States across the Americas must guarantee the lives and right to health of migrants and refugees in the face of the COVID-19 crisis

States across the Americas must guarantee the lives and right to health of migrants and refugees in the face of the COVID-19 crisis

The Americas, March 30th, 2020.- Over the past few weeks, we have seen how the measures implemented by governments calling for quarantines, shut downs, deportations, border closures and militarization to address the emergency caused by the spread of COVID-19 are disproportionately affecting migrants and petitioners for international protections.

Multiple concerning situations as well as human rights violations of the migrant and refugee population have been denounced, among them, the situation of Venezuelan migrants stranded after both Colombia and Brazil closed their borders; the detention of at least 80Haitian nationals in Guatemala; the closing of the border between Mexico and the United States to asylum seekers, as well as the rise in deportations of Mexican and Central American people; the lack of sanitary and adequate conditions and the high risk of infection in migration stations, detention centers, and quarantine centers for people who were deported; and the violent repression on behalf of Mexico’s National Guard; the overflow of shelters, among others.

Given these facts, it is likely that migrants and refugees will continue to be affected in the following weeks and months. We, the undersigned organizations, urge the governments of our region to implement the necessary measures to guarantee the rights to life, health, physical, mental, and moral integrity of this population, in equal conditions and without any form of discrimination, including discrimination based on their migratory status or nationality.

As the High Commissioner for Human Rights, Michelle Bachelet has stated: “Under international human rights law, States have an obligation to take steps to prevent foreseeable threats to public health and have a duty to ensure that all who need vital medical care can receive it”. This includes access to prevention measures dictated by the World Health Organization, including access to COVID-19 testing, health services, and the necessary medical attention to treat the disease, to all people including migrants and refugees.

Additionally, States must halt deportations, and guarantee the access of all people to seek and be granted asylum. As the High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) has previously indicated, States have an obligation to guarantee that all people are able to seek and be granted asylum, as well as respecting the principle of non-refoulment. This means that States must abstain from returning individuals to territories where their lives or liberties are at risk, including through the use of rejection or non-admission at the border. The measures implemented in response to COVID-19 cannot prevent those seeking international protection from asking for it. Even in extenuating circumstances like the one we currently face, implementing measures that prevent the admission of refugees or asylum seekers, without protecting them against refoulment, is a violation of their human rights and against international obligations of States.

In that sense, the measures implemented as a response to this crisis cannot be discriminatory, or result in undesirable outcomes that would negatively impact the enjoyment of human rights. On the contrary, these measures must be proportional, strictly necessary, and developed and implemented with a human rights and gender perspective. They must also ensure the participation of civil society organizations. Moreover, these measures cannot justify the systematic detention of migrants, asylum-seekers or refugees.

On this front, we urge States to abstain from detaining migrants and refugees, free people currently in detention, and guarantee their access to housing, food, and medical services in public shelters, ensuring the necessary sanitary conditions and qualified medical staff to avoid contagion. Furthermore, group-specific attention must be provided to those who are most vulnerable to the virus, including the elderly, people with disabilities, women, LGBTIQ+ people and children. These same measures must be implemented in the country of origin of those who would have been deported, while the quarantine is in effect.

Additionally, the current restrictions to mobility and/or constitutional guarantees defined by multiple governments will impact in a particular manner the ability of migrants to access work. In this regard, States in the region must guarantee their access to livelihood, just like they would to the rest of the population.

On the militarization of borders and reports of repression, we remind governments that military forces must abstain from taking on duties related to ensuring civilian safety, health, or serving as migration officials. Using the military in such duties exposes the population to higher risks and to new human rights violations.

Similarly, States must guarantee the access to relevant, timely and clear information that is based off of scientific evidence regarding the pandemic. States must abstain from using discriminatory speeches or measures, which are stigmatizing or xenophobic, and from blocking or criminalizing the work of all who defend the rights of migrants and refugees. Likewise, governments must adopt positive measures to fight discriminatory discourse or actions of third parties regarding the crisis.

Finally, we, the undersigned organizations, emphasize that none of the measures implemented to respond to the COVID-19 emergency can justify human rights violations. We hope that States respond to the health emergency in accordance with their international obligations and we will remain vigilant in monitoring and denouncing the human rights situation of people in situations of human mobility and others in situations of risk.

In a region that has been vastly impacted by inequality, poverty, corruption, and extractivism, we hope that States take this opportunity to build up protection mechanisms, strengthen their social safety nets, and ensure the full access to water and health for every person, and the recognition and the guarantee to the human rights of the entire population without any form of discrimination.

Undersigned organizations:

International:

Coordinadora Regional de Investigaciones Económicas y Sociales (CRIES) Instituto Internacional sobre Raza, Igualdad y Derechos Humanos

Network in Solidarity with the People of Guatemala (NISGUA) Refugees International

Women’s Link Worldwide

Regional:

Alianza Americas

Center for Justice and International Law (CEJIL)

Conferencia de Provinciales Jesuitas de América Latina y el Caribe Fundación para la Justicia y el Estado Democrático de Derecho (FJEDD) Misión Scalabriniana Ecuador

Organización Negra Centroamericana

Oficina en Washington para Asuntos Latinoamericanos (WOLA) Red Jesuita con Migrantes Latinoamérica y el Caribe (RJM-LAC) Red de Coaliciones Sur (RCS)

Synergia – Iniciativas por los Derechos Humanos

Argentina:

Centro de Estudios Legales y Sociales (CELS)

Comisión Argentina para Refugiados y Migrantes – CAREF

Brazil:

Conectas Direitos Humanos Missão Paz

Chile:

Clínica Jurídica de Migrantes y Refugiados de la Universidad Diego Portales Clinica Juridica Universidad Alberto Hurtado

Servicio Jesuita a Migrantes Chile

Colombia:

Centro de Estudios de Derecho, Justicia y Sociedad (Dejusticia) Corporación Caribe Afirmativo

Programa de Asistencia Legal a Población con Necesidad de Protección Internacional y Víctimas del Conflicto Armado – Corporación Opción Legal – Colombia

Clínica Jurídica para Migrantes de la Universidad de los Andes Consultoría para los Derechos Humanos y el Desplazamiento (CODHES)

Costa Rica:

Servicio Jesuita para Migrantes Costa Rica (SJM-CR)

El Salvador:

Universidad Centroamericana José Simeón Cañas (UCA)

United States of America:

Comunidades Organizando El Poder y la Acción Latina (COPAL) Cooperación Migrante

CRECEN

Houston’s America For All

Latin America Working Group (LAWG) Lila LGBTQ Iniciative Inc

Women’s Refugee Commission (WRC) Women Working Together USA

Network in Solidarity with the People of Guatemala (NISGUA) The Chelsea Collaborative

Guatemala:

Asociación Pop N’oj

Instituto de Relaciones Internacionales e Investigación para la Paz (IRIPAZ)

Instituto de investigación y proyección sobre Dinámicas Globales y Territoriales (IDGT)

Honduras:

Equipo de Reflexión, Investigación y Comunicación (ERIC)

Mexico:

Asylum Access México (AAMX) A.C. Colectivo de Mujeres Transnacionales Club Mujeres con Decisión

Derechos Humanos Integrales en Acción, A.C. DHIA Sin Fronteras IAP

Nicaragua:

Servicio Jesuita a Migrantes Nicaragua (SJM-Nicaragua)

Panama:

Fe y Alegría

Paraguay:

Coordinadora por los Derechos de la Infancia y la Adolescencia de Paraguay (CDIA)

Dominican Republic:

Centro para la Observación Migratoria y el Desarrollo Social en el Caribe (OBMICA)

Venezuela:

CIVILIS Derechos Humanos Prepara Familia

Programa Venezolano de Educación Acción en Derechos Humanos (Provea) Servicio Jesuita a Refugiados (JRS Venezuela)

Centros Comunitarios de Aprendizaje (CECODAP) Centro de Justicia y Paz (Cepaz)

Acción Solidaria

Centro de Derechos Humanos de la Universidad Católica Andrés Bello (CDH UCAB)

Race and Equality – on the occasion of its fifth anniversary – holds reception acknowledging Mexico’s ratification of the Inter-American Conventions against Racism and against Discrimination

Washington, D.C., February 19, 2020. The International Institute on Race, Equality and Human Rights (Race and Equality) recognized the United Mexican States for its ratification of the Inter-American Convention against Racism, Racial Discrimination and Related Forms of Intolerance and the Inter-American Convention Against All Forms of Discrimination and Intolerance, during a reception held this past February 13 at the Art Museum of the Americas (AMA). The event also marked Race and Equality’s fifth anniversary of working for human rights in the Americas and featured the presence of the diplomatic mission of Mexico to the Organization of American States (OAS).

The reception gathered together various ambassadors and representatives of OAS Member States with members of DC-based NGOs. It also featured the participation of Luz Elena Baños, the illustrious Ambassador of Mexico to the OAS, and Esmeralda Arosemena de Troitiño, the President of the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR).

In her remarks, Ambassador Baños signaled the importance to the current government of Mexico of working alongside historically vulnerable communities and making use of the tools necessary to guarantee respect, integrity and dignity for all people regardless of their race, gender or sexual orientation, among others. “In this context, through the OAS and, in particular, through the [established] rights of Lesbian, Gay, Bi-sexual, Trans and Intersex (LGBTI) people, we reiterate our commitment to ensuring that all people may exercise their right to a life free from discrimination and violence.”

Ms. Mitzi Bowen and Mr. Carlos Quesada of Race and Equality signaled the importance of ratifying these two conventions to address the discrimination that the Afro-descendant and indigenous population face in Mexico. Similarly, they commended the leadership of the Mexican government in ratifying the Inter-American Convention Against All Forms of Discrimination and Intolerance, as it allows for the Convention to enter into full force in the region, giving voice to many sectors of society that suffer from discrimination and intolerance because of their sex, sexual orientation, political opinions, migration status, birth or stigmatized health condition, etc.

Mexico is currently working towards eradicating any and all forms of discrimination. The ratification of both Conventions is another example of the many actions taken by the leadership in favor of ethnic groups and other vulnerable populations.

Mexico is the fifth country of the region to ratify the Inter-American Convention against Racism, Racial Discrimination and Related Forms of Intolerance, and the second to ratify the Inter-American Convention Against All Forms of Discrimination and Intolerance.

Race and Equality congratulates the United Mexican States once more and hopes to continue working alongside ethnic and LGBTI partners to contribute to the development of a more inclusive Mexico, free from discrimination.

Mexico ratifies Inter-American conventions against racism and discrimination

Washington, D.C. January 22, 2020. Yesterday, the Diplomatic Mission of Mexico to the Organization of American States (OAS) deposited an instrument of ratification to the Inter-American Convention Against Racism, Racial Discrimination and Related Forms of Intolerance with the Secretary General of the OAS , thus advancing its commitments to eliminate, prevent, prohibit, and sanction all acts and forms of discrimination and intolerance within Mexico. Additionally, the State of Mexico also ratified the Inter-American Convention Against All Forms of Discrimination and Intolerance. Because Mexico is the second OAS Member State to ratify this Convention, it will now enter into force in the region. 

The deposit of both instruments was carried out this Tuesday morning by the Ambassador of Mexico to the OAS, Luz Elena Baños, and the Director General for Human Rights and Democracy at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Cristofer Ballinas.

“The deposit of these instruments of ratification is proof of Mexico’s broad openness to international scrutiny, and demonstrates a shared responsibility to confront the many great global challenges that are part of our country’s active and multilateral foreign policy,” said the Sub-Secretary for Multilateral Affairs and Human Rights of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Mexico, Martha Delgado, via video published on social media channels.

“With these actions, our country seeks to spark regional efforts that are necessary for us to guarantee an understanding among all the countries that make up this organization, which is to guarantee respect for the integrity and dignity of all persons regardless of their gender, race. or sexual orientation,” added Delgado.

Convention Against Racism

The first step to adhere to the Convention is to sign the document, which was done by the State of Mexico on November 13, 2018. Following the signature, countries must ratify the document internally, following their own constitutional processes. The Mexican Mission had done these two steps and moved forward in the process, finally depositing the instrument of ratification of the Convention with the OAS. The next step is the Convention’s entry into force within Mexico, which will be 30 days from today.

With the ratification of the Inter-American Convention Against Racism, Racial Discrimination and Related Forms of Intolerance, Mexico becomes the fifth country in the region where it enters into force. Since its inception in June 2013, the Convention has been signed and ratified by Costa Rica, Uruguay, Antigua & Barbuda, and Ecuador.

The Convention states that all States Parties must adopt specific policies and affirmative actions that seek to promote conditions of equality, equal opportunity, inclusion, and advancement for people or groups subjected to racism, discrimination, or intolerance; to adopt legislation that clearly defines and prohibits racism, discrimination, and intolerance; to ensure that victims of racism, discrimination, or intolerance are treated with equity and respect; to ensure equal access to the judicial system, to swift and effective legal proceedings, and to a just reparation in civil and penal matters, among other requirements.

Convention Against All Forms of Discrimination

Furthermore, Mexico is the second country to ratify the Inter-American Convention Against All Forms of Discrimination & Intolerance, after Uruguay.

The Convention states that all State parties must prevent, eliminate, prohibit, and punish, in accordance with their constitutional norms and the provisions of this Convention, all acts and manifestations of discrimination and intolerance, and to adopt the special policies and affirmative actions needed to ensure the enjoyment or exercise of rights and fundamental freedoms of persons or groups that are subject to discrimination or intolerance for the purpose of promoting equitable conditions for equal opportunity, inclusion, and progress for such persons or groups.

Statement

Race and Equality considers this as important step for the region, where, concerningly, we have observed an increase in the levels of racism and discrimination. As such, it is essential for all States to take the necessary national, regional, and international means to protect the rights of vulnerable groups against structural racism and all forms of discrimination, in order to create equal and tolerant societies. The expectations of these two Conventions are great, but we hope that they will be further developed and perfected as they are ratified and put into use.

“The situation of violence against Afro-LGBTI people is invisible and systematic in Latin America” Activists warn the IACHR

Quito, Ecuador. November 12, 2019. In the thematic hearing held during the 174 period of Hearings of the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights in Quito, Ecuador, LGBTI activists and Afro-descendants from Brazil, Colombia, the Dominican Republic, and Peru presented on the situation of violence, lack of protection, and lack of knowledge of their prevailing rights in each of these States.

Throughout the space, the activists highlighted how Afro-descendants with sexual orientations and non-normative gender identities are at greater risk of suffering from violations of their rights, especially by the States’ general lack of knowledge on the differentiated effects suffered by people living this reality.

Likewise, the activists presented a summary of different cases of murder and violence against transgender people and Afro-descendants, especially those committed with a high degree of cruelty and hatred; in addition to remaining completely unpunished. 

Bruna Benavides, ANTRA activist

“In January of this year, in Brazil, a trans woman had her heart torn out and then replaced by the image of a saint. Her murderer was acquitted of the charge, even though he narrated in great detail how he had killed her and kept her heart at home with a smile on his face,” said Afro-Brazilian activist Bruna Benavides, a member of the National Association of Transvestites and Transsexuals, or ANTRA in Brazil.

According to information given by Benavides, this year alone, 110 trans people were killed in Brazil, 85% of them black. Likewise, the activist reported that 90% of the population of transvestites and trans women in this country are engaged in prostitution due to the lack of job opportunities.

Furthermore, she pointed out that this group of people are recurring victims of different State institutions due to the inaccessibility of appropriate healthcare services and of fair employment opportunities and recognition, as well as having a lack of respect for their identities. In this regard, Benavides added ,“… today we are afraid to walk the streets again, and as a defender of human rights, I do not feel safe despite the progress we have made because our leaders have common policies of racist hatred , male chauvinism…”

In this order, the leader Justo Arevalo representative of the Colombian organizations Arco Iris de Tumaco, the National Conference of Afro-Colombian Organizations (CNOA), and Somos Identidad, highlighted that contexts of rejection, violence, and discrimination within these communities towards people who assume a non-normative sexual orientation or gender identity create other types of cyclical and systemic violence that threaten the integrity of AfroLGBTI people. An example of this is in Colombia, where there is forced displacement towards cities that sharpen the circles of violence in which these people live.

Justo Arevalo, Colombian activist

“In March of 2019, a report on the realities experienced by Afro-LGBTI people was filed in Bogotá before the Jurisdiction for Peace, whose main findings show that documented violence and impact are blocked by very racial and class-particular relations, typical of the sociocultural, economic, and political environment in which they occur, prejudice as a factor of violence, and the responsibility of illegal armed actors in the face of serious violations of rights against Afro LGBT people, “Arevalo added in his speech.

Belén Zapata, an Afro-descendant trans activist from Peru, alerted the audience of the impact that police abuse has on the lives of Afro-descendant and transvestite people, highlighting that it sets a pattern of deep violence against their right to personal integrity in countries like Brazil, Colombia, Cuba, the Dominican Republic, and Peru.

Likewise, the activist referred to the access of healthcare services by trans-descendant Afro-descendant women in the region, which is characterized in its generality for not being efficient or worthy of use by this population.

In this regard, the activist added: “There are still cases in which medical personnel offer inadequate and/or improper care to Afro-descendant transgender women. This pattern is particularly serious in cases of care for Afro-descendant transgender women who perform sex work and are taken in for injuries as a result of physical aggressions. But also, in cases where the request for other services is related to reproductive health or HIV / AIDS. “

Violation of the rights of Afro-LGBTI people is systematic

“As long as we avoid highlighting the intersection between race and sexual diversity, we will continue to perpetuate a system that makes the Afro-descendant LGBTI community invisible; we will continue to have legal structures, public policies, and government institutions that do not protect or guarantee the human rights of the Afro LGBTI population,” added Katherine Ventura, representative of the American University Legal Clinic. She also pointed out that there are patterns of violence that are particular to the Afro-LGBTI population, naming three: 1) Absence of rights’ guarantees focused on the Afro-LGBTI community; 2) Lack of implementation of existing laws and 3) Inadequate data collection, particularly in criminal investigation processes against Afro-LGBTI people.

On this matter, the Commissioners of the IACHR indicated the responsibility of the States to collect data, generate policies, and promote processes that guarantee the reparation, respect, and recognition of the rights of Afro-LGBTI people. In this regard, Commissioner Margarette May Macaulay urged States to ratify the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination as an alternative that seeks to address the issues of Afro-descendants with sexual orientations and non-normative gender identities.

To finalize the hearing, the organizations requested that the IACHR to urge the States of Brazil, Colombia, the Dominican Republic, and Peru to:

1. Urgently investigate cases of homicide and police abuse that involve Afro-LGBTI persons and, consequently, register and characterize them properly.

2. Implement the recommendations of the Afro-LGBTI population that this Commission has made since 2015, particularly those focused on the development of public policies that explicitly include the Afro-LGBTI population.

3. As part of the fulfillment of the objectives proposed in the Decade of Afro-descendants 2015-2024, the Afro-LGBTI population should be included as a beneficiary of justice and development-oriented measures in the region, and it should be requested that all states comply with the recommendations of the Inter-American Commission regarding the importance of providing differentiated data on sexual orientation and gender identity.

4. Suggest the ratification of the Inter-American Convention against Racism, Racial Discrimination and Related Intolerances and the Inter-American Convention against All Forms of Discrimination and Intolerance to all States.

5. That the Inter-American Commission publish the report of the on-site visit to Brazil in 2018 and the rapporteur on the rights of Afro-descendants and racial discrimination visit Brazil to better know the situation of the Afro-LGBTI population, with effective participation of civil society organizations.

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Civil society organizations expose the lack of independence of the Nicaraguan judicial system to IACHR Commissioners

Quito, Ecuador, November 11, 2019. During the 174th period of sessions of the IACHR, nine civil society organizations exposed the deep deterioration of judicial independence in Nicaragua, where the courts have failed to guarantee the rights of Nicaraguans to access to justice, due process and judicial guarantees in the context of the democratic crisis that began on April 18, 2018.

During the hearing “Challenges for judicial autonomy and independence in Nicaragua”, the organizations highlighted how the Nicaraguan judiciary was brought into the government’s scheme to violate human rights, facilitating the criminalization of protest and the work of human rights defenders and generating conditions that guarantee impunity for human rights violations perpetrated by regime officials.

“In Nicaragua, there is no independence or autonomy of powers. The co-optation of the judiciary by the Ortega-Murillo regime has led to its acting under party control, built through tarnished selection processes and appointments, with the absence of publicity, transparency and citizen participation; privileging political affinity over appointment according to merits and professional capacities that guarantee a judiciary that is objective, independent and subject to the rule of law,” said Georgina Ruiz, of the Nicaraguan Center for Human Rights (CENIDH, for its initials in Spanish).

The culpability of the National Police, the National Prosecuting Authority and the Institute of Forensic Medicine for not complying with their obligations, allowing the commission of human rights violations and facilitating impunity for violations committed by the State or paramilitary groups was also denounced.

An absent state

As usual during recent IACHR hearings, the Nicaraguan state did not attend the appointment. For the organizations, this exemplifies how the Ortega regime continues to deny its responsibility in the serious human rights crisis that the country is facing, as well as its obligation to guarantee the autonomy and independence of the justice institutions.

“Once again, we regret the absence of the State of Nicaragua, which did not send any information to justify it, as has happened before,” said Commissioner Antonia Urrejola at the beginning of her speech. Urrejola especially greeted the mothers of murdered youth and the victims who attended the hearing, recognizing the hard work they do in pursuit of justice and non-repetition.

By the end of the hearing, the organizations requested that IACHR urge the State of Nicaragua to:

  • Cease repression and criminalization; and guarantee the full exercise of human rights, including access to justice for victims of murder, torture and rape.
  • Restore the full constitutional guarantees for the exercise of citizens’ rights.
  • Return seized or stolen property to all victims of repression.
  • Resolve the amparo appeals  presented by the organizations that were repressed during the crisis (an amparo procedure is a request for a legal ruling that protects basic rights)
  • Guarantee the autonomy and independence of the judicial institutions their adherence to the procedures established in the Constitution of the Republic of Nicaragua and international human rights treaties, as well as the ratification of specific international instruments, including those related to the administration of justice.

The hearing was convened by CENIDH, the Center for Justice and International Law (CEJIL), the Nicaragua Never+ Human Rights Collective, the Mesoamerican Initiative for Women Human Rights Defenders (IM-Defenders), the Nicaraguan Initiative for Human Rights Defenders (IND), the International Institute on Race, Equality and Human Rights (Race and Equality), JASS Mesoamerica, the Autonomous Movement of Women-Nicaragua (MAM- Nicaragua) and the Legal Defense Unit of Nicaragua.

Nicaraguan journalists denounce continuous violations of freedom of expression and press during the IACHR’s 173rd period of sessions

Washington D.C., September 25. Three Nicaraguan media directors, speaking today to the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR), denounced the Nicaraguan state, saying it has not complied with the precautionary measures given by the commision to protect them, their families, and their staff, but has instead escalated persecution, threats, and reprisals against their journalistic work.

Sergio León, director of La Costeñísima in Bluefields; Aníbal Toruño, director of Radio Darío in León and Carlos Fernando Chamorro, director of the digital outlet Confidencial and the television news program Esta Semana, exposed their situation during the hearing “Implementation of Protective Precautionary Measures in Favor of Independent Journalists in Nicaragua,” held within the framework of the 173rd period of sessions of the IACHR.

Ana Bolaños, on behalf of the Institute on Race, Equality and Human Rights (Race and Equality), also participated in the hearing. She lamented that the State of Nicaragua did not attend the hearing, which demonstrates a lack of willingness to be accountable before international bodies. On the same subject, Commissioner Joel Hernández, Vice President of the IACHR, considered that this absence represented a missed opportunity and a breach of the State of Nicaragua’s obligations before the IACHR.

The speakers agreed that censorship, attacks and repression against independent journalism  persist to this day in Nicaragua: media outlets Confidencial and 100% Noticias remain closed, newspapers face a state-imposed blockade of paper, and according to the Violeta Barrios de Chamorro Foundation (FVBCH), a total of 1,318 cases of attacks against independent journalists have been reported through August.

Situation of La Costeñísima

Sergio León explained that La Costeñísima radio’s coverage includes the Southern Caribbean region of Nicaragua, and that directing an independent outlet has resulted in constant intimidation, threats and harassment. For this reason, Leon and his family received precautionary measures on June 15th, 2019.

“The precautionary measures are aimed at protecting me and my family’s life and safety; however, they (the authorities) have not complied with them, since the police and armed civilians acting as parastatals continue to besiege and threaten me, seeking to silence my voice and the voices of those who we echo on La Costeñísima radio,” said León. To date, the State of Nicaragua has not carried out any action to protect León or investigated the threats he has received.

In addition, León denounced that the party structures of the FSLN prohibit the population from listening to the station; that the political operators of the regime convinced the second journalist on Leon’s team to resign, which took the station’s main news program “After the News” off the air for a few days; that the station has recorded computer attacks against their website and that Sandinista Youth groups have marked the walls of the station’s office and of the alley leading to his home with threats.

Situation of Radio Darío

Aníbal Toruño, director of Radio Darío, explained that on April 20, 2018, a group of armed parastatal agents set fire to the radio station he owns, yet fortunately, 11 people who were inside the station were able to escape. Given these facts and other acts of harassment, Toruño, his family and 9 other employees received precautionary measures in July 2018.

However, Toruño has not received protection from the State; rather, he had to go into exile at the end of August 2018 and only managed to return in August of this year. “On my return to Nicaragua, I found a regime that continues to persecute independent media and journalists,” he denounced. Later, he narrated how on September 7th of this year, the station suffered new attacks, how a government-aligned group surrounded his house and painted threats on the walls and the armed attack on a caravan of which he was part.

“Radio Darío is still on the air and fighting for freedom of expression, but there is clear evidence (to prove that) the regime tries to silence the station. The exposure by the station’s workers of the state’s failure to comply with the measures and their accompanying duties is imperative,” added Toruño.

Situation of Confidencial and Esta Semana

Carlos Fernando Chamorro, director of Confidencial y Esta Semana, stated that on December 13, 2018, the National Police stormed and ransacked the facilities of both outlets, and then on December 14 permanently occupied the property. Given these facts, at the end of December 2018 the IACHR granted precautionary measures to Chamorro, his family and thirteen members of his team.

Chamorro also had to go into exile in January of this year. Subsequently, eight other members of his team left the country. To date, the offices are still occupied by the Police and, despite several legal remedies and complaints, the Nicaraguan judicial system has not acted on the case and the statutes of limitation have expired.

“Despite television censorship and official intimidation, and the restrictions on freedom of expression represented by all the abuses narrated here, Confidencial, Niú, Esta Semana and Esta Noche keep on informing, challenging the persecution, from Nicaragua and from exile, through digital platforms and social networks,” said Chamorro.

Petitions

The Nicaraguan media directors asked the IACHR to request provisional measures from the Inter-American Court of Human Rights for those who have already received precautionary measures that the State has not complied with, and also to extend precautionary measures to benefit other journalists from Confidencial and Esta Semana facing serious risks.

In addition, they asked the IACHR to demand that the State of Nicaragua cease its censorship, harassment, intimidation and physical attacks against journalists and their families, as well as the immediate return of illegally confiscated property. They urged the Nicaraguan state to guarantee the physical integrity and rights of journalists returning from exile, so that they can exercise their profession in freedom.

The IACHR Commissioners Antonia Urrejola, Rapporteur for Nicaragua; Margarette May Macaulay, Rapporteur on the Rights of People of African Descent and Joel Hernández, Vice President of the IACHR, reiterated their commitment to continue monitoring the situation, and pledged to study the requests made by the petitioners. Edison Lanza, Special Rapporteur for Freedom of Expression, said that in Nicaragua there is a systematic government plan to close all spaces of independent journalism and congratulated journalists for continuing to do journalism in such a hostile environment.

“Despite the constitutional reform, human rights continue to be violated systematically in Cuba”: Cuban activists testify before the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights

During the 173rd Period of Sessions of the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR), held in Washington, DC from September 23 through October 2, human rights defenders, activists and independent journalists from Cuba brought the concerning situation for human rights in their country to the Commissioners’ attention.

Alongside journalists from the outlets Diario de Cuba, Cubanet and Tremenda Nota and activists from Cubalex and the Cofradía de Negritud, Race and Equality’s Legal Program Officer Caitlin Kelly reported that despite a constitutional reform supposedly meant to ensure Cubans’ rights and the ascension of a new President from outside the Castro family, concerning levels of persecution, harassment and repression persist. A lack of political will to guarantee rights for those who dissent from the Cuban government’s dictatorial policies prevents these abuses from being addressed.

“We are concerned with the Cuban regime’s use of the Penal Code to criminalize dissenting voices. Crimes such as ‘contempt,’ ‘affront,’ ‘resistance’ and ‘disobedience,’ along with the legal label of ‘dangerousness,’ are the most frequently-used tools of criminalization,” stated Kelly.

 This thematic hearing also raised the fact that between 2016 and 2018, approximately 171 arbitrary detentions and over 700 cases of state-imposed domestic and international travel restrictions were recorded against journalists. According to Pablo Díaz, director of the independent media outlet Diario de Cuba, travel bans are one of the main forms of repression used by the Cuban state, which frequently forbids journalists from leaving the country in order to prevent them from carrying out their work:

“At this moment in Cuba, travel restrictions against independent activists, artists and journalists are the main tool of repression used by the regime, in violation of the migration policies established in 2013.”

Tremenda Nota journalist Carlos Alejandro Rodríguez stated that the government continues to block and censor those channels of communication that it cannot control. “Our outlet went from operating outside the law to being illegalized with the recent decree that outlaws media channels that do not agree with the regime’s policies,” he added.

Rodríguez also spoke out about the abuses, arbitrary detentions and confiscations that independent journalists suffer in Cuba, stating that Cuban journalists are subjected to coercion by government forces seeking to frighten them into abandoning their work, becoming informants or fleeing the country.

Cubalex director Laritza Diversent spoke out about the violence and repression that female journalists and rights defenders suffer, including constant threats and humiliating treatment at the hands of state forces. According to Diversant, “many arrested female journalists are strip-searched and subjected to cavity searches. They are also repressed through actions against their family members.” IACHR Commissioner Margarette May Macaulay, who is also Rapporteur on the Rights of Afro-Descendants and Rapporteur on the Rights of Women, requested additional information and documentation about these particular abuses.

Afro-Cuban rights activist Norberto Mesa Carbonell, director of the Cofradía de Negritud, described the various forms of repression and violence that he has suffered at the hands of Cuban authorities in retaliation for his activism:

“We have been victims of a violent regime that makes attacks against activists’ rights. The prohibition of peaceful meetings or assemblies and short-term arbitrary detentions are tactics the government uses to silence our voices.”

Speaking in regard to the discrimination and racism that is prevalent in Cuba but covered up by the government, Diversant added: “Legally, there are no initiatives or even efforts by the government to recognize that racial discrimination exists in Cuba. Racial discrimination is not found in the Penal Code as an offense, making it impossible for Cuban society to demand justice through such channels.”

 

Finally, IACHR Commissioner Antonia Urrejola, who is also Rapporteur for Cuba, lamented that grave human rights violations persist in Cuba despite the new constitution. She asked the assembled activists and journalists to continue submitting information as her office prepares the IACHR’s upcoming country report on Cuba.

Race and Equality continues our work defending, uplifting and promoting the rights of activists, independent journalists and human rights defenders in Cuba, conscious of the vulnerability in which they live and work on the island. We will continue to document cases of violence and report on the forms of repression used by the Cuban regime, calling upon the international community to remain attentive to the situation of human rights in the country.

Civil society from Cuba and Nicaragua will expose human rights violations at the 173rd period of sessions of the IACHR

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.

Diseno-sin-titulo

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.

The National Press Club invites to the event: “Global Voices: Journalism Under Threat in Nicaragua”

On Wednesday, September 25 at 6:30 p.m., the NPC’s International Correspondents Committee (ICC) and Press Freedom Team invites you to join an event on media suppression in Nicaragua. Fresh from testifying at the Inter-American Commission for Human Rights (IACHR), a delegation of four Nicaraguan journalists – three of whom remain in exile – will discuss the country’s recent descent into violence and repression.

In April 2018, proposed changes to Nicaragua’s social security system sparked a series of street protests. Heavy-handed moves to repress the protests had the opposite effect, fanning the flames of dissent and leading to calls for President Daniel Ortega to step down. As journalists moved in to cover the growing opposition movement, many found themselves directly in the firing line – facing arrest by police and violence at the hands of pro-government militias.

The delegation of Nicaraguan journalists will talk about their experiences of reporting from the front lines, the tactics the Ortega government has used to brand the press as part of the opposition movement, the current state of the country and their hopes for the future. The International Institute on Race, Equality and Human Rights is supporting each to attend the IACHR hearings and this special media event.

Panelists include:

Carlos Fernando Chamorro is founder and editor of Confidencial. Carlos is currently in exile in Costa Rica following a police raid on Confidencial in December 2018. Police confiscated documents, phones, computers, and TV cameras in a bid to disrupt the magazine’s reporting. Carlos Fernando fled the country in January this year amid threats against him.

Lucía Pineda Ubau is news director at 100% Noticias. Lucía was arrested in December last year, accused of “incitement and conspiracy to commit acts of terrorism and incitement of hate crimes.” She was released in June under the country’s controversial amnesty law and is now living in exile in Costa Rica.

Aníbal Toruño, who is currently in exile in Miami, is director and owner of Radio Darío. On April 20, 2018, pro-government mobs set fire to Radio Dario, badly damaging the station and forcing them to move to another location. Since then their offices have been raided several times by the Nicaraguan police.

Sergio León, owner and director of La Costeñisima, has remained in Nicaragua and has faced constant harassment, being detained by the Nicaraguan police on multiple occasions.

About the moderator:

Nicaraguan-born Maria Peña is a Digital Reporter for Telemundo, where she covers all issues affecting Hispanics, including immigration, trade, education, housing, voting, political empowerment, foreign policy, and, most recently, domestic terrorism at the border. She has worked in Washington journalism for more than 30 years but also travels abroad to cover major international stories such as Obama’s historic 2016 trip to Cuba. She is a frequent guest on major networks including Voice of America, Univision, CBC, CNN, and CGTN America. In 2017, she was named among El Tiempo Latino´s “100 Influential Latinos.” Maria is a member of the National Press Club.

 

More info and registration to the event here

Live Broadcast here

 

Race and Equality: “The cuban State uses its penal code to criminalize voices that speak out against the regime”

In its most recent report, the human rights organization asserts that Cuban laws lack the necessary protections to ensure respect for due process and other human rights of persons accused of crimes. The guarantees that do exist are not respected by the authorities in cases of independent activists.

As a part of the event “Weaponizing Justice: Rule of Law and Cuba’s New Constitution” that took place Wednesday, September 11 at the Inter-American Dialogue, the International Institute on Race, Equality and Human Rights (Race and Equality) officially launched its most recent report, entitled “Premeditated Convictions: Analysis of the Situation of the Administration of Justice in Cuba.”

In the report, Race and Equality documents and analyzes the patterns of criminalization, repression, and harassment used by the Cuban state against independent activists, a group that encompasses any activist, human rights defender, political leader, journalist or press outlet that opposes Cuba’s dictatorial policies that deny its citizens their fundamental civil and political rights.

“Although many changes have taken place in Cuba in recent years, the repression of independent activists has not ceased,” the report states, insisting that despite the adoption of a new constitution and the first non-Castro president in nearly sixty years, persecution and violence against the opposition continue, aided by laws that criminalize civil society activities.

Our investigation allowed us to document and analyze the government’s actions in criminal proceedings, and how the government uses the Penal Code and other laws to criminalize the work of the opposition,” explained Caitlin Kelly, an attorney and Program Officer at Race and Equality. 

The report investigates cases of repression against activists by state authorities, to describe and explain the Cuban government’s behavior and to establish a pattern of systematic violation of Cubans’ rights to freedom of expression, association and due process in court. The case of Dr. Eduardo Cardet is highlighted in the report as an example of the violations that occur in every stage of the criminal process. These abuses aall violate Cuba’s international human rights commitments and obligations.

“My brother was detained late at night on November 30, 2016 by several persons in civilian clothing, but they were actually from the political police. These men attacked him in front of his family and friends, beating him from head to toe. He was arrested for no reason, and later they fabricated a case against him for a crime that never happened. My brother will serve his sentence until September 30, he has been released conditionally from prison but he is still serving his sentence.” -Miriam Cardet, sister of political prisoner Eduardo Cardet.

Race and Equality’s investigation found that although some human rights and due process guarantees exist in Cuban law, they are disregarded by authorities when dealing with human rights defenders, activists and independent journalists.

Meanwhile, the state utilizes the Penal Code to criminalize people who express opinions against the government, particularly through the use of vaguely-defined crimes such as “contempt” and “disobedience” or the legal label of “social dangerousness,” all of which can be used to impose lengthy sentences without due process.

“When my brother made his statements after the death of Fidel Castro, he was not in Cuba. They called his wife and told her that it was better for him never to return to Cuba because if he did, he would disappear, and eventually he was violently arrested and held in life-threatening conditions. When they detained him, they kept him ‘disappeared’ for five days, with no medical attention despite the terrible beating he suffered. We could only visit him in a dark hallway; we could see how badly he was doing. His trial was held behind closed doors, where they fabricated crimes and kept him in horrible conditions that continue to affect his health today. -Miriam Cardet

Other findings from the report include violence against activists when they are arrested, the use of travel restrictions to prevent activists from leaving the island and deplorable conditions in jails and prisons.

 “They kept my husband in a cell, a 2-by-3-meter hole. Although it is against regulations to keep someone in a solitary cell for more than three days, he was there for eight or nine months of inhumane treatment. When I went to visit the prison, he came out with injuries all over his body, accompanied by two men carrying huge guns and chained around his waist, ankles and feet; he was treated as if he was a terrorist.” –Dolia Leal, founding member of the Damas de Blanco and Cuban exile

Download here the report:  “Premeditated Convictions: Analysis of the Situation of the Administration of Justice in Cuba” in Spanish

Download here the report´s Executive Summary “Premeditated Convictions: Analysis of the Situation of the Administration of Justice in Cuba”

Broadcast event: “Weaponizing Justice: Rule of Law and Cuba’s New Constitution” 

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