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

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.

UP WITH RIGHTS, UP WITH LIFE! INTERNATIONAL HUMAN RIGHTS DAY

“Depriving people of their human rights is calling into question  their own humanity.”  Nelson Mandela

 Washington, DC, December 10, 2018 – Human Rights Day is celebrated today, December 10th, in commemoration of a historic milestone in the progress toward worldwide recognition of fundamental human rights.  In 1948, the General Assembly of the United Nations (UN) approved the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.  That was the first document adopted by a multi-regional organization containing a broad spectrum of political, civil, social, cultural, and economic rights recognized as being “for all peoples and nations.”

Since the approval of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights 70 years ago, great progress has been made throughout the world in recognizing the rights of diverse populations, respecting human dignity, and creating legal instruments that lay the foundation for eliminating inequality, exclusion, and discrimination in nations.

Nonetheless, there are many human rights that continue to be violated throughout the world – and Latin America and the Caribbean are no exception.  In countries such as Brazil, Colombia, Cuba, Nicaragua, Dominican Republic, Panama, and Peru, human rights defenders continue working strenuously to promote and protect the human rights of populations in marginal conditions, whether due to their national or ethnic origin, sexual orientation, or gender identity.  Likewise, there exists an alarming degree of systematic and structural violence faced today by Afro-descendants, LGBTI persons, women, boys, girls, adolescents, persons with disabilities, and older adults, who in situations of extreme vulnerability continue to confront discriminatory policies and deficient implementation plans to effectively guarantee fundamental rights.

We see a worrisome weakening of the guarantee and protection of human rights throughout the world committed by States, especially in the case of Latin America and the Caribbean, a product of the high indices of violence, waves of homicides, arbitrary detentions, forced disappearances, and rising and systematic violence against human rights defenders, journalists, and independent media outlets in the region, all of which serves to increase the state of impunity in which Latin American countries have historically lived.

Indigenous peoples and Afro-descendants continue being the victims of multiple forms of aggravated discrimination, among other things, related to the negation of economic, political, and cultural rights, including the rights to the land and free, prior, and informed consultation vis-à-vis the use of ancestral, historically inhabited spaces.  LGBTI groups continue being the target of diverse forms of hate and intolerance that intensifies the state of defenselessness and imminent violation of the rights to freedom of expression, identity, and autonomy.

The elevated number of persons and entire communities in the region facing violations of their fundamental rights is thoroughly alarming, as it is a clear sign of the backward movement in legislation, policies, and practices implemented by the States, which far from guaranteeing and protecting human rights to ensure the effective enjoyment of them, turn to repressive tactics, making wrongful use of force and the justice systems to silence the denunciations of dissident persons or groups, which translates into an unsustainable increase in the violations of fundamental rights, as well as corrupt motives that perpetuate impunity and injustice in the territories.

The International Institute on Race, Equality, and Human Rights (Race & Equality) defends the position that the struggle for rights requires joining forces in a commitment to transform societies so as to ensure scenarios that are more just, diverse, equitable, and free.  We call on all States in the region to make a real, effective commitment to undertake efforts to implement policies that promote justice, recognition, peace, and inclusive social, economic, and cultural development that guarantees tranquility and the full enjoyment by communities of their freedoms and the possibility to construct a region in a participatory, dialogical, and differentiated manner.

Nicaraguan human rights defenders denounce new escalation of repression and the IACHR reiterates its commitment to the population and NGOs that promote human rights

Washington, D.C. December 6th, 2018. A new escalation of repression by the government of Nicaragua seeks to dismantle any space of criticism and to silence the voices of demonstrators, journalists, women, activists, and all those who defend freedom, demand democracy, and claim justice for the victims of human rights violations in the country. This was the main message that a group of Nicaraguan human rights defenders presented before the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) last week during the thematic hearing “Repression and Violation of Human Rights in Nicaragua,” held in during the 170th period of sessions of the IACHR.

Human rights defenders of fourteen national and international organizations, including Race and Equality, requested that the IACHR and the international community “take all necessary actions so that the repression stops in Nicaragua and also to help find a democratic solution to the crisis.”

The State of Nicaragua, which was invited to participate in this hearing, the fourth to be held since the current human rights crisis began eight months ago, did not show up. The State argued that it was not appropriate to conduct a hearing as a monitoring mechanism for the country. For civil society organizations, the non-appearance of the State of Nicaragua reflects its lack of willingness to be accountable to international bodies.

Paulo Abrāo, Executive Secretary of the IACHR, assured that the situation in Nicaragua is being addressed “at a priority level” because a police state has been installed in the country. “There is not a single day in Nicaragua in which the IACHR does not receive reports of human rights violations in the context of the crisis,” he lamented.

Current situation of the country

As of now, human rights organizations and the IACHR count 325 people killed as a result of repression, as well as more than 600 political prisoners. Additionally, 200 health professionals and 40 of higher education have been unfairly dismissed for doing their work, and over 40,000 people have been forcibly displaced to Costa Rica. The Nicaraguan Foundation for Economic and Social Development (FUNIDES, for its initials in Spanish) estimates that 417,000 people have been dismissed or suspended from their jobs as a result of the crisis.

Madeleine Caracas, a 21-year-old woman member of the University Coalition and currently sheltered in Costa Rica, said that since late September, the public force has prevented civil demonstrations. This “inhibits the legitimate right of people to express themselves and demonstrates the authoritarianism that we are facing.” Additionally, she revealed that there are more than a hundred students who have been expelled from their universities for having participated in protests and taken over public universities.

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The Nicaraguan Initiative of Women Human Rights Defenders (IND, for its initials in Spanish) has counted more than 370 attacks on women within the context of crisis. This includes two cases of rape, two murders of transgender women, and 102 arbitrary arrests. Forty-eight women are still detained, some of whom have been convicted, some have not been charged or accused of any crime, and a few have a criminal case against them in process, detailed Caracas.

The young woman also highlighted the continued persecution of human rights defenders, like Ana Cecilia Juguer, promoter of the Permanent Commission of Human Rights (CPDH, for its initials in Spanish), who has been detained for more than 20 days in El Chipote; Haydeé Castillo, who was held in the airport and imposed with an immigration restriction; and the most recent case of Ana Quirós, who was expelled from the country and arbitrarily stripped of her Nicaraguan nationality and whose organization’s legal personality was canceled.

“It is evident and worrisome that the people who defend human rights in Nicaragua are one of the main targets of the repression strategy implemented by the Ortega-Murillo government. They do not allow us to carry out our defense work, we are persecuted, we are stigmatized, we are denied information, among other aggressions,” Caracas denounced.

Marcos Carmona, of the CPDH, spoke in detail about illegal detentions, the criminal proceedings against demonstrators, and violations of due process guarantees.

“CPDH has been in charge of the defense of 72 trials, involving 178 people. Thirty-five people have been sentenced to more than 24 years for terrorism, 20 people have obtained their freedom, and 102 people are still waiting for the judge’s ruling,” Carmona said, stating also that “all these processes have violated constitutional guarantees and due process since the moment of detention.”

Carmona also emphasized that “no policeman, no paramilitary, no supportive party leader or any authority has been prosecuted” for the crimes that were committed since April as part of the government’s repressive response to civic demonstrations.

Vilma Núñez, president of the Nicaraguan Center for Human Rights (CENIDH, for its initials in Spanish), denounced that political prisoners are not allowed to have access to their lawyers or be accompanied by human rights defenders, and are denied access to medical care. Additionally, their families face obstacles when they try to visit them and accompany them during the trial.

Núñez reported that six peasant leaders are “held in maximum security cells, without access to light or ventilation, living with pests and without access to adequate toilets” and others have been forced to self-exile as a result of the persecution.

She also highlighted the censorship and criminalization faced by different Nicaraguan media and independent journalists. “Since the beginning of the crisis, repression has been characterized by repressive measures against freedom of expression,” Núñez said, mentioning the escalation of attacks against journalists and even members of the Nicaraguan Catholic Church.

Requests

The organizations participating in the hearing made seven petitions to the IACHR, among them, to continue monitoring the situation in Nicaragua, to include Nicaragua in Chapter IV of its Annual Report for the year 2018, and to require the State of Nicaragua to provide adequate conditions so that the Follow-up Mechanism for Nicaragua (Meseni, for its initials in Spanish) and the Interdisciplinary Group of Independent Experts (GIEI, for its initials in Spanish) can carry out their work without restrictions.

In addition, they asked the IACHR to demand full access to judicial proceedings for family members and human rights organizations, to request periodic information from the American States on the displaced Nicaraguans, and to request that the Permanent Council of the Organization of American States (OAS) carry out periodic sessions on the human rights situation in Nicaragua.

Antonia Urrejola, Nicaragua’s rapporteur for the IACHR, replied that the monitoring of the Nicaraguan situation will remain constant, that this week they will discuss the introduction of Nicaragua in Chapter IV, and that a report on the situation of Nicaraguan migrants in Costa Rica will be published soon. Also, Urrejola assured that the Meseni will be strengthen and that the Commissioners and Special Rapporteurs will continue to make visits to Nicaragua. They already have a plan for this in the first quarter of 2019-.

“I simply want to insist that we are not going to stop accompanying human rights organizations and the Nicaraguan people in the situation they are living nowadays. They will count on us permanently, have no doubts about it,” Urrejola concluded.

Edison Lanza, Rapporteur for Freedom of Expression of the IACHR said that in Nicaragua there has been an absolute suppression of fundamental freedoms by the installation of a State of Terror that seeks the moral demolition of the leaders of civil society and which also aims to reach the IACHR.

OACNUDH will return to Nicaragua

Three months after the mission of the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) left Nicaragua because the government terminated its mission, representatives of that office will return to Managua in mid-December; Marlene Alejos, Regional Representative of the OHCHR for Central America, Panama and the Dominican Republic, revealed during the hearing.

“The Office will visit Managua in the middle of this month to explore with the Government the adequate conditions that allow us to return to work in the country, both in the monitoring of the human rights situation and in technical assistance,” Alejos explained.

Two days before its expulsion, the OHCHR published a report on the crisis in Nicaragua, concluding that “the overall response of the authorities to the protests did not comply with the applicable standards on the proper management of demonstrations, in violation of the International Law of human rights.”

Alejos recalled that in March 2019 there will be an Ordinary Session of the Human Rights Council in which the Member States will evaluate the situation in Nicaragua. Another important opportunity for Nicaragua to be evaluated will be in the month of May during the country’s Universal Periodic Review (UPR).

LGBTI defenders face great challenges in Latin America

Washington, D.C. December 5th, 2018. During the last decade, the recognition of human rights for the LGBTI community and their legal protections have been strengthened in Latin America. Nevertheless, the LGBTI population still faces serious patterns of discrimination and violence that have been fueled by hate speech expressed by religious groups or circumstantial political issues, according to experts working in the region who held a conversation last week in Washington DC.

During the panel “Defending LGBTIQ Rights in Latin America: Obstacles and Advancements in Law and Culture,” organized by the Inter-American Dialogue, the speakers also focused on problems that further limit access to LGBTI rights, such as racial discrimination and poverty.

Fanny Gómez, Senior Director of Policy & Advocacy at Synergía; Carlos Quesada, Executive Director and Founder of the International Institute on Race, Equality and Human Rights (Race and Equality); Iván Chanis Barahona, President of Iguales Foundation in Panama; and Abraham Banegas Molina, Technical Officer of Cozumel Trans in Honduras, spoke on Tuesday with Michael Camilleri, Director of the Peter D. Bell Rule of Law Program at the Inter-American Dialogue to share their opinions and experiences on the topic.

Continued violence and discrimination

The continued violence towards the LGBTI population was a central topic in the conversation held by regional experts, in which different perspectives were highlighted.

According to Gómez from Synergía, in the last 5 or 7 years, there has been progress in terms of protecting people based on their sexual orientation and gender identity, ranging from an increase of official statements supporting the LGBTI community to the approval of gender identity laws or same-sex marriage. “But this has not meant that the violence has decreased,” she added.

Carlos Quesada also emphasized that the advances in LGBTI human rights in the region impact the Afro-descendant population differently. Consequently, they are more vulnerable to violence.

“In the specific case of Brazil, every 30 hours a person dies because of their sexual orientation and gender identity, and 90% of those people are Afro-descendants,” the director of Race and Equality stated.

Regarding the trans community, Quesada said, violence towards their bodies has become “a disease in the region.”

“On one hand, there are countries like Colombia that have formally created institutions to defend and investigate hate crimes, but they don’t have sensitized staff that can do their job effectively,” Quesada said, noting that situations like these lead to continued violence and impunity.

Abraham Banegas from Honduras agreed that the trans men and women in his country are the “most affected” by violence directed at the LGBTI community.

Hate speech

Banegas also stressed that the “main adversary” to LGBTI rights in Honduras is religious fundamentalism.

“They attack our comrades in the name of God,” the activist said. He regretted that some religious congregations with thousands of followers promote hate messages to their parishioners, politicians, and decision makers.

For Fanny Gómez, the recent growth and strengthening of those “hate messages” promoted by conservative groups also puts the lives of human rights defenders at risk.

“Every time there is a homophobic, transphobic, or lesbophobic message coming from a leader, that means that a person of our community will die after,” lamented Banegas.

Advances in legislation

Regarding legislative advances in the Americas, experts mentioned some resolutions on sexual orientation adopted by the Organization of American States (OAS), or the Advisory Opinion Number 24 issued by the Inter-American Court of Human Rights in November 2017. The latter recognizes that States have the duty and obligation to recognize people’s gender identity and to recognize marriages and families of same-sex couples.

However, Carlos Quesada said that civil society organizations still lack the technical training necessary to be able to use the Inter-American System and the Universal System properly.

“As a challenge, we have to train ourselves on how to use the national legislation but also on how to use the Inter-American System and the Universal System for the defense of the LGBTI population.”

Obstacles in legislation

Ivan Chanis Barahona, from the Iguales Foundation, explained that in Panama “there is no law or any public policy that recognizes gay, lesbian, trans, bisexual or intersex people,” and that the only law against discrimination does not include LGBTI persons.

Recently, according to Chanis, the refusal of the Panamanian authorities to register three same-sex marriages carried out in foreign countries started a national discussion on that issue. The topic has even been debated by the presidential candidates for the 2019 elections. “Panama is a country that has always respected human rights and the Inter-American System, but after this topic came to light, people started to dislike the Inter-American Court of Human Rights because of the Advisory Opinion on LGBTI rights.”

“The States in Latin America and especially in the Caribbean have failed in the modern world to protect their democracies by maintaining policies that are totally discriminatory towards LGBTI population,” Chanis emphasized.

Regarding the specific case of Honduras, Banegas said that in the new Criminal Code, discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity was penalized more lightly, and a Honduran law prohibits same-sex marriage.  Besides, a recent reform to the Code for Children established that same-sex couples cannot adopt children.

“In Honduras, legislation is being adjusted to block LGBTI rights,” the activist complained.

However, he said that they are currently working on an “Equality and Equity Law,” a legal instrument that could provide more protection for the rights of the LGBTI population in Honduras if it is approved by Congress.

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Public Announcement: Ongoing Crisis in Nicaragua

Washington, DC, November 23, 2018 – The International Institute of Race, Equality, and Human Rights strongly condemns and rejects the resolution issued today, November 23, 2018, by the Nicaraguan Police regarding the march convened to commemorate the International Day on the Elimination of Violence against Women by the Unidad Nacional Azul y Blanco [White and Blue National Unity] (UNAB), which had been announced was to be held on Sunday, November 25 in the city of Managua in protest over the violation of Nicaraguans’ fundamental rights for the last seven months by the Ortega-Murillo regime.

In the resolution, communicated by the Chief of the Directorate of Public Security of the National Police of Nicaragua, General Commissioner Luis Fernando Barrantes refuses to authorize it, while the National Police, in a clear abuse of power, classifies said initiative as a “vandalistic act” and “terrorist” with “coup aims” that envisages “affecting Nicaraguan families and the tranquility of the country.”  In addition, it states in a threatening tone “. . . that the National Police does not authorize nor will authorize public mobilizations by persons, organizations, or movements that participated in and are being investigated for their actions in the failed attempt at a  . . .”

As an institution that works in favor of the respect, guarantee, and protection of human rights, we repudiate said police communiqué, as it does not acknowledge, decontextualizes, and once again violates the right of Nicaraguans to protest peacefully to denounce the innumerable acts of harassment and repression committed by Nicaraguan authorities since April, in an attempt to foster a false sense of normalcy in the country when acts of harassment and intimidation in all public spaces continue being committed by the police, clearly endangering any possibility for regaining Nicaraguans’ tranquility, for whom this repression has given no respite.

Likewise, we denounce the indifference of the Nicaraguan State, which refuses to accept the existence of the victims of this humanitarian crisis from among the self-convened population, who today comprise more than 500 protestors, students, and activists who have been detained under conditions that endanger their lives, [physical] integrity, and due process, as well as the approximately 325 assassinations that continue to be shrouded in impunity and the acts of intimidation that are daily visited upon women, those who have been tried for the April incidents, journalists, human rights defenders, LGBTQI persons, and the community in general.

Race & Equality also vehemently condemns the acts of intimidation, assault, and harassment committed by the National Police in recent hours in different places in the city of Managua and other departments, which demonstrates that nothing is normal in Nicaragua.  The arbitrary nature with which the police continue to act provokes an environment of fear and insecurity among the populace.  We therefore demand the prompt release of the two Radio Darío collaborators, Omar López and Eduardo Patricio Amaya, who were kidnapped this morning.  Amaya was granted protective measures by the IACHR, MC 693-18.  We hold the State of Nicaragua responsible for any situation that violates [the] lives, [physical] integrity, and human rights of both Radio Darío employees.

We urgently call on the international community to take a stance in response to these acts that gravely violate the fundamental rights of the Nicaraguan people, who continue defenseless due to the dictatorial excesses committed by the current government.  Likewise, we call on the international community to raise its voice against the abuses that are ongoing against Nicaraguans by a regime that continues to be reluctant to uphold its international human rights commitments. 

November 20 – International Day of Transsexual Memory

“I am convinced that the engine of change is love.  The love we were denied
is our impetus to change the world.  All of the blows and slights
I suffered cannot compare with the infinite
love that surrounds me at this time.”
– Lohana Berkins (1965-2016), transvestite activist

On the International Day of Transsexual Memory, the International Institute on Race, Equality, and Human Rights honors the memory of transsexuals who have lost their lives as a result of acts of intolerance, hate, and discrimination due to their gender identity in Latin America and the Caribbean.  November 20 is also a day to celebrate the lives of transsexuals who, despite social exclusion, limits on exercising their rights, and the absence of social policies that address their basic needs, continue their fight to defend their rights and construct networks of social transformation starting from their local milieus.

Discrimination, violence, segregation against transsexuals, and diverse gender-based segregation constitute a structural aspect of society; therefore, throughout history, their rights have been subject to a vicious cycle of violence, degradation, and oppression that has made it harder for them to enjoy the guarantees of a decent and complete life.

Around the world, transsexuals are subject to mockery, blackmail, physical and sexual assault, and assassination due to their diverse identities.  In addition, they are denied the opportunity to decent employment, medical care in keeping with their needs, and to be seen as subjects worthy of respect and recognition in society.  The stigma to which transsexuals are subject leads to the ‘invisibilization’ of their realities and experiences, as well as ignorance regarding the multiple challenges, barriers, and human rights violations they face.  It is thus that in the majority of countries, data on violence against transsexuals and gender-diverse persons are not systematically produced; therefore, it becomes impossible to calculate the exact number of cases.

Race & Equality observes with concern how the countries of Latin America and the Caribbean continue to have the highest rates of homicides of transsexuals due to motives of prejudice and discrimination, as well as the rationale of machismo and fundamentalist ideas that ignore the diversity, freedom, and autonomy of individuals to identify and define themselves.

Notwithstanding these adverse contexts of violence, we see throughout Latin America experiences of solidarity and leadership that transcend the margins of social exclusion and make known the social demands of transsexuals.  Transsexual leaders are the ones who have been able to impact local public policies, build support networks that have evinced the violence they experience, and above all, generate creative responses for social change from spaces of exclusion.

Race & Equality, within the framework of this commemoration, calls on the States in the region to expand spaces for social dialogue with organizations of transsexuals [and] strengthen the mechanisms for investigating the violence of which this population has been the victim, so as to overcome impunity and jointly define with transsexual leaders social policies of transformation that truly impact their most immediate needs.  We are convinced that transsexuals should continue to be remembered for their transformative acts, rather than for the unpunished violence by which they are eliminated.

Nicaraguan human rights defenders will talk in Geneva about the evolution of the crisis in their country

Seven months after the current human rights crisis started in Nicaragua as a result of the government’s repression of peaceful protests, a group of human right defenders will hold a public conversation in Geneva on November 28th with the aim of making visible the consequences and permanence of the crisis. The crisis continues now with the prohibition of civic demonstrations and the prosecution of hundreds of protestants, students and activists who have been arrested for participating in protests and are being subjected to trials in which the guarantees of due process are disregarded.

In the conversation, organized by the International Institute on Race, Equality and Human Rights (Race and Equality), the human rights defenders will describe their own experiences during the crisis and the risks they face in their daily work.

Special emphasis will be placed on the situation of injustice and defenselessness faced by populations that traditionally experience discrimination, such as women, indigenous persons, Afro-descendants and the LGBTI community. These groups have been repressed for defending democracy and demanding justice and respect for human rights.

The human right defenders will also refer to the situation faced by hundreds of political prisoners, who have reported torture and ill treatment in prisons and detention centers. According to the Nicaraguan Center for Human Rights (CENIDH, for its initials in Spanish), of the 602 citizens imprisoned as of November 14th for participating in the protests, 563 are men and 50 women, of which 4 are transgender women.

The image of “normality” that the Nicaraguan government intends to establish both nationally and internationally contrasts diametrically with the vision that human rights defenders will provide that day, which is that in Nicaragua “nothing is normal”, since the violations of human rights committed by the Nicaraguan authorities are systematic and remain unpunished.

Nicaragua will be evaluated by the Universal Periodic Review (UPR) in 2019. This review will offer human rights defenders, civil society organizations, and the international community an important opportunity to peacefully influence the crisis that today overwhelms the Nicaraguan people.

#VenezuelaMigrates: Civil Society Organizations launch Plan of Action to protect migrants and refugees from Venezuela

WASHINGTON, DC. November 16, 2018.- Since the beginning of the year, The International Institute of Race, equality and Human Rights, as part of the organizations belonging to the Venezuelan Human Mobility Group, have been following the with great concern  the human rights situation of migrants and refugees forced to leave Venezuela. As a result, we called for a concerted regional response on August 22. This was followed up on September 19 with an initial blueprint that could support this work.

Despite efforts made so far, national and international spaces continue to require greater efficiency and coordination in their regional response to the crisis. To date, there is still little clarity throughout the continent on the best protocols to respond the needs of three million migrants and refugees from Venezuela, in a manner that complies with international standards for the protection of human rights and comprehensive humanitarian assistance.

Meanwhile, the high-risk situations of violence and discrimination that many migrants and refugees face at all stages of their journey continue to increase. Likewise, the specific needs of those migrants and refugees, particularly the needs of those belonging to groups in situations of vulnerability who are most exposed to violence and discrimination, have become more acute.

In light of this, the Venezuelan Human Mobility Group – of which The International Institute of Human Rights is a part of – developed the Civil Society Action Plan for People from Venezuela that Require National and International Protection, which establishes a road map to improve coordinated responses to this this situation.

The document addresses the specific actions required by all the actors involved, clarifies state obligations, makes recommendations to the States, establishes our commitments as civil society members and organizations, issues recommendations to other members of civil society throughout the region and provides guidelines to international organizations and allies. All of the above with respect to the following central axes:

  1. The correct legal characterization of migrants and refugees, State´s obligations regarding both, the application of the Cartagena Declaration in the Venezuelan context and the mechanisms of regular migration.
  2. Intersectional approaches  to address multiple factors of discrimination faced by different migratory groups based on their gender, race, ethnicity, sexual orientation, age, among others.
  3. The actions required to properly assist each step of a migrant and refugee´s journey, including long-lasting solutions that guarantee access through transit and to their destination countries, as well as guarantees of their rights in their countries of destination.
  4. Regional monitoring and advocacy strategies that brings together all the key actors involved in the development of responses to the situation of Venezuelan people facing a situation of human mobility.

We trust that this document will be useful to all actors tasked with crafting a human rights based approach in the face of this displacement crisis; as well as other current and future migrant and refugee situations that may arise in the region. Likewise, we hope that proposals that involve groups in a high state of vulnerability, such as women, children and adolescents, the LGBTI community and people of African descent, can be implemented with caution.

For more information about the Venezuelan Human Mobility Group visit: www.movhuve.org

Interview with Beatriz Amaro, Afro-Mexican Leader: “If today we must speak up and raise our voices, we ask that we be allowed to raise them as Afro-Mexican communities”

In the midst of the current humanitarian crisis in Mexico, due to the extremely grave situation of violence, unemployment, insecurity, and a very high rate of migration due to drug trafficking, as well as other sociopolitical issues that have not been addressed, the Afro-Mexican population continues to struggle for and demand constitutional recognition as a people whom, according to the data obtained in the 2015 Intercensal Survey administered by INEGI, totals 1,381,853 persons, equivalent to 1.2% of the national population.

Beatriz Amaro, a leader and human rights defender in the organization Unity for Progress, in the city of Oaxaca, AC spoke with Race & Equality during the pre-sessions for Mexico of the Universal Periodic Review (UPR) held on October 12, 2018 in Geneva, Switzerland regarding the need to implement affirmative actions, effective public policies, and action plans in agreement with the Afro-Mexican people, with an eye to reducing the historic impact of racism and discrimination that translates into the Afro-descendant population in Mexico having fewer possibilities for employment, education, [and] participation.  In addition, [she spoke] about the importance of the Review, in which the state of rights in Mexico will be reviewed on November 7, 2018, taking into account some of the recommendations offered by Afro-descendant civil society.

In the midst of the ongoing humanitarian crisis in Mexico, what is the greatest need and demand being made by Afro-Mexican civil society organizations to the Mexican State that you wish to highlight in the pre-sessions of Mexico’s Universal Periodic Review?

Without a doubt, the most pressing need and demand of the Afro-Mexican people today is to be constitutionally recognized.  Without constitutional recognition, Mexico’s Afro-descendants will not have a way to demand respect for our rights in accordance with our historic, social, and cultural reality.  While the inclusion of the ethnic-racial variable in the intercensal survey administered in 2015 represents significant progress in at least recognizing the total number of the population, it is necessary to continue working to develop official policies, plans, and projects at the national level that serve to counteract the impact of poverty, lack of opportunities, and structural racism that we experience in our country.  Likewise, the report submitted to the various missions during the pre-sessions mentions the need to create specific plans for attending to women, guaranteeing effective health services, incorporating educational programs that include the Afro-Mexican people’s historic legacy, and creating spaces for dialogue and participation to reformulate the Plan of Action of the Decade of Afro-descendants.

During the most recent public hearing of the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) related to the state of Afro-descendants’ rights, the State mentioned a large number of programs designed to benefit the Afro-Mexican people.  How are these programs and/or affirmative actions being implemented?

It is true that the Mexican State has conceived, designed, and likely implemented programs, affirmative actions, or plans for the Afro-Mexican people; however, these plans have never been designed with any of us, nor worked on with us. Allow me to clarify; these action proposals do not include the vision of the Afro-Mexican peoples, nor are they publicized sufficiently strongly to enable the communities to know about the projects that have been designed for their benefit.  Thus, it would seem or could be interpreted as formally fulfilling a commitment, though without any real implementation of these programs, because they are not being reflected in the communities, we don’t know about them, nor are we actively participating in their design, let alone their implementation.  One thing is clear, however: who can better know the reality of the Afro-descendant people of Mexico than we the Afro-Mexicans?  We don’t understand, then, how they can design these projects in the very capital of the Republic, a space to which we don’t have access, and much less how they implement them.  In this sense, it is important that these programs be publicized in the zones where there are greater numbers of Afro-Mexicans, above all in the states of Guerrero, Oaxaca, and Veracruz, given that in addition, we are the ones who face the greatest challenges to development.

One of the recommendations proposed by civil society organizations during the pre-sessions to the Universal Periodic Review is a request that the Decade Plan of Action be reformulated.  Why?

I know perfectly well that having a Decade Plan of Action represents great progress, because many countries don’t even have one; but again, the situation is that the development of this Plan of Action that benefits the Afro-Mexican people was not consulted, worked on, or designed jointly with Afro-Mexican civil society.  We didn’t participate.  As such, there are clearly many aspects that don’t touch upon or reflect the situation or needs of the Afro-Mexican population.  I don’t mean to imply by this that the plan is bad or inappropriate; indeed, there are many positive things [about it]; however, I think it is necessary to work in a participatory, dialogical way that is agreed to by the Afro-descendant communities so that it goes beyond simply being a plan and actually becomes a materialization of activities that leads to real and effective implementation.

With regard to what was said earlier, is there an alternative proposal designed by the Afro-Mexican civil society organizations in relation to the Decade Plan of Action?

I would love to say yes, that a joint proposal exists that has been developed, discussed, and agreed to by the entire Afro-Mexican social movement to propose a joint work agenda, but unfortunately, we don’t have one at this time.  Organizing, discussing, and agreeing to an agenda requires not only absolute political will, which I believe each and every one of the social organizations that comprise this movement has, but also budgetary support to enable us to make progress to that end.  In order to build an inclusive, plural, and diverse agenda that is made up of all of the voices in the movement, we need to do work that requires financial support.  Nonetheless, we have made significant progress.  In the case of the women, we have performed several agenda exercises that we believe are essential to include in the Decade Plan, just as our recommendations were included in the alternative report submitted by the civil society organizations to the Universal Periodic Review Committee.  We hope our voices can be included.

What has been the impact of today’s humanitarian crisis in Mexico on the Afro-Mexican population?

We don’t have official numbers or studies of what the impact of the wave of violence underway in Mexico has been on the Afro-descendant people, nor do we have real disaggregated data that enables us to statistically know the real state of the Afro-Mexican people.  Certainly, as I noted earlier, a 2015 intercensal exercise was performed that provided an initial introduction of the Afro-descendant populace, though did not cover all of the localities; as such, the data, apart from being very general, are not accurate.  However, we can say that the state of human rights of our entire population has worsened, precisely because in addition to the dynamics of vulnerability our communities had already been confronting – such as poverty, inequality, [and] lack of access to health, education, and employment – new forms of victimization take place as a result of the impact of the dynamics of drug trafficking, circumstances that clearly put our people in a state of high risk and defenselessness.

What do you see as the principal challenges of the Afro-Mexican social movement in the current context?

As I was saying, one of the principal objectives is to continue fighting for constitutional recognition of the Afro-Mexican people.  However, in order to do that, we believe it is very important to unify the movement’s political will in order to present a proposal for jointly working with the Mexican State and other scenarios for political advocacy.

I think another principal challenge is to be able to play an important role in more decision-making spaces in order to ensure that the proposals and projects developed therein benefit us [and] are designed in accordance with our realities, from the perspective of our Afro-Mexican men, women, youth, boys, girls, and adolescents.  If we continue to allow these spaces to be occupied by academics, who with the very best of intentions attempt to describe and heighten the visibility of our situation, we will not be able to occupy these spaces ourselves to empower ourselves for our reality.  We ourselves, empowered by our history, reality, and purpose, need to be prepared to make presentations before national and international bodies on our reality, denunciations, and demands.

If today we must speak out and raise our voices, we ask that we be allowed to raise them from the perspective of our organizations rather than from academia.  Certainly, what we need is for them to train rather than represent us in order to incentivize the participation, commitment, and training of Afro-Mexican women and men with an eye to having the tools we lack for [removing] the educational gap that we oftentimes confront.  What we want is for them to provide us support in the form of tools, to be heard [in spaces] where we should be heard.

What are your expectations for the Universal Periodic Review, in which the state of human rights in Mexico will be evaluated?

I feel that due to the grave human rights violations that exist in Mexico today, the matter of the state of Afro-descendant rights will not be a priority.  However, I feel that spaces such as the pre-sessions provide us with opportunities to undertake very important advocacy whereby we appropriate our own realities, precisely because they motivate us to develop exercises for systematizing the work we are carrying out in order to be able to present it to different mechanisms in which we will certainly be able to make the voice heard of a people that needs international support, solidarity, and attention, so that we can continue to apply pressure to have our rights respected, protected, and recognized.

We hope that the Universal Periodic Review will be able to address at least two of the recommendations made in order to receive the international backing we so need and be able to monitor the Mexican State’s compliance with said recommendations.

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