Nicaraguan Delegation Meets with United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights Michelle Bachelet

Nicaraguan Delegation Meets with United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights Michelle Bachelet

The International Institute of Race, Equality, and Human Rights (Race & Equality) facilitated a private meeting on February 1 between 10 representatives of Nicaraguan civil society organizations and United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights Michelle Bachelet.

In the meeting held in Geneva, Switzerland, Nicaraguan human rights defenders presented a report detailing the grave state of human rights in the country following the persecution of activists, women, journalists, independent media outlets, youth, political prisoners, and human rights defenders by the government of Daniel Ortega and Rosario Murillo.

“We have met with the High Commissioner.  She listened to our requests and expressed her sincere concern regarding the situation in Nicaragua and her commitment to include and note the situation that is transpiring in all of her interventions and contribute in any way she can to bring about improvements in the conditions in the country,” affirmed Ana Quirós, the CISAS human rights defender who was recently arbitrarily thrown out of Nicaragua.  Likewise, Heydee Castillo, Director of the Instituto de Liderazgo de Las Segovias [Las Segovias Leadership Institute], said, “We were able to tell her verbally what we have experienced and what is being experienced by the people of Nicaragua, the levels of criminalization, violence, [and] crimes against humanity committed . . .”

Eight of the 10 civil society organizations present in the meeting have been arbitrarily censured by the current government following its decision to cancel their legal status in retaliation for complying with their missions and objectives: attending to the populace within the context of the Nicaraguan crisis.  It is thus that Luciano García of Hagamos Democracia [Let’s Build Democracy] expressed, “The most important thing was that we were able to bring her up-to-date in a timely manner regarding the abuses being committed by the regime against all Nicaraguans and all civil society organizations, and she [Michelle Bachelet] listened to our demands and is extremely concerned and surprisingly well-informed about the case of Nicaragua.”

One of the requests the representatives presented to Commissioner Bachelet related to asking the State of Nicaragua to stop the repression, persecution, and criminalization of the populace, human rights defenders, indigenous peoples, social [and] political leaders, and journalists.  They additionally called on the State to provide guarantees for the prompt and safe return to the country of the human rights defenders who were forced into exile as a result of the criminalization and prosecution, as well as the reinstatement of the arbitrarily-canceled (illegally withdrawn) legal status to human rights and civil society organizations.

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See here the document containing the requests presented to the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights

Throughout the meeting, the High Commissioner displayed great sensitivity and commitment to the situation.  Anibal Toruño of Radio Darío noted that the meeting provided not only a space for them to discuss the national reality, but also a chance to find other partners with whom to promptly resolve the crisis.  “It was an encouraging moment: we received the full support of the High Commissioner.  A window, a hope, and of course, the possibility of finding partners who can help us resolve the crisis we are currently experiencing in Nicaragua.”

Mónica Baltonado, representative of Fundación Popol Na [Popol Na Foundation], emphasized how important it was to tell the Commissioner about the pain that is being inflicted not only on human rights defenders and activists, but also on the nation: “It is of transcendent importance for the Nicaraguan organizations as well as for the entire society.  First, because we were able to directly communicate to her the pain and suffering of the Nicaraguan people and the enormous concern we have, but above all, the sense of urgency to find a solution in the shortest period of time possible.”

Since April 2018, Nicaragua has been submerged in a grave human rights crisis that has become ever more acute, insomuch as the causes that provoked it have not been addressed, nor has the Nicaraguan people’s demand for justice and democracy been heeded.  In recent months the government has implemented a strategy of dismantling all spaces of criticism, while the violence is manifested in a more selective manner to target human rights defenders.  To date, the Nicaraguan government’s repressive actions have produced 325 assassinations, more than 2,000 injured individuals, 767 political prisoners, and more than 80,000 people have been forcibly displaced to Costa Rica.

Brazil is the country with the greatest number of assassinations of trans persons in the world

Washington, DC, January 30, 2019 – With a rate of 41% in the world ranking of assassinations of trans persons, Brazil has become the country that kills the most individuals with this gender identity, according to the 2018 Dossier on Assassinations and Violence against Transvestites and Transsexuals in Brazil, a report published this Tuesday by the Asociación Nacional de Travestis y Transexuales [National Association of Transvestites and Transsexuals] (ANTRA) of Brazil and the Instituto Brasileño Trans de Educación [Brazilian Trans Institute of Education] (IBTE).

According to the report, in 2018 alone, a total of 163 trans persons violently lost their lives through assassinations related to their sexuality, 158 of whom were transvestites and transsexual women, four were trans men, and one a non-binary person.

As set forth in the report, these data are dramatically influenced by a 30% increase in the cases that have not been publicized in the national news media, an element that impacts and distorts the real situation of this population in the country.  According to what is reported in the document, at first blush it would appear that there was a decrease in cases between 2017, in which 179 homicides were reported, and 2018, when 163 were reported.  The fact is that during the first reporting year, there were only 34 cases that were not reported on, while in 2018, the number of cases that were unreported or unpublished in the national media rose to 44; as such, we are not truly talking about a decrease in assassinations but rather, a decrease in the publicizing of cases in the news media, which presupposes a direct impact on how cases are recorded, thereby leading to under-reporting in the counting of victims.

The Dossier seeks to produce a detailed analysis of the assassinations and violations against the transvestite and transsexual populations in Brazil in order to denounce the cases of human rights violations to which this population is subjected.  In this way, the civil society organizations that fight for the recognition of the Brazilian LBGTI population’s rights, especially those of trans persons, reveals the omission of the Brazilian State by ignoring the alarming indices of violence against this population in the country.  To date, the national government has not provided legal support that guarantees the removal and effective investigation of the systematic patterns that characterize these acts.

The violence in figures

The states that reported the greatest number of homicides of trans persons were Río de Janeiro (16), Bahía (15), and São Paulo with 14 cases.  Keeping in mind the data reported, the average age of the victims assassinated in 2018 was 26.4 years old, which indicates a decrease of 1.3 years in relation to 2017.  In addition, the data from the latest Violence Map show an increase of 54% in the homicides of black women, while the assassinations of white women dropped by 9.8%.  All in all, 82% of the cases were identified as black persons and brown (mestizo) persons, thereby ratifying the sad datum regarding the assassinations of young black people in Brazil.

According to the report, 53% of the victims were assassinated with firearms, 21% by knives, and 19% by blows, asphyxiation, and/or strangulation.  The deaths of trans persons in Brazil are generally due to the hatred or vicious cycle of exclusion to which they are subject.  The presidents of ANTRA and IBTE noted in the letter they addressed to the readers at the end of the recently-published report that the assassinations are normally distinguished by the large number of violent blows inflicted or the cruelty of the method employed.

According to the data gathered by ANTRA, 90% of the population of transvestites and transsexuals use prostitution as a source of income and subsistence method, due to the low level of schooling resulting from the process of school exclusion, which in turn makes it more difficult for them to join the formal job market and handicaps them in terms of professional qualifications caused by social exclusion.

The International Institute on Race, Equality, and Human Rights (Race & Equality) expresses extreme concern regarding the data reported in the map of assassinations of trans persons and transvestites in 2018, especially the increase in the figures, systematization of the violence against young people, trans persons, and Afro-descendants, and the ‘invisibilization’ by the State of Brazil [of these acts] faced by the entire trans population.  We join our voices to the call made by the report’s organizations, asking the national government to immediately address the human rights crisis confronted by the LGBTI population in the country.

Download here Dossier on Assassinations and Violence against Transvestites and Transsexuals in Brazil

14 Afro-descendant, indigenous, and campesino leaders assassinated during the first month of 2019

Bogota, Colombia.  January 29 2019. The International Institute on Race, Equality, and Human Rights (Race & Equality) expresses profound concern regarding the alarming number of grassroots social leaders assassinated in Colombia through the end of the first month of the year, a period in which approximately 14 homicides of male and female indigenous people, Afro-descendants, and campesinos were reported.

We emphatically reject and condemn the systematicity of the acts of violence, especially those directed against the Afro-descendant and indigenous populations in the country – peoples who have been historically marginalized and abused due to structural poverty, forced displacement, [and] a lack of access to healthcare, education, employment, and protective guarantees that ensure the integrity of their fundamental rights.

We urge the Colombian State and people to not ignore the number of Afro-Colombian human rights defenders who were assassinated through the end of 2018, which according to the figure reported by the Consultoría para los Derechos Humanos y el Desplazamiento [Consulting Office on Human Rights and Displacement] (CODHES) totals 20 homicides (17 men and three women) out of the 54 assassinations of leaders of ethnic communities.

We also demand that the Colombian State undertake efforts to guarantee the lives and protection of those men and women who dedicate their lives to the territory.  Likewise, we issue a special call on the State to provide differentiated protection mechanisms that are necessary for ethnic communities, especially recognizing the impacts suffered by Afro-Colombian and indigenous women who are direct victims of the armed conflict and at a great disadvantage as compared with the rest of the population: in light of not having guarantees of social protection, economic autonomy, or recognition of their rights, their rights are doubly violated.  We demand justice, truth, and guarantees that NO impunity will shroud the lives of the leaders Maritza Ramírez Chaverra (Tumaco), Maritza Quiróz Leiva (Magdalena), and María Ortega (Norte de Santander).  The deaths of these women – who are today victims of the bloody state of violence in the country – leave great voids not only in their families but also in society due to their absence, due to a generalized fear generated by the continuing fight for and defense of human rights in the territory.

With extreme concern we urge the national government to undertake all possible efforts to guarantee there will be NO impunity surrounding the more than 500 homicides of social leaders that have plunged the country into its current mourning.  Likewise, we highlight the need to adopt all possible protective measures to ensure the lives and integrity of the leaders who continue in a state of risk, the reason for which we call on the international community to show solidarity in the face of the national emergency and continue to monitor the grave and systematic violations of the fundamental rights of human rights defenders.

We urge the Colombian government and all social groups involved in making possible the construction of a stable and lasting peace throughout Colombian territory to make dialogue the only legitimate method tor finding a negotiated and peaceful exit from the armed conflict that continues to be latent in the country.

COLOMBIA: NOT ONE STEP BACK, ONWARD TOWARD PEACE! – Pronouncement –

Bogotá, Colombia, January 18, 2019 – The International Institute on Race, Equality, and Human Rights (Race & Equality) emphatically rejects and condemns the acts of violence that have plunged Colombians into mourning during the first 15 days of the year.  We condemn all types of violence that threaten the intention of the Colombian people to advance in the joint construction of a stable and lasting peace throughout the territory.

The assassination of the 10 social leaders that increases the shocking number of deaths of human rights defenders following the signing of the Peace Accords in September 2016 and the recent terrorist attack on the Escuela General Santander [General Santander School] in the city of Bogotá have to date left a total of 21 dead and 68 injured, according to what has been reported by national media outlets, are evidence of the looming need for the Colombian government and society in general to continue working on behalf of the peace process.

Despite the environment of uncertainty generated by the incidents that have occurred in the country in the midst of a growing awakening of the social mobilization rejecting the arbitrary governmental policies, among other things, and in favor of access to education, the financing law, and everything related to land access, tenure, and use, as well as a general repudiation of the assassination of more than 365 leaders who were assassinated in 2016 and 2018 (which still does not appear to have produced a sufficient response in the form of urgent and immediate measures the national government should put in place to guarantee the lives of its people), we encourage Colombians to continue to pursue with determination the search for and construction of peace, employing dialogue as the only path in all social spheres in order to process the conflicts that threaten the legitimate right to enjoy a decent life.

As an organization that is committed to defending and promoting human rights, we urgently call on the Colombian government, all of its institutions, dissident groups of the former guerrilla group Fuerzas Armadas Revolucionarias de Colombia [Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia] (FARC EP), and the allied armed group Ejército de Liberación Nacional [National Liberation Army] (ELN), so that, with an awareness of the profound responsibility to construct a society in peace, they will commit themselves to the need to make progress through peaceful dialogue in the face of a war that has lasted more than 50 years and left an abhorrent number of victims who deserve the emphatic commitment of their leaders, social organizations, and society in general as an alternative for negotiating differences and constructing a society defined by social justice.

We urge the international community to continue monitoring and accompanying the Colombian State in the process of constructing peace through truth, justice, reparations, and guarantees of no repetition.

 

Organizations supporting LGBTI persons’ rights issue a warning regarding the grave crisis over human rights in the country

The International Institute on Race, Equality, and Human Rights (Race & Equality), Instituto Transformar [Transform Institute] of Brazil, TRANS Siempre Amigas [TRANS Always Friends] (TRANSSA) of the Dominican Republic, Corporación Caribe Afirmativo [Affirmative Caribbean Corporation] of Colombia, Fundación Arcoiris de Tumaco [Tumaco Rainbow Foundation] of Colombia, [and] Red Peruana de Jóvenes Afrodescendientes Ashantí [Ashanti Peruvian Network of Afro-Descendant Youth] of Peru express extreme concern regarding the grave state of vulnerability of LGBTI persons’ rights in Brazil.  In light of the more than 160 recorded homicides in 2018 of LGBTI persons, the occurrence of 10 homicides due to prejudice during the first days of 2019, the majority of them Afro-descendant trans persons, is extremely concerning.  Additionally worrisome is Provisional Measure 870/19 that excludes the LGBT population as a subject for the promotion of human rights.  Likewise, the recent resignation of Congressman Jean Wyllis, the sole Afro-gay legislator in the country, who today announced he would step down from his post due to multiple threats, defamation, and acts of harassment orchestrated against him through social media.

State of LGBTI persons’ rights

According to figures reported by the Asociación Nacional de Travestis y Transexuales [National Association of Transvestites and Transsexuals] (ANTRA) of Brazil, every 48 hours a trans person is assassinated in that country.  Over the last two years, approximately 332 homicides of trans persons have been recorded – acts prompted especially by hatred and imaginary negatives that deepen the ignorance regarding LGBTI persons’ rights and begin to normalize and/or legitimize the violence perpetrated against this population.

In just 2017 alone, a total of 179 trans persons violently lost their lives in assassinations related to their sexuality, 80% of whom were black or mulatto and 70% of whom were sex workers.  “Eighty-five percent of the assassinations showed a refinement of cruelty such as dismemberment, hanging, and other brutal forms of violence,” noted the organization.

Deterioration in the area of rights

The recent election of President Jair Bolsonaro represents a real danger to LGBTI persons, Afro-descendants, human rights defenders, indigenous peoples, and quilombola groups [settlements established by escaped slaves], among other political minorities.  A real war was declared against these groups – or at least against the minorities – noted Alessandra Ramos, a trans female defender of LGBTI persons’ rights and a member of Congressman Jean Wyllis’ staff.  She went on to say that the cases of violence against LGBT persons by Bolsanaro’s followers have multiplied in the country.  According to a figure provided by the activist, more than 80 cases of assaults and assassinations of LGBTI persons were recorded during the current President’s campaign; she further noted that the trans population is one of experiencing the greatest state of vulnerability given that it embodies the figure and maximum expression of hatred due to its visibility and the degree of social exclusion to which it is subject.

Although the indices of violence against political minorities, particularly against LGBT persons, indicate an alarming increase during Jair Bolsonaro’s campaign promoted by the production of more than 700 million items of fake news disseminated though the principal social media, with regard to the enforceability and recognition of LGBTI persons’ rights, according to multiple denunciations made by human rights organizations in the country, the polarization [brought] by Jair Bolsonaro could already be seen before, even before the start of the campaign.  In strong speeches filled with hate, he espoused a narrative regarding corruption, the election of the Workers’ Party (PT) government, the promise of a law that would grant the right to police officers to shoot without legal repercussions, a defense of the traditional family and/or a fight against the ideology of gender, and another promise to free people to bear arms, noted Ramos during her remarks.  She further added that all of this represents a concrete threat to the lives of some political minorities and in and of itself is a risk to Brazilian democracy and the progress that has been made in the field of human rights.

It is concerning that within this framework of violence, Provisional Measure No. 870/19, adopted by President Bolsonaro on January 1, 2019, removed the LGBTI population from the list of policies and guidelines whose aim it is to promote human rights.  In addition to that, the creation of the new Ministry of Women, Family, and Human Rights, led by Pastor Damares Alves.

Persecution and harassment

“The discourse of hate cannot be downplayed!  He is possibly an assassin and has produced victims!” exclaimed Congressman Jean Wyllis from [the] PSOL [party] after announcing his resignation from office due to diverse acts of harassment, persecution, defamation, and death threats made against him recently.

The openly gay Congressman – who during his time in office had fought for the recognition of LGBTI persons’ rights – noted in various interviews with national news media that his resignation was not exclusively due to the election of Bolsonaro to the presidency but rather, the increasing level of violence since the latter’s election.  As an example, the Congressman mentioned the case of the transvestite whose heart was ripped out of her some days earlier and on whose person was left a sacred image.  All of these barbaric acts represent a threat against life.  “I need to remain alive for the future of the cause!” exclaimed the former Congressman who has protective measures issued by the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR).

Pronouncement

The aforementiond diverse human rights organizations, out of a strong state of concern and rejection issue a warning call to the Brazilian State to immediately address the grave situation produced by the violation of the fundamental rights of political minorities, especially historically marginalized groups such as Afro-descendants, indigenous peoples, and LGBTI persons.  We urge the State to be on alert for the multiple and systematic acts of barbarism committed against LGBTI persons promoted by hatred and imagined negatives that ignore people’s rights and incite and legitimize the violence committed against this population.  

We remind the country that regression in the recognition of minorities’ rights can have repercussions at the regional level.  It additionally represents a direct break with a series of international commitments adopted by Brazil by being a signatory of diverse international human rights treaties and agreements of that nature.

We urge the international community [and] human rights organizations throughout the world to take a stance in the face of the serious human rights problem that exists today in the Latin American country and requires immediate monitoring.

OAS announces it will apply the Inter-American Democratic Charter to Nicaragua after learning that crimes against humanity have been committed in that country

Washington DC, December 28, 2018 – The Organization of American States (OAS) will begin the process of applying the Inter-American Democratic Charter to Nicaragua, declared Secretary-General Luis Almagro yesterday, after the Vice President of the Inter-American Commission for Human Rights (IACHR), Esmeralda Arosamena de Troitiño, presented a report produced by independent experts from various disciplines that reveals that actions committed by the State of Nicaragua against the peacefully-demonstrating population could be considered crimes against humanity.

Almagro explained that the application will begin with the convening of the Permanent Council, pursuant to Article 20 of the Charter, which establishes that when an alteration of the constitutional order occurs in any Member State that seriously impacts its democratic order, a collective assessment of the situation can be performed and related decisions adopted.

“We are required to begin the application of the Inter-American Democratic Charter to Nicaragua. The solution is still political and diplomatic, and we have the Inter-American regulatory instruments to address them,” Almagro said during an extraordinary session of the Permanent Council held in Washington, DC.

The Secretary-General of the OAS emphasized that at the beginning of the application of the Charter there is also an opportunity for the government of Nicaragua to reconsider its actions. Eight months after the beginning of the human rights and socio-political crisis in Nicaragua, at least 325 people have lost their lives as a result of the repression of demonstrators and more than 2,000 have been injured, according to the IACHR, while another 50,000 have had to flee the country and around 565 have been imprisoned.

During the last month, the government of Daniel Ortega and Rosario Murillo launched a new escalation of repression against organizations defending human rights and media outlets by arbitrarily closing them and criminalizing journalists. Even the IACHR missions working in Nicaragua were expelled last week, accused of being “interventionist” and “biased.”

Under the current context of repression in Nicaragua, diplomatic representatives of several countries on the continent urged the Nicaraguan government to stop the repression and allow the return of the IACHR missions to the country; adhere to the recommendations of human rights experts; resume the national dialogue in a committed way; and reform the electoral system in order to hold early elections.

The United States of America, Colombia, Argentina, and Chile also requested the application of the Inter-American Democratic Charter, whose ultimate consequence could be the suspension of Nicaragua’s right to participate in the OAS.

Paula Bertol, Argentina’s ambassador to the OAS, stressed that “the lack of democracy and freedom in Nicaragua” has been exposed in the experts’ reports, and that is the reason why “many of our States are thinking about applying the Democratic Charter.”  “Many of our States are also considering an extraordinary consultation meeting because we are worried about what is happening in Nicaragua, because we don’t want more people to die as a result of the abuse of State power,” she added.

The ambassador of Chile to the OAS, Jaime Francisco Alliende, also called for “a solution to the political crisis in Nicaragua to be developed according to the principles and values ​​of Inter-American instruments, including the Inter-American Democratic Charter,” maintaining that when faced with a rupture of the rule of law, “all OAS Member States must raise their voices to call upon that regime to accept a peaceful and democratic solution to this serious crisis.”

The Vice President of the IACHR also supported the activation of the Inter-American Democratic Charter against the Nicaraguan government: “The IACHR calls on the OAS Member States to reject violations of human rights and acts of repression against the Nicaraguan population, and to consider compliance with the conditions that make the Inter-American Democratic Charter applicable to the country,” Arosemena de Troitiño said.

Future actions

In his speech, the Secretary-General also explained that future actions the OAS will take include asking the IACHR to denounce the crimes documented in its report before the Inter-American Court of Human Rights, and to ask the Permanent Council to request a meeting with the Security Council of the United Nations (UN) to present them the report on crimes against humanity.

The latter action would also permit the UN Security Council to remit the investigation of these crimes to the International Criminal Court, an organ of justice of which Nicaragua is not currently a party.

“If crimes against humanity continue to be committed, we will ask the States Parties of the OAS, as well as all democratic States, that under the concept of ‘universal justice,’ the officials appointed as instructors and executors in the experts’ report be detained and tried in their respective territories for these crimes, thus activating universal justice,” Almagro warned.

The ambassador of Nicaragua to the OAS, Luis Alvarado, ignored the report presented in the OAS and accused several countries of being “interventionist” and “biased” for requesting justice and democracy for Nicaragua. He also affirmed that Almagro did not deserve to be the Secretary-General of the OAS, an organization that he tried to disqualify by using the words of the late Cuban dictator, Fidel Castro, describing it as a “Ministry of the Colonies.”  The representative of Venezuela was the only one to openly endorse Alvarado’s speech.

The report of the GIEI

In its final report drafted after six months of work in the Central American country, the Interdisciplinary Group of Independent Experts (GIEI) determined that “the State of Nicaragua has engaged in conduct which, in accordance with international law, must be considered crimes against humanity,” according to what was made known by the IACHR experts last week.

The report, presented in Washington, DC two days after the group was expelled from Nicaragua by the authorities, indicates that the crimes committed with the consent of the highest levels of the Nicaraguan government, were assassinations, incarceration, persecution, rape, torture, and forced disappearance.

The foregoing was affirmed following an arduous process of collecting information through direct interviews with relatives of victims and surviving victims, visits to and observations conducted in locations where the violent incidents occurred, meetings with journalists, examination of documents such as videos, photographs, and material from [traditional] media and social media. The State refused to provide them with information, despite the fact that the authorities had accepted that the GIEI’s primary mission was to assist the Office of the Public Prosecutor of Nicaragua to clarify the violent incidents that occurred at the beginning of the crisis.

The experts found that between April 18 and May 30, at least 109 people were assassinated and another 1,400 were wounded as a result of a “generalized and systematic attack against the civilian population” that was demonstrating against the government.

“The clearest and most serious pattern of behavior consisted of the use of firearms, including weapons of war, directly against people who participated in protest actions,” the report states, pointing to the National Police as the force in command of this conduct, which was accompanied in its actions by parastatal armed groups with the support of local political authorities.

For this same reason, GIEI recommends investigating President Ortega as being responsible for these events, in his capacity as supreme commander of the National Police.

Another human rights violation described in the GIEI report is the State of Nicaragua’s violation of its duty to ensure due diligence in the investigation of the violent deaths that occurred between April 18 and May 30, 2018.

“Out of 109 cases of violent deaths registered by GIEI, only nine have been prosecuted, which means that 100 still remain shrouded in impunity,” said Claudia Paz y Paz during the presentation of the report.

Even so, in the nine cases that have been prosecuted, six relate to victims with some relationship to the State of Nicaragua or government party. “In no case have trials begun against State security forces, despite the various evidence that indicates their possible responsibility,” the Guatemalan expert lamented.

 

Main photo: Juan Manuel Herrera/OAS.

Missions of the IACHR in Nicaragua expelled by the government

Washington D.C., December 20, 2018. Two missions of the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) in Nicaragua tasked with monitoring human rights violations and helping the authorities to clarify the violent events that transpired in April and May 2018 during the beginning of massive demonstrations left Nicaragua yesterday after the government suspended their visit and forced them to leave the country.

The expulsion of the Special Monitoring Mechanism for Nicaragua (MESENI, for its initials in Spanish), which arrived in the country on June 24, 2018, and the Interdisciplinary Group of Independent Experts (GIEI, for its initials in Spanish), which began its work in Nicaragua on July 2, 2018 – both in response to recommendations presented by the IACHR in the report “Serious Violations of Human Rights in the Context of the Social Protests in Nicaragua” – occurred a day before GIEI presented a report on their six months of work, and eight months after the beginning of the human rights crisis caused by the brutal governmental repression of citizen protests that has left at least 325 people dead, more than 2,000 injured, and around 565 political prisoners.

The government’s resolution also prevents Special Rapporteurs and officials of the IACHR from conducting a series of visits that were already scheduled for the first quarter of 2019.

“The most affected [by the expulsion] are the victims and their relatives, because the main value of our work is to be able to bring the victims closer to the truth and justice. That is our deepest regret,” MESENI Coordinator Ana María Tello declared moments after learning of the authorities’ decision.

A MESENI report published Wednesday morning warned of “the intensification of a fourth stage of State repression” characterized, among other things, by the staggering of repressive measures and actions aimed at weakening the role played by human rights defenders and civil society organizations and the arbitrary expulsion or threat of expulsion of naturalized persons or permanent residents due to their participation in protests.

Months before, on August 31st, the government of Nicaragua expelled a mission of the United Nations Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) shortly after it presented a report on the serious human rights violations committed by State forces within the context of the protests.

The reasons

Members of MESENI and the four GIEI experts – Sofia Macher, Claudia Paz y Paz, Amérigo Incalcaterra, and Pablo Parenti – attended a meeting on Wednesday with Foreign Minister Denis Moncada, during which he informed them of the unilateral governmental decision.

The letter Moncada read to the IACHR officials, later published by pro-government media, stated that the missions had not met their objectives and that “the IACHR, MESENI, GIEI, and OHCHR have become a platform for disseminating false information to promote international sanctions” against Nicaragua. In addition, it notes that the members of the GIEI did not respond to a counterproposal from the government on its Protocol of Action and that, therefore, they carried out “a series of actions in violation of the terms of the agreement” and national laws.

Incalcaterra later explained that the non-compliance with the Protocol of Action alleged by Moncada is “false” because all State communications were answered by the experts. “[The authorities] have not demanded that GIEI behave differently or that the our work be done in a specific way,” he alleged, instead denouncing that they never were given access to judicial files, official information that would allow them to fully comply with their mandate, or judicial hearings, even though the latter are public according to Nicaraguan law.

“The reasons they have given us do not satisfy us in any way.  We think those are arguments that have been developed, in the specific case of GIEI, so as to prevent us from presenting the report on our six months of work that was scheduled for tomorrow,” the expert added, also declining to provide details of the report, in light of the fact that the authorities had “suggested” he not do so in Nicaragua.

MESENI’s Tello also explained to local journalists that her mission sent more than 70 diplomatic notes to the government to request information or meetings with authorities, and that none of them had been answered. “There was never pressure from the government because we did not have a dialogue with them,” she said.

They will continue monitoring

The work of the IACHR that began in April 2018 launched with a working visit May 17-21, after which the report “Serious Human Right Violations in the Context of Social Protests in Nicaragua” was published. Since then, MESENI has drafted dozens of weekly reports on its monitoring work; the IACHR has processed precautionary measures for more than 100 people; and various Special Rapporteurs of that regional human rights body have visited the country to evaluate the current situation.

In addition, the Executive Secretary of the IACHR, Paulo Abraõ, has discussed the situation of Nicaragua in diverse spaces, such as the Organization of American States (OAS) and United Nations Human Rights Council. The IACHR also included four public hearings on Nicaragua in its 170th Period of Sessions, the last of which was held on December 6, 2018.

Ana María Tello stressed that neither the IACHR nor MESENI will stop monitoring the human rights situation in Nicaragua, although now they will have to do so from Washington, DC. Furthermore, experts of the GIEI announced that they would release their report from Washington, DC.

“The IACHR reiterates that the situation in Nicaragua will continue to be a priority, reaffirms its commitment to the victims of human rights violations, and will continue to monitor compliance by the Nicaraguan State with the international human rights obligations it has voluntarily assumed,” the Commission declared in a recent statement.

The International Institute on Race, Equality, and Human Rights (Race & Equality) condemns and rejects the decision of the State of Nicaragua to expel the Special Monitoring Mechanism for Nicaragua and the Interdisciplinary Group of Independent Experts of the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights.

This arbitrary decision of the State of Nicaragua not only violates the agreements established with IACHR representatives, but also deepens the defenselessness of Nicaraguans at a time in which violence, criminalization, and harassment are intensifying against activists, human rights defenders, the media, and the general populace who dissent from the dictatorial regime.

We observe with concern a clear desire of the government to impose a state of terror in the country that violates the fundamental rights enshrined in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and other international and regional human rights instruments.

We urgently call on the entire international community to continue to monitor the crisis in Nicaragua and press for the protection and guarantee of the Nicaraguan people’s human rights.

As an organization that promotes and defends human rights in the Americas, we reiterate our willingness and commitment to denounce and fight against all acts that undermine the chance to build democracy, justice, and freedom in Nicaragua.

“This is a person who deserved to die.  She should not be in this life”. Review of Colombia’s first-ever conviction for Femicide of a Trans woman

The facts

Ányela Patricia was a trans woman who worked as a hairdresser in the municipality of Garzón in the department of Huila.  In contrast to the life experiences of other trans women in Colombia that have been marked by stigma, she was recognized and loved by the community.  It is thus that when Ányela was assassinated in February 2017, the community of Garzón took to the streets during her funeral to march with posters and flags, calling for an investigation into her homicide (see here the image and news about it: http://www.lanacion.com.co/2017/02/11/lo-mate-porque-me-hizo-dano-homicida-de-estilista/).

The incidents that occurred in February 2017 apparently transpired quickly in Ányela’s hair salon in the morning hours: she was shot several times by Mr. Davinson Estiven Eraso, who on a previous occasion in August 2016 had tried to attack Ányela with a machete and was stopped by the intervention of [her] friends and relatives.  Although on this occasion the alleged assailant was taken to a police station, no further consequences ensued with regard to this antecedent (particularly serious because the matter was limited to a police detention proceeding without a criminal investigation that delves into the gravity [of the act], as occurs in many cases in Colombia).

When Mr. Eraso finally achieved his goal in 2017, he was caught by the authorities, before whom he declared he had carried out unfinished business, additionally adding in front of regional media of the department of Huila that Ányela was a person who should die: “This is a person who deserved to die.  She should not be in this life.”

The sentence

The Second Criminal Circuit Court, led by Judge Catalina María Manrique Calderón, sentenced Mr. Eraso as the author of the crime of aggravated femicide for the crimes established in the Criminal Code, Articles 104 A and 104 B, and the crime of illegally bearing arms.  Nonetheless, he was declared immune from prosecution because during the criminal process he demonstrated signs of schizophrenia associated with, among other things, drug dependence and in any case, with “the existence of a permanent mental disorder.”  As such, the assailant was ordered imprisoned for 20 years in a psychiatric institution or an establishment that could appropriately attend to him.

There are several elements that are fundamental to understanding this sentence and that represent important progress in terms of the approach to violence committed against trans women, including the following we wish to highlight: recognition of gender identity; recognition of the motivation behind gender-based violence and indictment for the crime of femicide; [and] use of national and international regulatory frameworks.  Nonetheless, other issues should [also] be carefully reviewed in the name of criminal procedural guarantees.

Recognition of gender identity

One of the first signs of clear progress made by this sentence represents a milestone in Colombia: the express recognition of the victim’s gender identity.  It might seem to be a small thing, but keeping in mind that while sentences and decrees exist in Colombia that recognize the gender identity of trans persons, in this case the scope of the recognition of gender identity also translates into the possibility of applying a criminal regulation that traditionally has been utilized exclusively to protect the lives of cisgender women, despite the fact that Article 104 A also recognizes gender-based violence against women.

This recognition is important because it clarifies the concerns of public prosecutors and lawyers in this matter, as evidently the Office of the Public Prosecutor in this case adopted an interpretation regarding gender identity consistent with Colombian jurisprudence and the recommendations and international declarations in this area.  This had very concrete effects, one of the most interesting of which was the acceptance by the Office of the Public Prosecutor in a court of first instance as supporting evidence regarding the female gender identity of the victim the testimonies of friends and relatives who recognized Ányela as a transgender woman, as well as her expression of feminine gender.  Secondly, while the Office of the Public Prosecutor mentions the existence of surgical interventions that had been performed on the victim’s body (breast augmentation), this is considered to be a supplementary part of the construction of her own identity.

Recognizing the victim’s identity is very important because for some public prosecutors and jurists working in this field, gender identity could only be proved through changes in identification documents – the personal identification credential.  This, of course, would be an unnecessary requirement that would contravene Colombian constitutional jurisprudence, as well as international standards in this matter, in the sense that gender identity is made up of actual life experiences and is not based on legal recognition.  This proposition of the Office of the Public Prosecutor was seconded by the judge hearing the case that, although it delves into the description of the autopsy which describes the surgical intervention, it takes up anew the social construction of Ányela as a woman who was well-known in her community.

In conclusion, there is no single standard for proving gender identity; therefore, demanding a sex change that is recorded in the public registry as proof would not acknowledge the personal and social processes for constructing gender identity.

 Recognition of the motivation behind gender-based violence and indictment for the crime of femicide

As a result of the Office of the Public Prosecutor’s recognition of the victim’s gender identity, it is not only possible to indict for the crime of femicide, but in addition, the gender identity itself of the victim becomes a central element for understanding the motivation for the violence.

When there is an indictment for femicide in the case of a trans woman, it not only requires a woman to be the victim but also for the motivation behind the violence to be related to the fact that she is a woman or due to her gender identity.  In this case, both the Office of the Public Prosecutor as well as the judge who heard the case agreed that in light of the fact that the assailant followed the victim and saw her repeatedly in her hair salon, he was able to establish the victim’s gender identity; this was also evidenced in situations of verbal aggression in which he insultingly mentioned Ányela’s gender identity.

The fact that the assailant had followed Ányela, verbally attacked her, and even progressed to the point of trying to attack her with a bladed weapon (machete) in 2016 prior to the homicide denotes a context of persecution and violence based on the victim’s gender identity.

While the sentence could have been richer in detail in order to make a clear connection between the assailant’s prejudice, the violence, and its relationship to the victim’s gender identity over the course of the trial, the Office of the Public Prosecutor was able to demonstrate that the fact that Ányela was a trans woman played a fundamental part in her homicide.  In declarations made by the assailant to some media outlets, Mr. Eraso clearly manifested a series of social prejudices and stereotypes that were negatively linked to his perception of trans persons.  This type of declaration accords with the investigation standards such as those employed in the United States for gathering data on hate crimes [and] denotes prejudice by the assailant against trans persons in this case.

Use of national and international regulatory frameworks

Another aspect that, while previously mentioned, merits being highlighted: the application by the judge hearing the case of national and international standards for understanding gender identity in this case.  For the judge, understanding her duty is framed by the protection and recognition of gender identity, whether through constitutional jurisprudence pursuant to the C-584 sentence in 2015 (among others) that recognizes gender identity, or the interpretation of the scope of the Colombian State’s responsibility to investigate this type of violence, in accordance with the OAS declarations signed by the State, adherence to the Inter-American Court sentence in the Karen Atala case that explains gender identity as a different category of sexual orientation, and the use of the Yogyakarta principles as an important referent.

While the judge does not delve into all of these legal referents, she employs them as points of reference for juridically positioning the discussion regarding the recognition of gender identity, the obligation to investigate, and the appropriate application of criminal justice in this concrete case.

The discussions that remain outstanding

An initial observation that can be made regarding the body of the sentence would be to give preference both in the text as well as throughout the entire criminal trial to the recognition of identity vis-à-vis the victim’s name.  While the name ‘Ányela’ is recognized in the text of the sentence, throughout the text her masculine name, as recorded in the National Civil Registry [‘registraduría’], is repeated over and over, whereas Ányela’s identity-based name should have been given preference in the reasoning of the sentence.  In future, the identity-based name could be utilized throughout the sentence, with an initial clarification that the victim’s identity is fully established in the registry with a masculine name but that, as an integral part of the sentence, the identity-based name of the victim will be given preference.  This should also be standard practice throughout all legal proceedings involving a trans person, whether the person is the victim or the suspect.

A larger problem covers the use of aggravating circumstances.  On one hand, while an aggravating circumstance is applied related to the state of the victim’s defenselessness at the moment she was attacked, an[other] aggravating circumstance is applied related to the victim’s gender identity.  This is an important discussion and merits careful analysis in order to prevent the violation of procedural guarantees of the accused.

As has been mentioned, in this case the recognition of the victim’s gender identity allowed for the application of the crime of femicide because the gender identity of the victim was recognized and [the fact that] she was socially recognized as a trans woman.  Nonetheless, this same crime considers one of its aggravating circumstances to be that the violence be committed due to the victim’s sexual orientation (or gender identity, taking into account constitutional jurisprudence).  It is strange that a person who is charged with criminal responsibility for an action – in this case, assassinating a person due to her gender identity – in addition has his sentence increased because he committed the action due to the victim’s gender identity.

This double jeopardy for criminal responsibility would be a clear violation of the rights of the accused and in this case, be susceptible to being appealed.  A clearer or more logical example of when this aggravating circumstance could be applied would be in the case of a cisgender female victim of femicide who had additionally been assaulted due to being bisexual or lesbian, in which case the aggravating circumstance would clearly be in effect due to sexual orientation.

These theoretical clarifications in criminal matters are essential for safeguarding the procedural guarantees of the accused who in all cases has criminal rights and guarantees that must be protected.

In conclusion

We have here a sentence that makes progress in recognizing trans women’s identity and resolves some practical discussions that should be held during the course of criminal proceedings, both in the investigation process and imputation by the Office of the Public Prosecutor, as well as in the legal proceedings themselves.

Other aspects that could be expanded in the future are the standards for establishing the connection between the assailant’s prejudice and the violence he/she visits upon the victim; for the time being, the express knowledge of gender identity [and] prior existence of verbal and physical violence are useful for demonstrating the occurrence of a femicide-focused assault in this type of case.

Other aspects meriting greater discussion are preventing double jeopardy for criminal responsibility for the same actions with the use of aggravating circumstances that center the analysis on gender identity in the case of trans persons.  Giving preference to other aggravating circumstances – such as in this case the victim’s state of defenselessness – appears clearer and more protective for the victimizer.  In any case, the defense of those of trans persons is not at odds with the procedural guarantees of the accused.

 

About the Autor:  Mauricio Noguera
LGBTI Program Officer for Latin America

PERSECUTION OF HUMAN RIGHTS DEFENDERS IN NICARAGUA: LEGAL STATUS OF CENIDH, HAGAMOS DEMOCRACIA, IEEPP, CISAS, AND FIVE OTHER NGOs INVALIDATED

Washington, DC, December 12, 2018 – During the last two weeks, the Nicaraguan government escalated the persecution and criminalization of human rights defenders in the country by utilizing the parliamentary majority of the FSLN, the party of the government, to invalidate the legal status of four human rights organizations with a long history of human rights defense and democratic institutions in the country, with the last two being Centro Nicaragüense de Derechos Humanos [Nicaraguan Center for Human Rights] (CENIDH) and Asociación Hagamos Democracia [Let’s Do Democracy Association].

 This is “a decision to eliminate anyone who opposes, who criticizes the viciousness of the repression that is being driven” by the authorities, declared Vilma Núñez, President of CENIDH, after learning of the decision of the National Assembly (NA), although she assured that the “commitment to continue accompanying the Nicaraguan people in whatever form is not dissolved by an illegal and arbitrary resolution of organs that have no autonomy, that have no independence.”

On November 29, the NA invalidated the legal status of the Centro de Información y Servicios de Asesoría en Salud [Center for Health Information and Advisory Services] (CISAS) after immigration authorities stripped its Director, human rights defender and feminist Ana Quirós Víquez, of her Nicaraguan citizenship and deported her to Costa Rica.  Later, December 11 brought the invalidation of the legal status of the Instituto de Estudios Estratégicos y Políticas Públicas [Institute of Strategic Studies and Public Policy] (IEEPP), a think-tank led by academic and activist Félix Maradiaga, who had to go into self-imposed exile in the United States due to the criminalization to which he was subjected.

The four organizations – which have had an even more decisive role during the last eight months of sociopolitical and human rights crises – are accused without any grounds of having committed illegal acts, violated the public order, and carried out activities that are not appropriate to the goals for which they were established.  However, the authorities committed arbitrary acts such as [holding] secret, expedited trials and did not permit said organizations’ legal representatives to argue anything in their own defense.

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“There’s CENIDH for a while”

CENIDH was founded in 1990 as a center for defending and promoting human rights in Nicaragua; two years later, it obtained its legal status.  Today, during the morning of December 12, at the request of the Director of the Department of Registration and Control of Associations in the Ministry of Government, Gustavo Sirias, the National Assembly received as an urgent proceeding the proposal to invalidate the legal status of this organization.

According to Sirias’ statement of motives, CENIDH was leaderless because [the term of] its Board of Directors had expired; it had not reported its financial statements for 2017; and additionally, had “utilized the organizational schema to raise, receive, channel, and facilitate funds to alter the public order and carry out actions to destabilize the country.”

Although the foregoing arguments were endorsed by FSLN Members of Parliament, the opposing Members of Parliament in the parliamentary plenary denied those accusations and insisted that this was one more arbitrary act committed by the Nicaraguan government against human rights defenders.

María Fernanda Flores, a Member of Parliament from the Liberal Constitutionalist Party (PLC), maintained that the Nicaraguan Assembly was “leaving defenseless an entire population who through CENIDH denounces on a daily basis the abuses and violations of their rights,” while Member of Parliament Brooklyn Rivera of the indigenous Yatama Party said that the invalidation of CENIDH’s legal status in fact served to deepen the human rights crisis that Nicaragua had been experiencing since April.  “We indigenous peoples have been witness to the difficult and thoroughly dedicated work performed by Dr. Núñez and her team.  She has truly defended all Nicaraguans – Sandinistas, liberals, conservatives, campesinos, women, indigenous people, everyone,” Rivera declared.

Finally, the invalidation of CENIDH’s legal status was approved, with 70 votes in favor and 17 opposed.  Núñez, as president of the organization, described the initiative as “malign” and expressed her anger to the media outlets that accompanied her to the institution’s headquarters after the decree was approved.

 Vilma Núñez, president of CENIDH, submitted a report on Monday, December 10 on the six months of civic resistance to governmental repression in Nicaragua.

“There’s CENIDH for a while, there’s commitment on the part of each and every one of the human rights defenders, of its Board of Directors, of its founding members, but above all of the team that on a daily basis confronts violence, discrimination, [and] abuses committed by the government,” declared Núñez, backed by the CENIDH defenders.

With regard to the reasons presented today by the Ministry of Government (MIGOB) to the National Assembly, Núñez revealed that on March 23 the organization had submitted its financial statement to MIGOB for fiscal 2017, although they were not given proof of legality; and with regard to the Board of Directors, she said that it expired on April 25 and that the assembly to elect new authorities had to be suspended due to the critical situation transpiring in the country during those days, when the crisis had just begun.

“The Board of Directors was elected and on November 30, 2018 we sent them the certified minutes and [other] requirements.  They did not want to sign, they did not want to acknowledge them as having been submitted, and they gave us a list of 15 requirements with which they said we had to comply in order for them to accept it,” explained Núñez, who indicated that CENIDH had not violated any of its By-laws and that all of its actions have transpired within the framework of the law.

“We are prepared to confront and reject any arbitrary action, any invasion of our physical institution they wish to undertake; by doing so they will not limit our commitment,” emphasized the President of CENIDH, who recently turned 80 years old.

Persecution of defenders

This week, in commemoration of the 70th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, CENIDH presented a report entitled Grave Human Rights Violations Perpetrated by the State of Nicaragua describing the rights violated during six months of civic resistance to governmental repression.

The report declares that the State of Nicaragua violated the human right to defend rights, because a pattern exists of attacks aimed at human rights defenders, journalists, community leaders, lawyers, students, and activists who have been victims of actions such as intimidation, threats, assassinations, detentions, illegal raids, smear campaigns, defamation, [and] criminalization, among others, with the goal of “silencing their voices and preventing them from exercising their right to inform, protest, express themselves, and defend human rights.”

A number of days ago, CENIDH asked for permission to march in commemoration of Human Rights Day, complying with the unconstitutional police order regarding protests.  Permission was not only denied, but the police alleged as one of its arguments that the organization was being investigated regarding the April incidents.

One day after the Nicaraguan Assembly invalidated the legal status of CENIDH and Hagamos Democracia [Let’s Do Democracy], it also invalidated the legal representation of five other organizations that defend human rights, nature, and freedom of the press: Instituto de Liderazgo de Las Segovias [Las Segovias Leadership Institute] (ILLS), whose director, Haydeé Castillo, has suffered repeated persecution, threats, and even immigration detention; the environmental [organization] Fundación del Río [River Foundation], which had been threatened for disseminating information and denouncing arbitrary actions regarding the fire in the Reserva Indio Maíz [Corn Indian Reserve]; Instituto para el Desarrollo y la Democracia [Institute for Development and Democracy] (IPADE), one of the independent national organizations that is best-trained to observe elections; Fundación para la Promoción y el Desarrollo Municipal Popol Na [Popol Na Foundation for Municipal Promotion and Development], a leader in the ‘anti-canal’ movement, whose director, Mónica López Baltodano, was forced to go into self-imposed exile in Costa Rica due to the constant threats she faced in the country; and the Centro de Investigación de la Comunicación [Communication Investigation Center] (CINCO).

DECLARATION

The International Institute of Race, Equality, and Human Rights (Race & Equality) strongly condemns and rejects the arbitrary decision of the State of Nicaragua issued today in the plenary of the National Assembly to invalidate the legal status of organizations that promote and defend human rights and democracy.

The legislative decree to invalidate the legal status of ILLS, Fundación del Río, IPADE, Fundación Popol Na, [and] CINCO, as well as the one that preceded it targeting CENIDH, Hagamos Democracia, IEEPP, and CISAS, demonstrate the state of repression and grave violation of freedom of expression, participation, association, and peaceful assembly of which the Nicaraguan people, human rights defenders, and independent media are victims today as dissidents of the dictatorial plans being imposed by the government of Daniel Ortega and Rosario Murillo on the Nicaraguan people.

We reject the statements made by the FSLN Members of Parliament in the National Assembly, who irresponsibly accuse organizations of human rights defenders that have tirelessly demanded justice, democracy and truth for the regime’s victims – as the Nicaraguan people and international community know – as being “terrorists” and “coup participants.”

We observe with concern the extremely grave consequences of the absence of rule of law in Nicaragua due to the actions of the current government, which far from guaranteeing, safeguarding, and protecting the people’s human rights, have obstinately persisted in restricting civil society’s legitimate possibility to freely participate in social construction, which opens new, repugnant, and deliberate gaps of inequality, exclusion, and discrimination.

Likewise, we declare that this determination of the Ortega-Murillo regime will never ensure the ‘invisibilization’ of the terror, vulnerability, and violence being visited upon the country for eight months now, aimed at perpetuating the impunity in which grave violations of Nicaraguans’ fundamental rights continue to be committed in the form of assassinations, persecution, and intimidation to which they have been submitted due to their denunciations.

We at Race & Equality are convinced that without a new political and social agreement there will be no peaceful resolution to the crisis; therefore, we demand that the State of Nicaragua respect and guarantee Nicaraguans’ rights to freedom of expression, association, and assembly.  Likewise, we urge [governmental] respect for the guarantees of due process and the right to a defense that today are brazenly violated by the National Assembly through its sanctioning of said organizations based on unilateral reports that arbitrarily accuse those institutions of carrying out activities that differ from their objectives and missions.

All of these incidents encourage us to raise an international alarm regarding the situation in Nicaragua.  We invite the international community, human rights protection organs, and the various manifestations of civil society to redouble their efforts so as to ensure the prompt return of democracy, justice, and peace to Nicaragua.

Strengthening Alliances to Employ National and Regional Tools in Favor of the Afro-Peruvian People

Washington, DC, December 11, 2018 – The International Institute on Race, Equality, and Human Rights (Race & Equality), together with the Centro de Desarrollo de la Mujer Negra Peruana [Center for the Development of Black Peruvian Women] (CEDEMUNEP), coordinated a panel entitled “Strengthening Alliances for Implementing PLANDEPA and Using the Inter-American System of Human Rights,” held on December 5, 2018 in Lima, Peru.

The panel’s objective was to identify the achievements realized by PLANDEPA and its projections for the coming periods, as well as train activists on opportunities provided by the Inter-American System of Human Rights to empower them and contribute to the design of more effective advocacy in these areas.  Participants on the panel included Susana Matute, Director of Policy for the Afro-Peruvian Population in the Ministry of Culture; Cecilia Ramírez, Executive Director of CEDEMUNEP; and Elvia Duque, Program Officer for Latin America at Race & Equality, and especially, activists from the most recognized Afro-Peruvian organizations in Peru.

During the event, Susana Matute of the Ministry of Culture emphasized PLANDEPA’s achievements since its founding with regard to the inclusion of the question on ethnic/racial self-identification in the 2017 Census and the other key activities that have enabled more direct dialogue with Afro-Peruvian activists, dubbed ‘Somos Familia’ [We Are Family].  Likewise, she said that PLANDEPA lacks various elements, such as financing, that has limited its actions and therefore its scope.  Following a long debate with members of the public, among other points discussed, she concluded that it was necessary to incorporate new topics in the new proposal for constructing PLANDEPA.

This space also permitted the in-depth identification of the dynamics of the Grupo de Trabajo con Población Afroperuana [Afro-Peruvian Population Working Group] (GTPA) and the need for the Peruvian State to recognize Afro-Peruvians as a ‘people,’ which would permit a more effective response through public policies to the principal socioeconomic gaps they face.

Once the discussion about PLANDEPA was finished, Elvia Duque of Race & Equality made a presentation on the Inter-American System of Human Rights.  The objective of the second part of the panel was to inform the public regarding the various tools and spaces for participation provided by the Inter-American System of Human Rights, and to encourage them to more proactively make use of them.  The discussion focused on the importance of obtaining consultative status with the OAS; thematic hearings; the Rapporteurship on Persons of African Descent and against Racial Discrimination; and the Convention against Racism.  The public agreed to coordinate with the organizations present the petition for a thematic hearing on PLANDEPA and the Peruvian State’s lack of ratification to date of the Convention against Racism.

Race & Equality, through Elvia Duque, offered to provide the necessary technical support to the Afro-Peruvian activists in their petition for this hearing, as well as any other initiative discussed by the panel, in this way continuing to contribute to the empowerment of such important national and regional tools.

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