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UN Mechanism Reveals Racial Profiling and Police Racism in Colombia Amid Growing Reports of Deaths of Two Afro-descendant Men

UN Mechanism Reveals Racial Profiling and Police Racism in Colombia Amid Growing Reports of Deaths of Two Afro-descendant Men

Bogotá, October 2, 2026 – Following its visit to the Colombian cities of Bogotá, Cali, Cartagena, and Quibdó from May 4 to 14 this year, EMLER presented a report to the United Nations Human Rights Council, concluding that systemic racism against Afro-Colombian people is deeply entrenched and perpetuated within institutions responsible for protection and the administration of justice. Its key findings regarding law enforcement and the justice system include:

  • Systemic racism, “normalized and rendered invisible,” deeply rooted in security forces and the justice system.
  • “Systematic and widespread” racial profiling.
  • Unnecessary and disproportionate use of force, including lethal force: Afro-descendant youth pursued and shot in the back, and families left waiting for years without progress in investigations.
  • Dehumanizing language by police officers and excessive police presence in spaces where Afro-descendant communities gather.
  • Arbitrary fines and citations, “phantom citations,” informal police quotas, and the discriminatory use of protective custody transfers.
  • Impunity, lack of access to justice, and fear of reporting abuses.
  • Statistical invisibility: the absence of data disaggregated by race and the 31% decline in the Afro-Colombian population recorded in the 2018 census.

The Mechanism also warned that racial profiling can escalate into unnecessary use of force. Encounters arising from stops, searches, or identity checks based on stereotypes “can unnecessarily escalate into forms of physical violence,” including lethal force. The report states that impunity sends families the message that their lives are considered less valuable by the authorities.

“We wish to emphasize that racist police violence does not end with the victim’s body. Its effects extend to the entire Black People, and this collective harm is an essential part of the violation,” the document states.

EMLER documented psychosocial, socioeconomic, family, and community-related harm, including fear, anxiety, stress, distrust of the police, and a collective sense of vulnerability and lack of protection.

This has consequences for the relationship between communities and institutions. When the State presumes criminality based on skin color, physical appearance, hair, clothing, music, or neighborhood, the fundamental relationship of trust between citizens and institutions is broken. People stop reporting abuses and seeking justice, while underreporting protects those responsible for violence. The Mechanism identified “widespread distrust” of security and justice institutions among Afro-descendant people.

There are also lasting consequences that often go unnoticed. Accumulated fines can become barriers to employment, pushing young people into informal work or, alternatively, unemployment. EMLER described these practices as a form of “administrative criminalization of Blackness, poverty, youth, and sexual and gender diversity.”

The EMLER report was released amid public outcry in Colombia over the case of Donovan Balanta, a 34-year-old man who died on September 20 in southwestern Bogotá after being beaten by a group of National Police officers. This case adds to that of Luis Alfredo Echeverry, another young Afro-Colombian man who died on September 27 in the department of Cauca. Both cases reflect, with disturbing precision, patterns of violence documented by the UN Mechanism: a police encounter in a low-income neighborhood with a predominantly Afro-descendant population; the use of force against a person who had been subdued and was under state control; public allegations that the incident began with discriminatory remarks; and a community forced to mobilize to ensure that evidence is preserved and investigations move forward.

EMLER’s findings are general in nature and do not constitute conclusions regarding either of these cases. Nevertheless, the racial dimension must be incorporated into the investigations from the outset. “The role that racial discrimination, stereotypes, and prejudice may have played in the incident must be examined. An investigation that ignores this dimension will be incomplete,” the report states.

Following the publication of this report and the recent cases of violence in which two Afro-Colombian men have died, Race and Equality calls on State institutions to adopt concrete measures in response to these incidents and to address the recommendations issued by the international mechanism.

First, we call on the Office of the Attorney General of the Nation to investigate the deaths of Donovan Balanta and Luis Alfredo Echeverry promptly, independently, and impartially, ensuring the immediate preservation of all evidence, including footage from public and private surveillance cameras. We also consider it essential to incorporate the racial dimension into both investigations and assess the appropriate criminal charges in accordance with international standards on torture and the unlawful use of force.

We call on the National Police and the Ministry of Defense to fully cooperate with the justice system, ensure that no officers under suspicion remain in positions that could allow them to interfere with the investigations, and refrain from any actions that could stigmatize the victims or their communities. The Public Prosecutor’s Office and the Office of the Ombudsperson must actively oversee disciplinary and criminal proceedings and ensure that families receive support through an ethnic-racial and differential approach.

Likewise, we call on the National Government to provide guarantees to the families and communities against potential reprisals, ensure their effective participation in the proceedings, and guarantee comprehensive reparation, including guarantees of non-repetition. We also call for the adoption of a public plan to implement EMLER’s recommendations, with clearly defined responsibilities, a timeline, a budget, and monitoring mechanisms that include the participation of Afro-descendant organizations. This plan must include an explicit prohibition of racial profiling, the initiation of the process to transfer the National Police to a civilian ministry, and the publication of data disaggregated by race and ethnicity on the use of force, arrests, citations, and deaths in custody.

We call on the Congress of the Republic to move forward with the ratification of the Inter-American Convention against Racism and the acceptance of the individual communications procedure before the Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination (CERD), as well as to enact legislation to prevent and punish racial profiling.

Finally, we call on the international community and human rights organizations to maintain public oversight of both these cases and the implementation of EMLER’s recommendations, in order to help ensure truth, justice, reparation, and guarantees of non-repetition for affected Afro-descendant individuals and communities.



July 25: Women of African Descent Nurture Life, Protect Their Communities, and Build the Future

Rio de Janeiro, July 25, 2026.—July 25 marks the International Day of Afro-Latin, Afro-Caribbean, and Diaspora Women. It is a day to recognize, name, and highlight the strength of millions of women of African descent who, in Latin America and the Caribbean, nurture life, protect their territories, and build, with their own hands, alternatives for a more just future.

This commemoration arises from a context of profound exploitation and oppression. Women of African descent continue to face the intersection of racism and gender-based violence in a region where societies in Latin America and the Caribbean still grapple with deep-seated structural challenges regarding racial and gender equality. This violence manifests itself in multiple spheres: in unequal access to education, health care, decent work, and political participation; in the physical and symbolic violence that affects their bodies—including domestic violence, femicide, sexual, obstetric, political, and police violence, as well as hate speech; in threats directed at their leaders when they decide to defend their territories, their communities, and their rights; and in the unpaid exploitation of care work.

These inequalities are the direct result of centuries of colonialism, racial exclusion, and a social pact that, in most countries in the region, never fully recognized women of African descent as rights-holders. To speak of July 25 is, therefore, also to speak of history: of the resistance that spanned the colonial period, enslavement, and the decades of exclusion following abolition; but it is also to speak of the present, recognizing that these inequalities continue to shape the living conditions of millions of women of African descent. Race, ethnicity, gender, sexuality, social class, and territory are factors that significantly intensify experiences of violence and the impact of the loss of rights and the defunding of public policies. In this regard, it is essential to recognize the specific forms of subordination and exploitation to which women of African descent have been and continue to be subjected in Latin America and the Caribbean, where colonial and imperialist power relations persist.

Agency and Resilience

However, and this is the central point this text seeks to affirm, women of African descent cannot be described solely as victims of these forms of violence. They are, above all, agents of change: human rights defenders, caregivers, community leaders, guardians of collective memory, and everyday builders of more just and democratic societies. It is this aspect that the Institute on Race, Equality, and Human Rights aims to place at the center of the conversation on July 25.

Care work is historically invisible and unpaid labor that forms the foundation upon which families, local economies, and entire cultures are sustained. In households, neighborhoods, and rural and urban communities, it is predominantly women of African descent who provide care for children and the elderly; who feed, heal, and teach.

This care must be understood as a political tool for cultivating and promoting collective life, a practice that ensures the continuity of communities of African descent in the face of adverse circumstances. In this sense, caring is an act of resistance, but also of building: it is the most daily and constant way of keeping families, traditions, and community bonds alive.

Furthermore, women of African descent drive grassroots economies, informal trade networks, agricultural production, and the solidarity economy that sustain entire communities. They also play leading roles in occupying positions of power, in the production of knowledge, and in decision-making. In many cases, they are heads of households and the primary breadwinners for their families, shouldering this responsibility while facing multiple shifts of precarious work and a wage gap that penalizes them doubly, for being women and for being of African descent.

Memory and Advocacy

This cultivation of life also takes place through culture. Women of African descent pass down ancestral knowledge and constantly recover, reinterpret, and update that knowledge in the face of present-day challenges. This intergenerational transmission of knowledge constitutes, in and of itself, a form of collective resistance: a heritage that resists oblivion and becomes a tool for protection and for building the future.

If cultivating life is a daily and often unseen task, protecting communities is an exercise in public leadership. Women of African descent lead community organizations, grassroots movements, human rights groups, and territorial resistance efforts throughout the region. It is they who, often on the front lines, denounce human rights violations, support victims, build protection networks, and bring their demands to national and international policy-making forums.

This leadership is not without reprisals from the cis-heteropatriarchal system. Women of African descent who decide to defend their territories, whether rural, quilombola, urban, or peripheral, face threats, stigmatization, and, in many countries in the region, a real risk to their own lives. Political and gender-based violence against women leaders of African descent remains one of the most serious manifestations of racial inequality in the Americas. Even so, these women remain standing, at the forefront, leading efforts to defend rights and protect their territories.

Protection also means preserving memory. Women of African descent are guardians of histories that structural racism has sought to erase: memories of resistance, ancestry, and collective struggle. In this sense, peacebuilding in territories of African descent necessarily rests in the hands of these women, who sustain community-based processes of coexistence, reparations, and collective care even in contexts of persistent violence.

This protection also has a collective and organizational dimension. It is women of African descent who often coordinate mutual support networks among organizations, create safe spaces for other women and girls, and build bridges between their communities and national and international human rights protection mechanisms. It is work that demands perseverance and strategy and that, in many cases, involves directly confronting power structures that seek to silence these voices.

Future

The leading role of women of African descent is also firmly projected toward the future. This projection is expressed, first and foremost, through education, especially through the access they seek and achieve by breaking down structural barriers of racial and gender exclusion. It is also evident in political participation: women of African descent are increasingly occupying positions of representation in parliaments, councils, international human rights bodies, and multilateral forums, bringing the specific demands of their communities to these arenas. Although their presence remains a minority due to the historical underrepresentation of women of African descent in positions of power, it represents a profound transformation, the result of centuries of resistance.

Finally, this leading role is reflected in the education of new generations, especially through the transmission of a vision for the future. By educating, organizing, and occupying decision-making spaces, women of African descent are actively building alternatives, new forms of community life, new leadership models, and new paths so that future generations may live with greater dignity, more rights, and less violence.

Commitment

It is precisely this leading role of women of African descent that forms the foundation of the work of Race and Equality, an organization that benefits from the contributions of numerous women of African descent who are part of our team and who drive concrete strategies to combat racism, sexism, and LGBTQIAPN+phobia. We work alongside activists and organizations of women of African descent throughout Latin America, supporting the documentation and recording of human rights violations and strengthening their capacity to advocate in national and international decision-making forums. We promote the effective participation of these women leaders before the Organization of American States (OAS), maintain an ongoing dialogue with the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR), and contribute reports and recommendations to the United Nations Permanent Forum on People of African Descent and the International Mechanism of Independent Experts to Promote Justice and Racial Equality in Law Enforcement.

This advocacy work has already resulted in reports analyzing the political participation of women of African descent in Brazil, Chile, Colombia, and Honduras, shedding light on both the political violence they face—which is even more acute in the case of trans women—and the strategies they themselves develop to occupy positions of power and decision-making. We also promote regional and international dialogues that connect the experiences of women of African descent in Latin America and the Caribbean with the struggles of the African diaspora in other contexts, strengthening networks of solidarity and mutual learning among women leaders from different countries. This is the commitment that Race & Equality reaffirms on July 25: to continue standing alongside organizations of women of African descent, strengthening their struggles to transform the reality of their communities and our societies.

Recognizing and celebrating the capacity for action of women of African descent in Latin America and the Caribbean is essential to making real progress toward racial and gender equality. Because women of African descent nurture life every day, caring for their families and communities; they protect their territories, their leadership, and their collective memory; they organize politically and occupy positions of power; and they build, with determination and courage, the paths toward a more just, democratic, and dignified future for themselves, for all of society, and for future generations.

Race and Equality: The announcement that there will be no more elections in Nicaragua condemns the country to more repression and lack of freedoms

Washington, D.C., July 21, 2026.– The Institute on Race, Equality and Human Rights (Race and Equality) expresses its strongest rejection of the statements made by Daniel Ortega on July 19, in which he stated that there will be no elections in Nicaragua again and announced the intention to promote legislative reforms to make that decision a permanent provision of the legal system.

Such statements are aggravated by the announcement of the National Assembly, on Tuesday, July 21, that it will hold special sessions with the Supreme Electoral Council to “ensure the constitutional, legal and formal steps” that support these reforms, evidencing the use of institutions controlled by the regime to legitimize the elimination of one of the fundamental pillars of any democracy.

Although the international community, human rights organizations and civil society have documented for years the progressive dismantling of democratic institutions in Nicaragua, these declarations represent a step forward in the project to install a dynasty in Nicaragua since it seeks to eliminate any possibility of political alternation, citizen participation and the exercise of popular sovereignty. It is an open confession of the dictatorial nature of the regime and its determination to perpetuate itself indefinitely in power.

The Inter-American Democratic Charter states that “the peoples of the Americas have the right to democracy, and their governments have the obligation to promote and defend it.” It also provides that “democracy is essential for the social, political, and economic development of the peoples of the Americas.”

The seriousness of these statements lies not only in the rejection of a fundamental principle of any democratic society, but also in what they reveal about the political project that is intended to continue to be imposed on the country despite the opposition of the popular will. While the regime continues to use the discourse of “peace” as a supposed justification for its actions, its words show a conception incompatible with human rights and democracy. Under this logic, peace does not mean plural coexistence, respect for freedoms and citizen participation, but the imposition of a single political vision, the elimination of critical voices, the absence of institutional controls and the absolute control of the entire society, subjecting it to the petty interests of a power that has not enjoyed the favor of the electorate for years, as demonstrated by the civic protests of 2018 when thousands of Nicaraguans took to the streets. streets to demand the restoration of democracy and respect for human rights.

Ortega’s statements confirm the consolidation of a system based on the absolute concentration of power, the non-existence of a true separation of powers, the persecution of opponents and human rights defenders, the closure of civic space, censorship and silencing of the independent press, as well as surveillance and harassment against any expression of dissent.

In addition, they constitute a gross violation of Nicaragua’s international obligations in the field of human rights and democratic principles. The right of every person to participate in the conduct of public affairs, to elect and be elected through genuine and periodic elections, and to freely express his opinions, cannot be suppressed by the will of the co-dictators Ortega and Murillo.

The attempt to definitively eliminate the elections and try to shield that decision through legal reforms implies subjecting current and future generations of Nicaraguans to a political model based on repression, exclusion and the denial of fundamental rights. Far from guaranteeing stability or peace, it deepens the human rights crisis that the country is going through, condemns the country to poverty and further closes the avenues for a democratic, peaceful solution that respects human dignity.

Race and Equality reiterates its solidarity with the Nicaraguan people and calls on the international community, regional and international human rights mechanisms, and States committed to democracy to maintain and strengthen efforts to demand respect for fundamental rights, the restoration of public freedoms, and the restoration of democracy in Nicaragua by guaranteeing free and fair elections and creating the right conditions for the development of the Nicaraguan community.  necessary to guarantee that the popular will is respected.

One Year After the Murder of Roberto Samcam: Moving Towards Justice Requires Clarifying the Entire Chain of Responsibilities and Strengthening the Protection of Nicaraguan Opponents in exile

Washington, D.C., June 19, 2026.– On the one-year anniversary of the murder of retired Nicaraguan Army major and Nicaraguan dissident Roberto Samcam, the Institute on Race, Equality and Human Rights (Race and Equality) honors his memory and reiterates our call for this crime to be fully clarified and punished.

The murder of Samcam, perpetrated on June 19, 2025, in San José, Costa Rica, cannot be understood as an isolated event. His death occurred in a context of systematic persecution against critical voices of the regime of Daniel Ortega and Rosario Murillo, inside and outside Nicaragua. The Group of Human Rights Experts on Nicaragua (GHREN) has documented that this repressive policy transcends national borders through transnational repression practices carried out against exiles and opponents.

In its investigations, the mechanism has identified the participation of state and parastatal structures, as well as operators who coordinate surveillance, intimidation, threats, and reprisals from Nicaragua. The murder of Roberto Samcam takes place in this worrying context, which continues to put at risk the life, integrity and security of Nicaraguans in opposition or considered as such by the Ortega-Murillo regime, who live in exile.

A year after the events, we recognize as a significant advance the decision of the Costa Rican Prosecutor’s Office to present a formal accusation against the people suspected of the murder and request the opening of a trial. This step demonstrates the importance of diligent investigations and the commitment of the authorities to combat impunity in cases involving human rights defenders, political opponents, and exiles. However, the search for justice does not end with the prosecution of the alleged perpetrators.

As Roberto Samcam’s own family has pointed out, truth and justice require the identification and punishment of all those responsible, including those who planned, ordered or facilitated the commission of the crime. The determination of the entire chain of responsibility is essential for Roberto Samcam’s family to receive the justice they deserve, to avoid the repetition of similar events and to guarantee effective protection to Nicaraguans in exile who continue to be persecuted for political reasons in the countries where they sought refuge.

For this reason, we reiterate our call on the Costa Rican authorities to continue advancing in the investigations until all lines of investigation are exhausted and the facts are fully clarified. We also urge States hosting Nicaraguan exiles to strengthen protection mechanisms against the risks associated with transnational persecution.

The international community also cannot ignore the accumulated evidence on the expansion of the repressive practices of the Ortega-Murillo regime outside Nicaragua’s borders. Threats from transnational repression continue to endanger the lives, security and exercise of fundamental rights of those who have sought refuge in other countries. Ensuring the safety of exiles is an urgent obligation and an indispensable component of any effort towards truth, justice and non-repetition.

Today we remember Roberto Samcam, his commitment to democracy and his firm denunciation of human rights violations in Nicaragua. Honoring his memory also implies redoubling efforts so that this crime does not go unpunished and so that no Nicaraguan person is ever persecuted, threatened or killed again for exercising their fundamental rights.

Race and Equality holds the Ortega-Murillo regime responsible for the death of Ta Upla Brooklyn Rivera after more than 970 days of enforced disappearance

Washington, D.C., May 31, 2026 – Race and Equality strongly condemns the death of indigenous leader Brooklyn Rivera, a defender of the rights of indigenous peoples and a Ta Upla of the Miskitu people, and holds the Ortega-Murillo regime directly responsible for the grave human rights violations committed against him, including his arbitrary detention, enforced disappearance, prolonged incommunicado detention, the progressive deterioration of his health and his death while in custody of the Nicaraguan State.

Rivera’s death cannot be understood as an isolated incident or as the inevitable outcome of a medical condition. It is the result of more than 970 days of arbitrary deprivation of liberty, enforced disappearance, and conditions of detention incompatible with human dignity, while he remained under the absolute control of the Nicaraguan authorities.

Arbitrarily detained in September 2023, Brooklyn Rivera remained missing for long periods of time, without his family, his lawyers, or Nicaraguan society being able to independently ensure his accurate situation. Throughout this time, human rights organizations, international mechanisms, indigenous leaders, and members of the international community demanded information on his whereabouts, guarantees for his physical and psychological well-being, access to adequate medical care, and his immediate release. The regime systematically ignored these calls.

On May 27, 2026, the authorities publicly displayed Brooklyn Rivera in critical health. The images released showed severe physical deterioration. The official report itself acknowledged that he was suffering from severe lung infections, bilateral pleural effusion, and multiple organ failure, and that he depended on mechanical ventilation and intravenous feeding to survive. Just three days later, news of his death broke.

The severity of his condition did not arise suddenly. It was the consequence of years of confinement in conditions contrary to human dignity and the State’s refusal to fully guarantee the rights of a person in its custody.

Brooklyn Rivera dedicated his life to defending the rights of indigenous and Afro-descendant peoples of Nicaragua’s Caribbean Coast. His imprisonment, enforced disappearance, and death also represent an attack on indigenous leadership and on those who continue to defend human rights, territorial autonomy, and fundamental freedoms in Nicaragua.

Race and Equality maintains that Brooklyn Rivera’s death must be incorporated into the efforts toward documentation, memory, truth, justice, and accountability led by victims, civil society, and international human rights mechanisms. Those responsible for the violations committed against him must be held accountable for their actions.

Likewise, we demand that the authorities immediately return his body to his family and fully respect their right to say goodbye to him and give him a dignified burial in accordance with his wishes, traditions, and beliefs, without surveillance, restrictions, intimidation, or harassment.

“Brooklyn Rivera’s death represents an irreparable loss for the Miskitu people and for the indigenous peoples of Nicaragua. For decades, he dedicated his life to defending collective rights, autonomy, and Indigenous territories. His death after more than 900 days of detention and enforced disappearance while in state custody is an extremely serious matter that cannot go unpunished,” stated Carlos Quesada, executive director of Race and Equality.

We at Race and Equality express our solidarity with his family, with the Miskitu people, and with all those who have demanded his freedom over the years.

May 17: LGBTIphobia also manifests itself in violence, censorship, and exclusion

Washington, D.C., May 18, 2026.—Every May 17, the International Day Against LGBTI-phobia serves as a reminder that millions of people around the world continue to face violence, discrimination, and exclusion because of their sexual orientation, gender identity, or gender expression.

In Latin America and the Caribbean, although some countries have made significant legal progress in recognizing rights, the reality remains marked by hate crimes, stigmatizing rhetoric, social exclusion, persecution of activists, and restrictions on fundamental freedoms.

On the occasion of the International Day Against LGBTIphobia, the Institute on Race, Equality, and Human Rights (Race and Equality) wishes to remind everyone that LGBTIphobia manifests itself not only through physical attacks but also through censorship, silencing, criminalization, lack of access to rights, and the inability to live freely and with dignity.

As we commemorate this day, we recognize that defending the rights of LGBTI+ people continues to be a defense of democracy, freedom, and human rights for all of society. Below, we share a brief overview of the human rights situation of this population in countries where Race and Equality advocates and works alongside partners.

Brazil: Legal Progress Amid High Levels of Violence

In Brazil, the situation of LGBTI+ people is marked by profound contradictions. Although the country has made significant progress—such as the recognition of same-sex marriage since 2013 and the right of transgender people to change their name and gender marker on identity documents without the need for surgery or court orders—thousands of people continue to face violence, discrimination, and exclusion.

Transgender people are the primary targets of these types of attacks, as evidenced by the fact that Brazil has recorded the highest number of murders of transgender people every year for the past 18 years, according to the Transgender Murder Monitor (TMM) of Transgender Europe and Central Asia (TGEU).

Added to this are the hate speech and political polarization of recent years, which have contributed to legitimizing attacks against LGBTI+ people and those who defend human rights.

Hate speech directed at women in political office in Brazil is rife with racist and transphobic remarks aimed at undermining their political participation, as in the case of Federal Deputy Erika Hilton, who was the target of transphobic remarks after being elected chair of the Committee on the Defense of Women’s Rights. Following her appointment, public statements were made questioning her gender identity and seeking to delegitimize her role in an institutional body dedicated to promoting women’s rights.

Recently, the actions of a representative came to light who, during a plenary session of the São Paulo State Legislative Assembly, performed a “blackface” act while delivering a speech opposing the rights of transgender women—an act that was widely criticized by human rights organizations and sectors of civil society.

Meanwhile, a study by the Marielle Franco Institute highlighted the severity of digital political violence directed specifically against Black women and LGBTQIA+ individuals; according to the study, 71% of the recorded threats involved references to death or rape, while 63% of the death threats made direct mention of Marielle Franco’s murder.

Cuba: Diversity Under Surveillance and Repression

In Cuba, the situation of LGBTI+ people cannot be analyzed without considering that seven years ago, on May 11, 2019, the historic 11M took place: an independent march against homophobia and transphobia that ended with arbitrary detentions, surveillance, and persecution of activists. That day marked a turning point for LGBTI+ activism on the island and highlighted the limits imposed by the state on free expression, peaceful protest, and independent organization.

Many of the people who participated in that demonstration have since faced harassment, criminalization, and even forced exile.

Although there have been some legal advances in recent years—such as the recognition of same-sex marriage and other family rights through the new Family Code—the reality for many LGBTI+ people continues to be marked by a lack of fundamental freedoms and guarantees.

The current economic, social, and political crisis on the island has deepened inequalities, precariousness, and vulnerability among broad sectors of the population, including activists, transgender people, and human rights defenders.

Against this backdrop, thousands of people have emigrated in search of decent living conditions, freedom, and security. LGBTI+ people are no strangers to this reality: many have been forced to leave the country after suffering persecution, censorship, or a lack of opportunities. Both from exile and from within Cuba, activists and organizations continue to denounce human rights violations and demand a society where diversity is not punished.

Colombia: Persistent Violence and Barriers to Living with Dignity

In Colombia, LGBTI+ people continue to face high levels of violence, discrimination, and exclusion, in a context marked by historical inequalities and the persistent impact of armed conflict and territorial violence.

Trans people, social leaders, and human rights defenders remain particularly vulnerable to threats, attacks, and hate crimes. The report “The Impacts of Violence on the Human Rights Situation in Colombia,” presented by the IACHR in December 2025, notes that between 2016 and September 2024, the Attorney General’s Office reported at least 33 murders of LGBTI+ individuals in social leadership roles, while in 2023 alone, civil society documented at least 13 cases.

On May 7 and 8, the organization Caribe Afirmativo reported the murders of two transgender women in Antioquia, bringing the total number of LGBTI+ murders recorded by its Human Rights Observatory to 29.

Amid this situation, civil society organizations are campaigning for the passage of the Comprehensive Trans Bill, also known as the “Sara Millerey Law,” in memory of the human rights defender and trans activist murdered in April 2025. This law seeks to establish a comprehensive legal framework that specifically regulates the rights of transgender people, from a perspective of intersectionality, a differential approach, and progressive rights.

In addition to physical violence, LGBTI+ people face stigmatizing rhetoric and disinformation campaigns that seek to discredit their rights and undermine the progress achieved through years of struggle and social mobilization.

Nicaragua: Fear, Exile, and the Shrinking of Civic Space

In Nicaragua, the situation facing LGBTI+ people cannot be separated from the broader context of repression, the shrinking of civic space, and the persecution of critical voices and civil society organizations.

In recent years, the criminalization of activists, forced exile, the dissolution of organizations, and restrictions on fundamental freedoms have profoundly impacted those who defend human rights and support LGBTI+ people.

Although discrimination and violence against LGBTI+ people have historically been overlooked, the current repressive climate has heightened fear, censorship, and the lack of safe spaces to report abuses, organize collectively, or raise awareness of issues related to equality and diversity.

Many LGBTI+ people, activists, and human rights defenders have been forced to leave the country due to the risk of persecution, surveillance, or reprisals. From exile and through resistance within Nicaragua, they continue to denounce human rights violations and defend the right to live free from discrimination and violence.

Defending Rights Also Means Resisting

On the International Day Against LGBTIphobia, acknowledging the situation of LGBTI+ people in Latin America and the Caribbean also means recognizing that discrimination does not occur in isolation. Violence, censorship, persecution, and exclusion tend to intensify in contexts where democracy, freedom of expression, and civic space are also weakened.

Although there are legal frameworks and court rulings that recognize the fundamental rights of LGBTI+ people, everyday reality shows that effective access to equality and a life free from violence remains an unfulfilled promise.

Many people continue to live under threat, especially in outlying areas and historically marginalized communities.

At Race and Equality, we recognize the work of activists, organizations, and communities that, despite such adverse conditions, continue to resist, denounce human rights violations, and create spaces for support, remembrance, and dignity.

Eight years after the beginning of the crisis in Nicaragua: a reality that persists and demands sustained action

Washington, D.C., April 17, 2026.– Eight years after the beginning of the human rights crisis in Nicaragua, from the International Institute on Race, Equality and Human Rights (Race and Equality) we reiterate that this is not a memory that can erase time: it is a reality that has been transformed, deepened and that continues to affect the lives of thousands of people inside and outside the country.

Since April 2018, the country has gone through a sustained process of repression that has evolved over time. What began as a violent response to social protests has been consolidated into a system of control that restricts fundamental freedoms, punishes dissent and has completely closed civic space.

At Race and Equality we have been following this crisis since its inception, carrying out documentation actions aimed at strategic litigation before the Inter-American and Universal Human Rights Systems, as well as advocacy before diplomatic delegations and international human rights mechanisms. And today, we ask ourselves: What do these eight years mean?

They mean eight years of political persecution and continuous repression, in which visible violence has been replaced by more sophisticated mechanisms of surveillance and control. Eight years of imposed silence, where exercising freedom of expression implies real risks of criminalization and imprisonment. Eight years of exile and forced exile, which have fractured entire families and communities. Eight years of impunity, in which the victims of serious human rights violations continue to wait for truth, reparation and guarantees of non-repetition.

In this period, the political persecution of the dictatorship has expanded beyond Nicaragua’s borders, affecting human rights defenders, journalists, and activists in exile through acts of transnational repression. Added to this are the continuous attacks against Indigenous Peoples and Afro-descendants, restrictions on religious freedom and the systematic closure of civil society organizations and restrictions incompatible with freedom of association.

The situation in Nicaragua continues to be addressed in different international forums; however, the challenge remains to sustain attention and response commensurate with the severity and prolongation of the crisis. The risk, in this context, is that its continuity will contribute to a dangerous normalization if efforts to ensure accountability to a regime that has committed – and continues to commit – crimes against humanity against its own people are not consolidated.

We believe that despite these challenges, the persistence of Nicaraguan civil society, inside and outside the country, as well as the sustained work of international human rights mechanisms, demonstrate that this crisis continues to be documented, denounced and accompanied. These efforts are critical and must continue.

In this context, Race and Equality makes an urgent call to the member states of the Organization of American States (OAS) and the United Nations, as well as other actors in the international community, to maintain and strengthen attention on Nicaragua and to adopt concrete and sustained actions that contribute to accountability.  in application of the collective guarantee of human rights, ordered by the Inter-American Court of Human Rights.

In particular, we urge:

  • Promote firm resolutions within the framework of the OAS that recognize the persistence of serious human rights violations and demand concrete actions from the Nicaraguan State.
  • Strengthen and support international monitoring and investigation mechanisms, including the work of the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) and other independent mechanisms, guaranteeing the necessary resources for their continuity.
  • Adopt measures of diplomatic pressure and targeted individual sanctions, targeting those responsible for serious human rights violations, in accordance with international law.
  • Strengthen the protection of Nicaraguans in exile, including guarantees of non-refoulement, access to specific international protection mechanisms, and recognition of their status at risk.
  • Advance actions of international accountability, including the referral of Nicaragua to the International Court of Justice for violations of the Convention on the Reduction of Statelessness and the Convention against Torture.
  • Maintain Nicaragua as a priority on the international agenda, avoiding its displacement by other global crises that also require attention.
  • Recognize, investigate, prosecute, and punish acts of transnational repression committed against Nicaraguans in exile, guaranteeing their protection and effective access to justice.

We also urge international human rights protection mechanisms to maintain and strengthen active monitoring of the situation, as well as to continue creating spaces that make the voices of victims and Nicaraguan civil society visible.

Eight years after the beginning of the crisis, Nicaragua cannot be treated as just another case. The persistence of grave and systematic violations requires proportionate, coordinated and effective responses on the part of the international community.

On this anniversary we remember all the victims of repression, we denounce that the crisis continues and we express our firm conviction that sustained actions can make a difference.

Eight years later, silence is not an option. Because the prolonged crisis that Nicaragua is experiencing and a sector of the population persecuted locally and even beyond its borders continues to claim victims, and therefore, it must be confronted with decisive and sustained actions that lead Nicaragua to regain its freedom.

The Struggle for Racial Equality in Light of International Mechanisms: Race and Equality and Its Commitment to People of African Descent, Indigenous Peoples, and the Roma

Washington, D.C., March 20, 2026.—On the occasion of the International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination, the Institute on Race, Equality, and Human Rights (Race and Equality) reaffirms its commitment to combating structural racism and building more just, inclusive, and equitable societies in the Americas.

At Race and Equality, we work in close collaboration with individuals, communities, and peoples of African descent, Indigenous peoples, and the Roma, who continue to face historical and contemporary forms of discrimination that not only limit their ability to exercise their rights but also directly impact their living conditions, their access to opportunities, and their participation in society.

Far from being mere declarations, international human rights instruments establish specific obligations for states: to ensure substantive equality, eliminate discriminatory practices, recognize identities and cultures, and adopt specific measures to close historical gaps. In practice, however, these guarantees have not yet fully translated into structural changes.

At the international level, progress in recognizing the rights of Indigenous peoples and people of African descent has been essential to bringing these inequalities to light. Instruments such as the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples not only recognize collective rights but also require states to respect self-determination, protect territories, and ensure effective participation in decisions that affect their lives.

Similarly, the process leading to a future United Nations Declaration on the rights of individuals, communities, and peoples of African descent represents a historic opportunity to establish standards that compel States to address the structural racism inherited from colonialism and slavery. This entails, for example, adopting public policies that guarantee equitable access to education, health care, employment, and justice, as well as recognizing and redressing the historical impacts of racial discrimination.

Nevertheless, Roma communities continue to face significant gaps in recognition within the international system, which results in their persistent invisibility in the Americas. This lack of recognition limits the adoption of specific public policies and perpetuates barriers to accessing basic rights.

Within the inter-American system, instruments such as the Inter-American Convention against Racism, Racial Discrimination, and Related Forms of Intolerance (CIRDI) reinforce these obligations by establishing that States must not only prohibit discrimination but also prevent, punish, and eradicate it through concrete actions. This includes collecting disaggregated data, recognizing affected communities, and designing public policies with their participation.

A recent example of these structural injustices was evident at the historic first hearing on the Roma people before the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights, held on March 9, 2026, and supported by Race and Equality. In this forum, Roma activists denounced how invisibility, structural racism, and the lack of state recognition continue to result in exclusion from the education system, barriers to accessing health services, and obstacles to accessing justice.

Such forums not only bring these issues to light but also reaffirm that states must move from formal recognition to effective action.

In the face of these challenges, at Race and Equality we reaffirm our commitment to:

  • Strengthening the effective participation of individuals, communities, and peoples of African descent, Indigenous peoples, and Roma in decision-making, both at the national level and in international forums.
  • Promote processes of memory, truth, justice, and reparations in the face of the legacies of colonialism, slavery, and structural racism.
  • Highlight and document persistent inequalities, supporting organizations and activists in the defense of their rights.
  • Incorporate an intersectional approach into all our actions, recognizing the multiple forms of discrimination faced by these populations.
  • Promote the ratification of the Inter-American Convention against Racism, Racial Discrimination, and Related Forms of Intolerance (CIRDI), recognizing that this instrument provides concrete tools for States to adopt regulatory frameworks in this regard.

On this March 21, we call on governments, international organizations, and civil society to redouble their efforts to eradicate racism in all its forms. Equality cannot remain a mere promise: it must be translated into policies, resources, and concrete actions that guarantee dignity and justice for all people.

Cuba’s independent civil society, ready for a democratic transition

For more than a decade, we have been fortunate to work with Cuba’s independent civil society. We have seen their commitment to human rights, their dedication to documenting the violations that happen in the country, and their courage in exposing them. We have witnessed—through urgent messages and calls that lead to reactions by our legal team—arbitrary detentions, summary trials, surveillance, harassment, raids, forced exile, and, more recently, blackouts and food and medicine shortages. We have also faced our own negative impacts from this work – personal and institutional attacks, as well as skepticism on the part of former allies who have questioned our human rights work in general because of our work exposing the Cuban reality.

As a capacity building organization, we have trained independent activists on and off the Island on civil society engagement with human rights protection mechanisms. Through systematic documentation of human rights violations – analyzed according to the international legal standards to which the Cuban State has adhered – we have supported them to denounce cases of torture, enforced disappearance, censorship, and discrimination before the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights and United Nations Treaty Bodies and Special Procedures. By advocating for Cuba’s compliance with its international human rights obligations, our partners have been laying the groundwork for democratic transition for years. Their work is not merely opposition; it is preparatory governance.

While Washington and Havana negotiate the future of the island nation, the work, dedication, and perseverance of independent activists, journalists, and artists on the Island and in exile to fight for human rights and promote democratic ideals should not go unrecognized. They are the ones who have been collecting and sharing the evidence of the Cuban regime’s atrocities and this documentation should serve as a key element of any future government transition. While the Cuban government has maintained a monolithic façade, a diverse and resilient independent civil society has been quietly building the architecture of a free society from the ground up. The future of Cuba cannot happen without them.

The international community has recognized that in any transitional justice process, five elements must be considered: truth, justice, memory, reparation, and guarantees of non-repetition. It is not possible to achieve any of these without records of what has occurred during the undemocratic era and Cuban human rights defenders have been preparing already, as independent journalists break the state monopoly on information (truth); independent lawyers file habeas petitions before Cuban courts and cases before the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (justice); activists document patterns of abuses committed by State actors (memory); community groups provide aid where the State fails (reparation); and organizations like ours provide the tools to foster civic dialogue and democratic norms (non-repetition).

The most profound preparation lies in the commitment to the historical record. By creating databases of human rights violations and preserving the testimony of victims, independent groups are preventing the “erasure” that often follows authoritarian regimes. They understand that you cannot have justice without a record of the crime, and you cannot guarantee non-repetition if the history of the past is allowed to vanish into state archives. This is not just protest; it is the fundamental administrative labor required to restore the rule of law.

The international community must stop viewing Cuba as a passive recipient of history. The groundwork for a democratic transition—the human capital, the legal theories, and the civic courage—is already in place. The transition will not be a gift from the top down; it will be the formal recognition of a reality that independent civil society has been living for decades. Cubans are not waiting for democracy to be handed to them; they have been building it, brick by brick, in the face of immense adversity. It is time the world starts paying attention to the foundation they have laid.

Statement written by:

Carlos Quesada, Executive Director

Christina M. Fetterhoff, Director of Programs

  • Learn more about our work in Cuba over more than a decade here.



Three years since the release and exile of 222 Nicaraguans: memory, dignity, and justice pending

Washington, D.C February 9, 2026.– This February 9 marks three years since the release of 222 Nicaraguans who were arbitrarily deprived of their liberty for political reasons and who, after their release from prison, were forced into exile by the Ortega-Murillo regime. Their arrival in Washington, D.C., was made possible thanks to diplomatic and humanitarian efforts by the United States government, which facilitated their reception under conditions of protection.

Race and Equality was invited by the US State Department to provide technical support for this process, alongside civil society organizations and government institutions, offering immediate assistance to ensure dignified reception conditions, including accommodation, clothing, telephones, psychosocial support, and basic resources for their first days in the country.

Our team was able to witness first hand the serious physical, psychological and social impacts of political imprisonment, resulting from conditions of detention that included prolonged solitary confinement, cruel treatment, torture, and deprivation incompatible with human dignity. The documentation of these events helped to highlight patterns of repression that were later included in the Race and Equality report Patterns of Repression and Political Persecution in Nicaragua: From Prison to Freedom after Operation Guardabarranco.

Their release from prison did not mean justice. The regime not only expelled these 222 people from their country, but also arbitrarily stripped them of their nationality and legal existence in Nicaragua, constituting elements of crimes against humanity, as pointed out by the Group of Experts on Human Rights in Nicaragua. In their host countries, many of these people continue to face challenges related to their immigration status, access to employment, health care, family reunification, and integration, compounded by the risk of transnational repression.

Three years later, impunity persists. The serious human rights violations committed against these 222 people remain uninvestigated and unpunished, even though many of them have been granted provisional measures by the Inter-American Court of Human Rights, which the State of Nicaragua has failed to comply with.

At the same time, the human rights crisis in Nicaragua continues to deepen. Almost eight years after the repression of April 2018, persecution, surveillance, and arbitrary detentions persist. The regime has attempted to cover up this pattern through releases from prison under restrictive conditions, threats, and controls that do not amount to freedom, but rather reproduce mechanisms of intimidation and punishment.

Remembering this anniversary also means recognizing that the release of these 222 people was not a gesture, but the result of international pressure and coordination. Solidarity and coordinated action can save lives, but the repression is not over.

In this context, Race and Equality calls on host countries to continue facilitating the full reintegration and protection of victims of arbitrary imprisonment for political reasons in Nicaragua, as well as to maintain international vigilance in the face of ongoing crimes.

We reiterate our commitment to the victims of arbitrary imprisonment, denationalization, and all forms of repression in Nicaragua. We will continue to document, litigate, and advocate so that those responsible are held accountable and victims have access to truth, justice, and reparation.

We will continue working so that one day, not too far in the future, the political imprisonment and denationalization implemented by the Ortega-Murillo regime and its accomplices will be a bad memory of a dictatorship that, like all dictatorships, will come to an end due to the Nicaraguan people’s desire for freedom.

The release of 222 people was one step. Justice for all victims remains a pending debt.

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