During the 173rd Period of Sessions of the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) to be held from September 23 to October 2 in Washington, DC; the International Institute on Race, Equality and Human Rights (Race and Equality) will participate in public hearings alongside multiple Cuban and Nicaraguan civil society organizations that will denounce the serious situation faced by activists, human rights defenders and independent journalists in their respective countries due to the repression, violence and harassment exercised by the regimes of Cuba and Nicaragua.

We invite you to join the public hearings through the IACHR website and our social media.

Monday, September 23, 2019

Hearing: “Serious human rights violations in Cuba”

Despite the adoption of a new Cuban Constitution, the fundamental rights of the Cuban people continue to be violated because of arbitrary and repressive practices that deter Cubans from truly and effectively accessing their rights. Throughout this public hearing, civil society organizations will expose the worrying situation of human rights violations on the island and the ways in which the Cuban state censors its citizens and curtails their freedoms. In addition, the organizations will present to the Inter-American Commission the multiple forms of violence that the Cuban state uses to suppress voices that dissent against the regime.

Wednesday, September 25, 2019

Hearing: “Implementation of Protective Precautionary Measures in Favor of Independent Journalists in Nicaragua”

Given that the systematic violation of the right to freedom of expression and of the press has deepened in Nicaragua since the protests of April 18, 2018, this public hearing seeks to demand the immediate fulfillment of the precautionary measures granted by the IACHR to the media figures and independent journalists who are censored, harassed, arrested and repressed by the State of Nicaragua. To date, the state has not taken the necessary measures so that the beneficiaries can carry out their journalistic work without being subjected to acts of intimidation, threats or other acts of violence in the exercise of their work.