Repression as policy: Violence, arbitrary detentions, and the use of dangerous weapons in Argentina
The mobilization outside Congress demanding a pension increase on March 12 was violently repressed in a large-scale operation involving five security forces. Security Minister Patricia Bullrich had warned in advance that there would be repression. Tear gas, rubber bullets, and arbitrary detentions marked a day in which the government justified its actions by invoking the narrative of an “attempted coup.”
IACHR Hearing: State fails to address refugee and asylum issues
CAREF, CELS, and the Jesuit Migrant Service (SJM) called on the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) to urge the Argentine government to repeal Decree 942/2024, as it undermines due process guarantees and the right to seek and receive asylum. Furthermore, we emphasized that the State must uphold its obligations regarding the rights of refugees and asylum seekers and, in particular, ensure the competence of the officials responsible for adjudicating asylum claims.
IACHR Hearing: State denies responsibility for December 2001 killings and repression
The Argentine State withdrew its previous acknowledgment of responsibility for the repression carried out in 2001, which it had accepted in 2023. Officials declined to answer questions regarding the State’s new assessment of the events that occurred in December 2001. The events of December 19 and 20, 2001, were an extreme manifestation of state violence following the unjustified declaration of a State of Siege.
IACHR: Argentina’s government appears aggressive and ill-prepared in hearings on human rights protections
The representative from the La Libertad Avanza administration claimed poverty is decreasing but could not provide any specifics regarding social policies for children and adolescents. Nor did he address the provision of medical supplies to guarantee sexual and reproductive health. Additionally, he denied the existence of gender-based violence. During the hearing on memory policies, he attacked human rights organizations, accusing them of seeking revenge for the last military dictatorship.
Argentina must respond to the IACHR on the state of human rights
On Thursday November 14, Argentina will face three hearings where various social movements, human rights organizations and unions will present evidence of serious setbacks in public policies. The key issues raised will be memory, truth, and justice; prevention, punishment, and eradication of gender-based violence; and social and food policies.
The Government reaffirmed its policy of criminalizing protests and defended its use of repression before the IACHR
During a public hearing requested by human rights, labor, and social organizations, representatives from the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) and the United Nations expressed their concerns about the use of force, arbitrary detentions, the Ministry of Security’s protocol, and the stigmatization of demonstrators and social organizations.
Repression at the Congress: we call on the IACHR to protect the right to protest
Together with human rights defender organizations, we asked that the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) take precautionary measures in favor of press workers, human rights defenders, and protesters. We expressed our deep concern about the recurrence of disproportionate security operations that result in people being detained and seriously injured.
With more than 1,700 signatures from organizations, we condemn the protocol against protest before the UN and the IACHR
Jointly with trade unions, social movements, human rights organizations, and entities focused on social, trade, environmental, indigenous, migrant, transfeminist, religious, children’s, student, and political causes, we have requested international mechanisms to demand the Argentine State stop the implementation of new regulations that seek to restrict and repress public protest. These submissions were also supported by 15,000 individual signatures.
CELS provided the Inter-American Court of Human Rights with information about the right to care
In collaboration with other organizations, we submitted our contributions to the Court’s Advisory Opinion on the right to care. This process began after the Argentine state requested the Court pronounce on the content and scope of care as a human right and its connection to other rights.
We denounced before the IACHR the increase in indiscriminate use of less lethal weapons to suppress protests
With over 20 international and regional organizations we questioned the irregular and disproportionate use of these weapons by security forces and their serious consequences on health and human rights of people who exercise their right to protest.
IACHR: Request for a visit to Argentina to assess violations against indigenous peoples
Rights organizations and representatives of indigenous communities highlight an increase in violence and structural racism by the state, denial of access to territory, lack of prior consultation and the critical situation in the province of Jujuy.
At the final hearing before the Inter-American Court for the AMIA bombing, the Argentine State acknowledged its responsibility
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.
CELS files as amicus curiae in the case of CAJAR vs. Colombia
The Inter-American Court of Human Rights is reviewing the lawsuit filed by the “José Alvear Restrepo” Lawyers Collective Corporation (CAJAR) for the illegal intelligence work, threats and persecution suffered by its members over the past 30 years. The case represents an opportunity to sanction illegal and arbitrary intelligence actions and practices that States deploy against social organizations and human rights activists and demonstrates the need for clear rules to regulate and control intelligence activities.
Milagro Sala: New complaint submitted to Inter-American System
We submitted our complaint against the Argentine State for the process of harassment and criminalization that Sala and the Tupac Amaru organization have suffered since her arrest in 2016. Government policy in Jujuy reaches much further, seeking to demobilize and limit the right to protest.
Colombia: Call for the End of State Violence and for the IACHR to Investigate on Acts of Repression
650 civil society organizations call for a thorough investigation of the repression of social protest and request an on-site visit by the IACHR and the creation of a group of experts.
AMIA Bombing: Argentina Responsible For Impunity and HR Violations, IACHR
In its Merits Report, the Inter-American Human Rights Commission states that Argentina violated the right to life, to the personal integrity of the victims and their next of kin, the right to adequate judicial protection, and the right of society as a whole to the truth.
The autonomy of the IACHR must be protected
The OAS must protect the autonomy of the IACHR by renewing the contract of its Executive Secretary, in accordance with current institutional frameworks.
The Inter-American Court of Human Rights Found Argentina Guilty And Ruled In Favor Of The Indigenous Communities of Salta
Argentina is ordered to cede an undivided deed to 4000 km2 of ancestral territory to the Lhaka Honhat Association of Aboriginal Communities, among other reparations.
Bolivia Must Allow the Truth Be Revealed About Human Rights Violations
This joint statement from human rights organizations condemns the Bolivian government’s decision to veto two members of the Independent Expert Group of the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights
Alert to backsliding on migration policies
A group of organizations submitted information to the IACHR on the migration policies of the provincial governments of Jujuy and Chubut. We also provided details regarding a series of expulsions of migrants.
IACHR sounds alarm over rising militarization in the region
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.
Supreme Court rules the “2 for 1” benefit is not applicable to crimes against humanity
The high court ruled on the case of Rufino Batalla, convicted to 13 years in prison for the kidnapping, torture and murder of Laura Carlotto and Olga Noemí Casado, and who had requested that the “2 for 1” sentence reduction provision be applied to his case. By determining it was inapplicable, the Supreme Court modified the criteria it had utilized in the Muiña ruling, which prompted widespread repudiation and led to the approval of a new law.
Militarization of the region at the IACHR
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.
Magdalena massacre at the IACHR: Detention conditions worsen in Buenos Aires province
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.
Institutional violence and gender-based violence: A year without Ivana Rosales and another year without reparation
Thirty-five organizations published an open letter demanding that the Argentine state and Neuquén province fulfill the commitment they made to Ivana Rosales before the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights. Her daughter continues to demand justice, a year after Ivana’s death.
Battling impunity in Mexico: an innovative strategy of international advocacy
A novel intervention by international experts in Mexico invigorated the work of human rights organizations to fight against systemic impunity in the country, according to Gabriela Kletzel and Angel Gabriel Cabrera Silva.
Grave human rights crisis in Nicaragua
The repression of social protest carried out by Nicaraguan security forces and para-police groups has left at least 273 people dead and 1800 injured in the last three months. What started with demonstrations against a pension reform has ballooned into a human rights crisis.
IACHR: sexual and reproductive rights & the secular state
Argentina must review legislation that is discriminatory, such as the criminalization of abortion and the lack of access to health care for women who decide to interrupt their pregnancies. The IACHR also put itself at the disposition of states in the region to assist with establishing a clear separation between the secular state and religious beliefs.
Response to the US about its withdrawal from the UN Human Rights Council
The US ambassador to the UN said that her country’s decision to abandon the Human Rights Council was partly due to the opposition of 18 organizations to the Council reform proposal backed by Washington. CELS, one of these organizations, responded to her.
IACHR hearing: Regressive fiscal policies violate economic and social rights
As demonstrations against public service rate hikes and the influence of international creditors take place in Argentina, this hearing before the IACHR made clear that fiscal policy cannot be addressed without taking human rights into account.
IACHR hearing on abortion: Legalization is a human rights imperative
More than half a million women undergo clandestine abortions every year in Argentina and since 1983, more than 3,000 women have paid for the criminalization of abortion with their lives.
In defense of the agreements forged in democracy
On Monday, December 4, the 2017 Annual Report edited by Siglo XXI will become available. The prologue, which we are sharing in advance, calls attention to decisions, measures and events that adversely affect critical items on the human rights agenda as well as protection mechanisms. The government response to grave incidents, repeated incidents of repression and discourses about present-day threats and episodes from the past put the human rights consensuses achieved in Argentina on alert. These have been compounded by judicial decisions that take aim at some of the pillars of democracy. This situation requires safeguarding human rights principles from the dynamic of overall polarization.
Milagro Sala: IACHR requests Inter-American Court intervention since state failed to comply with precautionary measure
The Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) indicated that “the conditions of extreme gravity, urgency and risk of irreparable damage” set forth in the American Convention on Human Rights have been met.
Milagro Sala: The risks increase as Argentina flouts the IACHR’s precautionary measure
At a working meeting convened by the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR), representatives of Amnesty International and CELS warned that the risks she runs have intensified.
IACHR session: Memory, truth and justice, labor rights, Milagro Sala and Lhaka Honhat
Next week the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) will hold its 165th session in Montevideo. CELS will participate with other organizations in two public hearings and two work meetings with representatives of the IACHR and the Argentine state.
IACHR granted precautionary measure in favor of Argentine social leader Milagro Sala
The Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) granted the precautionary measure in favor of Argentine social leader Milagro Sala, making it clear that she cannot remain in prison any longer. Sala has been arbitrarily detained since January 16, 2016, when she was arrested over a protest. The precautionary measure was requested by Amnesty International, Andhes and CELS.
Places of confinement: the provincial state must adopt urgent measures
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.
Banding together to defeat Argentina’s utterly unfit candidate to the IACHR
Published by openDemocracy, this opinion piece analyzes the joint work and individual strategies that different Argentine, regional and international organizations used to convince OAS member states to reject Argentina’s candidate to the IACHR, Carlos Horacio de Casas.
OAS must reject the Argentine candidate for the IACHR
The countries of the OAS must elect new commissioners to the IACHR. In February we formally objected to the Argentine state’s candidate. In addition, two ex-presidents of the IACHR, an international panel of independent experts and more than 60 scholars rejected his candidacy.
120 organizations ask Argentine state to withdraw Carlos Horacio de Casas’ candidacy to IACHR
The career of Carlos Horacio de Casas, candidate for membership on the IACHR, has no ties to the defense or promotion of human rights, but rather to corporate, economic criminal and tax law. We contest his candidacy.
