requesting that this decision be rescinded.
In a joint statement by 11 organizations, we call attention to the dangers of approving a law that allows for militarizing domestic security in Mexico, due to the impact it would have on human rights in that country and the negative precedent it would set in Latin America.
Digital security expert Ramy Raoof says state surveillance has harmful consequences even when it is not used to persecute people. Ramy has worked extensively in the Middle East and North Africa, and came to Argentina on the initiative of the International Network of Civil Liberties Organizations (INCLO).
One month ago, the trial over the “Magdalena massacre” began. The testimony thus far confirms that prison officials locked the pavilion where a fire had broken out and left the scene. 33 of the 35 people trapped inside died of asphyxia or burns.
A press conference was held in Esquel, 35 days after Santiago Maldonado’s disappearance. The participants emphasized the investigation’s shortcomings in the first crucial days, the violent security force operation in which Santiago disappeared, and the hypotheses used to try to divert the case.
Today Argentines will take to the country’s plazas again to demand an answer to the question “Where is Santiago Maldonado?”
Today marks 10 days since Santiago Maldonado was last seen trying to escape from an operation by Argentina’s Gendarmerie in the territory of the Pu Lof Cushamen indigenous community, in Chubut province. Human rights organizations convened a massive rally in the Plaza de Mayo today to demand that he be found alive.
In the 163rd period of IACHR hearings, the Comisión Provincial por la Memoria (CPM), Center for Legal and Social Studies (CELS) and the Public Appeals Defender exposed the crisis in the system of confinement in the province of Buenos Aires and called on the provincial and national states to take measures to reduce overcrowding, overpopulation, inhuman conditions, lack of access to health, and torture in prisons.
The International Intelligence-Sharing Project was launched to demand that governments in eight countries tell the public what information-sharing agreements are in place with other nations. In Argentina, we filed an information request to the Federal Intelligence Agency (AFI).
The Argentine state’s compliance with the Convention against Torture will be evaluated on Wednesday, April 26 and Thursday, April 27. CELS submitted a report to the UN Committee that carries out the evaluation and contributed to two reports produced with other organizations.
Seven people detained in a Pergamino police station died in a fire. After the Verbitsky ruling, in which confinement in police facilities was deemed unconstitutional, the number of people held in such establishments went down to 600. Today it is at 3017.
In three separate operations, national and provincial security forces used unusual violence to repress members of the Lof Cushamen Mapuche community of Chubut, who have been subjected to criminalization and harassment.
Residents of the Flores neighborhood protested at police precinct 38 over serious incidents that they attributed to the historic collusion between police and illegal businesses and the existence of “lawless areas.” The city government responded to those reports with the traditional approach of greater police presence and more ID checks.
This report offers a ground-level view of some of the ways surveillance, and digital electronic surveillance in particular, is impacting on the lives of citizens and residents in ten countries in Africa, the Americas, Asia, Europe and the Middle East.
Edward Snowden spoke about the lack of oversight of intelligence systems and the scope of this problem.
The participation of the Armed Forces in security matters is prohibited under the fundamental laws of the reconstruction of the Argentine democratic state, which were the result of broad, cross-party political agreements.
The Rules are a parameter for detention conditions worldwide. They were updated, for the first time in 60 years, with the objective of providing greater protection to persons deprived of their liberty.
After years of delays, officials from former Argentine President Carlos Menem on down will finally be tried for orchestrating a cover-up in the AMIA bombing investigation. Much is at stake for the victims, for Argentine society, and for its democratic institutions.