International Day of Trans Visibility: Honoring the struggle to protect and promote trans rights in the Americas

International Day of Trans Visibility: Honoring the struggle to protect and promote trans rights in the Americas

Washington, D.C.; March 29, 2021 – On the eve of International Day of Trans Visibility (March 31), the International Institute on Race, Equality and Human Rights (Race and Equality) honors the activists who work tirelessly to protect and promote the human rights of trans people in Latin America and the Caribbean. We also call upon all States to put in place laws and policies that ensure respect, recognition, and full enjoyment of rights for the region’s trans population.

Sadly, for yet another year, the Day of Trans Visibility will be marked by a lack of recognition and protection for trans people in the Americas, resulting in threats, physical and verbal attacks, persecution, exclusion, and the deaths of people with diverse gender expressions and/or identities. According to the international organization Trans Respect vs. Transphobia, of the 350 killings of trans people that were reported worldwide between October 1, 2019 and September 30, 2020, 82% took place in Latin America.

The COVID-19 pandemic worsened the already-vulnerable situation of trans people throughout 2020. Some governments failed to consider trans people’s needs when designing gender-based pandemic response measures, exposing trans citizens to sanctions for supposedly violating these measures. Meanwhile, both police violence and violent criminal attacks against trans people increased during the year, especially violence against trans women sex workers.

Despite this adverse context, however, activists and civil society organizations remain firm in their commitment to fight for trans people’s fundamental rights. Race and Equality applauds the trans community’s efforts throughout the region and is committed to providing support and technical assistance as civil society advocates before regional and international human rights bodies.

To commemorate International Day of Trans Visibility, Race and Equality spoke with activists from around the region about their work and about their visions for a just society. These activists spoke of great challenges, but also of the victories they have won and their dreams for the future.

Recognition and respect

The Brazilian journalist Caê Vasconcelos told us that society needs to learn to see trans men in their full and complex totality. Caê, himself a trans man, said, “we should be able to bring our whole life stories, experiences of life, struggle, love, care, and all the power that our trans bodies have.” He emphasized that a lack of knowledge of trans people’s experiences renders them invisible in Brazilian society. This invisibility manifests, for example, in a total lack of gynecological or pregnancy care for trans men. Making trans people’s needs visible is a vital step to honoring their existence and ensuring their rights as full citizens.

This invisibility also results in transphobia and violence against trans people as Brazil’s cis-heteronormative structures lash out against those who are different. As the National Association of Travestis[1] and Transsexual People (ANTRA) reported in their Dossier on Homicides and Violence against  Travestis and Transsexual People in Brazil (2020), some conservative ideologies and political sectors encourage this hatred, leading to Brazil’s status as the country with the most murders of trans people.

In Nicaragua, the human rights activist and former political prisoner Victoria Obando sums up the trans movement’s demands as, “Stop killing us.” Recently, Nicaragua’s LGBT community was horrified by the brutal murder of Anahís “Lala” Contreras, a 22-year-old trans women who was beaten by two men and dragged behind a horse. For Victoria, such a grotesque act reveals the levels of violence and exclusion facing trans people in Nicaragua.

The case of Celia Cruz is indicative of the arbitrary persecution and criminalization that trans Nicaraguans have suffered at the hands of their government throughout the socio-political crisis that began in April 2018. Celia, a trans woman, has been held in a men’s prison since April 21, 2020, where she is serving a 10-year sentence after being convicted of obstruction of justice and kidnapping for ransom.

Tomás Anzola, coordinator of the Trans Support and Action Group (GAAT) in Colombia, told Race and Equality that he wishes “for trans people to be able to construct our own identities and bodily experiences in loving and safe environments, in the company of our support networks.” In Colombia, the COVID-19 pandemic has resulted in increased violence against trans people, with 28 trans people (27 women and 1 man) killed in 2020 and 6 already killed in 2021.

As Colombian society debates the decriminalization of abortion, several trans organizations have spoken out about the need to ensure that reproductive rights extend to trans Colombians, emphasizing that denying such rights to trans people denies their very identities. These organizations are also demanding reforms to the National Police after an attack against a trans woman in Soacha (Cundinamarca department) in which police officers insulted, attacked, and sexually abused her.

Colombia’s trans activists and organizations make clear that Colombia has not yet implemented effective public policies guaranteeing full recognition and enjoyment of trans people’s rights. This failure, they emphasize, leaves trans people highly vulnerable to prejudice and violence.

Living without fear

Isabella Fernández, an activist with the Peruvian organization Féminas, told Race and Equality that above all, she wishes for trans people to be able to grow up in homes free of violence and discrimination. Worldwide, trans people and others with diverse gender expressions and/or identities frequently leave home after being rejected by their families, putting them at risk of violence and other harm.

In Peru, organizations fighting for LGBT rights are working towards a national law on gender identity, seeking to ensure that trans people can have their genders recognized by public and private institutions. Currently, those whose genders do not correspond with their civil registrations or identity documents struggle to access health services, education, jobs, and housing.

The Dominican activist Geisha Collins, part of the organization Trans Siempre Amigas (Trans Always Friends, or TRANSSA) shared with us that trans women must have access to identity documents that reflect their genders, which is why TRANSSA is fighting for a gender identity law in the Dominican Republic. Geisha also works to fulfill trans Dominicans’ right to health services that reflect their needs and for access to education, work, and the justice system without discrimination.

TRANSSA is also leading a national campaign for the General Law on Equality and Non-discrimination, which will put into practice the guarantees of Article 39 of the Dominican Constitution. The draft law includes sexual orientation and gender identity as protected categories, outlawing “the denial of the right to enjoy a gender identity of one’s choosing,” which in turn “implies the right to reassign one’s gender or image on public documents.”

Race and Equality laments the lack of recognition for trans people on the part of States and societies in Latin America and the Caribbean, which in turn leads to violence and human rights violations. We support the demands of trans activists and organizations across the region and call on States to respect and protect all people’s human rights, without regard for their sexual orientation or gender identity and/or expression. We recommend the following steps to governments across the region:

  • Approve gender identity laws that allow trans people to exercise their citizenship under the correct gender without obstacles or delay, as called for in Consultative Opinion 24-17 of the Inter-American Court of Human Rights.
  • Strengthen programs to train public servants, including the police and judiciary, on gender identity and trans issues.
  • Investigate and sanction all acts of violence against trans people, guaranteeing protection and respect to trans people throughout the process.
  • Implement public education and awareness-raising campaigns to promote respect for LGBTI people and their rights.
  • Create specific public health protocols for attending to trans people and people with diverse gender identities and/or expressions.
  • Collect and publish disaggregated data on violence against LGBTI people, using an intersectional approach.
  • Sign and ratify the Inter-American Convention against All Forms of Discrimination.

[1] Travesti is a Portuguese term for a person who was assigned male at birth, but who identifies and self-expresses as female, with or without any related medical interventions.

Cuba: IACHR grants precautionary measures to Maria Matienzo Puerto, an independent journalist, and Kirenia Núñez Perez, a human rights defender

Washington, D.C. March 23, 2021.- The Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) has granted precautionary measures in favor of Cuban independent journalist/writer Maria Matienzo Puerto and human rights activist Kirenia Núñez Perez, after considering them to be in a serious and urgent situation, given that their right to life and personal integrity are at risk of irreparable harm.

According to Resolution 21/2021, the IACHR determined that the couple has been at risk due to threats, harassment, intimidation and aggression, along with defamatory messages over the course of approximately seven years. The Commission also noted that it requested information from the State on June 18, 2020 and, to date, it has not received any response.

In analyzing the risk, urgency and irreparability of the situation, the IACHR noted with concern one such defamatory message aimed at Ms. Núñez Perez to “control” her partner, Ms. Matienzo Puerto. According to the Commission, this message exemplifies the existence of a gender prejudice towards the work that women human rights defenders carry out, and it generates a situation of “elevated” risk towards prejudices associated with “the role that they (women) must play in society.”

In analyzing the facts, the IACHR requested that the Cuban state: a) adopt the necessary measures to protect the rights to life and personal integrity of both Matienzo Puerto and Nuñez Perez; b) adopt the necessary measures so that the beneficiaries can carry out their activities as independent journalist and human rights defender, respectively, without being subjected to acts of violence, threats, intimidation and harassment when carrying out their work; c) agree on the measures to be adopted with the beneficiaries and their representatives; and d) report on the measures taken to investigate the alleged actions that led to the adoption of these precautionary measures, and thus avoiding their repetition.

Intimidation and persecution

Ms. Matienzo Puerto and Ms. Nuñez Perez – who as a couple share the same residence – are victims of continuous intimidation and persecution at the hands of State agents, as well as civilians who identify as siding with the government. This situation also translates into online abuse on social media.

The most recent repressive act against Ms. Matienzo Puerto (not included in the IACHR resolution) took place on March 12, when officials without identification intercepted her as she was leaving her home. She was forced to get into a vehicle and was kept in custody at a police station for several hours, without anyone knowing her whereabouts. At the police station, officials interrogated and threatened her for her work as an independent journalist, and for having contact or being friends with other independent activists.

Race and Equality calls on the Cuban State to adopt the necessary measures to safeguard the life and integrity of Maria Matienzo Puerto and Kirenia Núñez Perez, in accordance with its human rights obligations and as a member of the Inter-American Human Rights System. We also call on the authorities to guarantee and respect the work of independent journalists and human rights defenders on the Island.

International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination: Afro-descendants call on States to address COVID-19 through inclusive and effective public policies

Washington, D.C., March 19, 2021.– One year after the arrival of COVID-19 to the Americas, the pandemic continues to impact the region’s Afro-descendant population in distinct and disproportionate ways. As we approach International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination (March 21), the International Institute on Race, Equality and Human Rights (Race and Equality) calls on States across the region to tackle the pandemic with public policies that account for this differential impact and guarantee economic recovery for all.

In our work defending and promoting human rights across Latin America and the Caribbean alongside historically marginalized groups such as Afro-descendants, we have tracked the pandemic’s impact on vulnerable populations and studied government responses across the region. According to the UN Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean, the region’s 130 million Afro-descendants make up 21% of the total population.

Different conditions, different impacts

COVID-19’s distinct and disproportionate impact on Afro-descendants is rooted in the structural racism, structural discrimination, and exclusion from which Afro-descendants were suffering before the pandemic due to both actions and omissions by regional governments. From the very beginning of the pandemic, this marginalization manifested as a lack of information in Afro-descendant communities about how to prevent infection and serious difficulties in accessing national health systems for those infected. Over the course of the pandemic, a surge of violence in countries such as Brazil and Colombia, perpetrated by both the police and criminal groups, has further threatened Afro-descendants’ rights.

Other than Brazil, no country has issued official statistics on how many Afro-descendants have contracted or died from COVID-19. Civil society organizations, however, have continued to document the inequalities facing Afro-descendants throughout the pandemic. In August 2020, Race and Equality published a report addressing the situation of Afro-descendants during the pandemic. Paola Yáñez, regional coordinators of the Network of Afro-Latina, Afro-Caribbean, and Disapora Women, is quoted in the report as saying, “COVID-19 doesn’t discriminate, but we feel its effects in distinct ways because we don’t live in the same conditions.”

A regional view

Race and Equality’s partner organizations in the region emphasize that Afro-descendants began the pandemic in a situation of particular risk due to the discrimination and exclusion shaping their lives. When the pandemic took hold, government responses were generally inadequate and failed to account for the particular situations of Afro-descendant communities.

In Brazil, where President Jair Bolsonaro continues to deny the severity of the pandemic, Afro-descendants represent 67% of those who rely on the public health system. The majority of Brazilians who suffer from diabetes, tuberculosis, hypertension, and chronic kidney issues, all of which are aggravating factors for COVID-19, are also of African descent. According to the Brazilian Institute on Geography and Population, the COVID mortality rate for Afro-Brazilians has been 92 deaths per 100,000 people, while for the white population it has been 88 per 100,000.

In Colombia, Afro-descendant organizations have raised the alarm regarding their communities’ vulnerability to the pandemic, stemming from poor coverage by the public health and social security systems in majority-Afro-descendant areas. In cities such as Buenaventura (Valle de Cauca department) and Quidbó (Chocó department), the local hospital attends to 400,000 to 500,000 people without sufficient personnel or resources.

The Cuban government has used policies to prevent the spread of COVID-19 as a cover for police actions that prevent human rights defenders from carrying out their work. Members of the Citizens’ Committee for Racial Integration (CIR), for example, have suffered arbitrary detentions, police raids, and attacks throughout their campaign demanding that the government implement its touted National Program Against Racism and Racial Discrimination.

In Nicaragua, the impact of the pandemic is largely unknown due to the government’s refusal to publish thorough and timely statistical reports. Afro-descendant and indigenous populations on the Caribbean coast, however, entered the pandemic in a situation of extreme precarity due to violent land invasions and a lack of health and education services. Their vulnerability to the pandemic has only worsened due to the impact of hurricanes Eta and Iota in November 2020.

In Mexico and Peru, both of which are among the hardest-hit countries in the region and the world, Afro-descendant communities have faced particular challenges. In Mexico, the 2020 census-which, thanks to the efforts of Afro-Mexican activists, was the first to include self-identification of Afro-Mexicans-coincided with the pandemic and was severely limited. In Peru, the official response to the pandemic was hampered by a political crisis stemming from the removal of President Martín Vizcarra.

The Convention against Racism is more important than ever

As we approach International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination, and in the context of the International Decade for People of African Descent, Race and Equality calls on all States to adopt the necessary measures to fight racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia, and the intersecting forms of intolerance that afflict people of African descent. These measures include legal reforms, the adoption of international instruments, and the implementation of effective policies.

Race and Equality continues to call upon States to ratify the Inter-American Convention against Racism, Racial Discrimination, and Related Forms of Intolerance. The Convention represents an effective and comprehensive framework for guaranteeing the enjoyment of economic, social, cultural, civil, and political rights of Afro-descendant people. To date, only Antigua and Barbuda, Costa Rica, Ecuador, Mexico, Uruguay, and Brazil (as of February of this year) have ratified the Convention. Brazilian civil society organizations continue to work to ensure that the Convention is implemented.

Race and Equality calls upon States to:

  • Undertake public policies that combat structural racism and racial discrimination against Afro-descendant people.
  • Improve national health, employment, and educations systems, including by eliminating the gulf between urban and rural areas.
  • Prioritize Afro-descendant and indigenous communities in post-pandemic economic recovery plans.
  • Incorporate particular efforts to address Afro-descendants into emergency response plans. These efforts should respect Afro-descendants’ right to free, prior, and informed consent; account for intersectional human rights issues; and address the needs of vulnerable populations such as children, women, displaced people, migrants, and LGBTI people.
  • Create permanent programs to collect accurate, detailed, and disaggregated data on health, education, employment, and access to justice.

Race and Equality joins UN Special Rapporteur in calling on Cuba to end the intimidation and detention of Citizens’ Committee for Racial Integration (CIR) members

Washington, D.C.; March 11, 2021.- The International Institute on Race, Equality and Human Rights (Race and Equality) welcomes the comments of Mary Lawlor, UN Special Rapporteur on the Situation of Human Rights Defenders, calling on the Cuban government to end its program of intimidation and detentions against members of the Citizens’ Committee for Racial Integration (CIR).

“The recurrent arrests of human rights defenders on the island, the lack of access to legal representation while they are detained and the surveillance exercised by agents of the Department of State Security is contrary to international law and must cease,” said Lawlor, pointing out that CIR has suffered such abuses since 2017. She also noted that the Cuban government has prevented CIR’s members from traveling to international human rights-related events without explanation or justification.

Lawlor reported that Cuban human rights defenders are the victims of attacks and “suffer limitations to their freedom of movement due to what appears to be an intelligence network that begins with the misuse of criminal law and ends with harassment by the authorities.” She added that human rights defenders “must not be subjected to reprisals because of their legitimate work to help create a civil and just society.”

The Special Rapporteur’s comments were endorsed by five members of the UN Expert Working Group on Persons of African Descent, including Working Group president Dominique Day, and by the Special Rapporteur on the Right to Freedom of Peaceful Assembly and Association, Clément Nyaletsossi Voule.

Afro-Cuban activists under attack

Race and Equality welcomes the Special Rapporteur’s comments, which come at a time when the Cuban government is intensifying its persecution and criminalization of independent civil society figures, including members of CIR. In retaliation for their work on racial justice, CIR’s members have suffered repression at the hands of Cuban authorities and defamation by government-linked figures.

In a recent interview on the television program Cubavision International, the vice president of the Cuban Union of Writers and Artists (UNEAC) and president of the Aponte Commission (UNEAC’s commission on issues of race and racism) Pedro de la Hoz attacked CIR and the independent organization Cofradía de la Negritud (Black Brotherhood/Sisterhood), calling them “disgusting” and “mercenaries” for their efforts to use UN and Inter-American mechanisms to denounce human rights violations and racial discrimination in Cuba.

Race and Equality notes that Juan Antonio Madrazo Luna, CIR’s national coordinator, was detained arbitrarily on November 12, 2020 after Department of State Security agents raided his house in Havana and confiscated belongings from him and his sister. Marthadela Tamayo González and Osvaldo Navarro Veloz, both CIR members, were detained on November 22, 2020 during a protest in Havana’s Central Park.

Race and Equality rejects any discourse that stigmatizes the work of human rights defenders and exposes them to retaliation at the hands of authorities or pro-government actors. We demand that the Cuban State respect independent civil society’s rights to freedom of expression and association, reminding the State that Juan Antonio Madrazo Luna, Marthadela Tamayo González, and Osvaldo Navarro Veloz are all beneficiaries of precautionary measures granted by the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR).

As International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination (March 21st) approaches, we call on the Cuban authorities to guarantee full protection for the rights of Afro-Cubans, in line with Cuba’s international human rights commitments.

Photo: CIR members Marthadela Tamayo and Juan Antonio Madrazo (center) participate in a hearing at the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights in March 2017 (IACHR/Flickr)

On International Women’s Day, Race and Equality pays tribute to all the women fighting for equality and a better world amid the COVID-19 pandemic

Washington, D.C., March 8, 2021.- On this year’s International Women’s Day, the International Institute on Race, Equality and Human Rights (Race and Equality) makes a special recognition to all the women who were firm in their commitment for equality over the past year, particularly in light of the increase in violation of their rights during the COVID-19 pandemic. As such, we align with the United Nations’ theme for commemorating March 8: “Women in Leadership: Achieving an Equal Future in a COVID-19 World.”

Race and Equality held talks with seven women from different parts of Latin America and the Caribbean who participated in advocacy spaces to promote the defense of their rights. We asked them to share their message to the nation’s leaders as well as a message of hope and resistance to all the women in the region.

United and Secure

From Colombia, Alicia Quiñonez of the National Conference of Afro-Colombian Organizations (CNOA, in Spanish) asks the Colombian authorities to place their focus on the ethnic Afro-Colombian, Raizal and Palenquero territories; to protect life and to guarantee women the right to a decent life, free to pursue social, political and entrepreneurial work within their territories.

In her message to women, Alicia states: “I invite you all to imagine and to work towards more social, political and economic spaces that will allow us to remain united, lifting our voices each day for organizational processes that allow ethnic territories to demand their rights and to live in peace – because together, we can achieve much more.”

Rights’ Guarantee

Jessenia Casani, director of DEMUS of Peru, stated that authorities must focus their efforts on promoting and achieving gender equality. “We must confront the pandemic with a gender approach in mind. For example, we need to implement preventative strategies to counter sexist violence and, in this context, be able to guarantee sexual and reproductive rights by providing comprehensive sexual education, including access to emergency contraceptives, access to legal and safe abortion services, maternal health, and other services without discrimination and violence.”

Political Participation

Rosa Castro, from the Women’s Association of the Coast of Oaxaca, Mexico stressed the importance that women continue denouncing all forms of violence they experience, as well as demand for spaces of power. “Let us exercise our political rights and continue to organize, empower ourselves and consolidate our political participation in all decision- making spaces, women must have a place at the governance table and be represented in the discussions.”

Resilience in the Midst of Crisis

Juanita Jiménez, Director of the Autonomous Women’s Movement (MAM) in Nicaragua, explained that in the midst of a socio-political crisis and human rights crisis that the country has endured since April 2018 combined with the pandemic, women face an ever-increasing risk of violence and femicide. She assured that “the fight for equality continues on, for historical and present-day discrimination continue and even modernize.”

She emphasized, “We continue to fight for the return of democracy and for the return of all rights, we want to live in a democracy so that our human condition is recognized, so that our bodies are not punished for daring to decide, to think differently, nor be criticized or inspected by authorities; the fight for equality continues so that girls can grow up safe, be valued from birth, have access to technology, science, education, and integral development, and most importantly, that they can live free from violence.”

Perseverance

Lisandra Orraca, a Cuban citizen and member of the Latin American Federation of Rural Women (FLAMUR), made a special call to the authorities so that in Cuba any crimes of femicide be classified and punished as such. She expressed, “I would like to tell the women of my country to stay united in the fight for equality and for the respect of our rights, this is the only way we can achieve a better future, free from abuse and discrimination, together we can achieve it, we can never give up, together we can accomplish whatever we set our minds to.”

From the organization TRANSSA in the Dominican Republic, Agatha Brooks articulated the importance of authorities responding adequately and efficiently to the violence faced by trans women. In the midst of the pandemic, violence is exacerbated by the lack of gender identity legislation and access to health services, not to mention a drastic decrease in financial stability. Brooks remarks, “To women, both cis and trans, I tell them not to stop fighting, that our fight is constant and that, if women in the past had stopped fighting, we would not be where we are today. Although it is believed that there has not been progress, much progress has been made and we still have a long way to go, so we need courage, strength, we can move forward.”

Women in Pandemic: Resistance and Community

The health emergency generated by Covid-19 not only exceeded the capacities of most health systems around the world, but also exposed pre-existing inequalities, violence, and poverty in our societies. Thus, historically marginalized groups like the Afro-descendant populations, LGBTI peoples, and women suffered from the impacts of this pandemic in an extreme and differentiated way. The lack of access to health services, the exclusion of health measures, the exacerbation of gender violence and the increase in the burden of care assumed by women in the home are some only a few of the many emerged situations.

 

And yet, along with all this suffering, we saw how women who fight for the recognition and guarantee of their rights remained firm, including women in public positions, health personnel, and those who head the household. For these reasons and many more, from Race and Equality we hope that on this International Women’s Day, women can re-double their strength and determination to organize, advocate, and take action for their rights. Women’s contribution is essential to have a more just and equitable society.

Throughout this week, we will be sharing videos with the messages of these women on our social networks, under the slogan “Women in Pandemic: Resistance and Collective Action.” We invite you to join this campaign so that your voice can reach more spaces for reflection and advocacy.

Alongside international experts and Latin American civil society leaders, Race and Equality publishes a new report, “CEDAW and its Impact on Women’s Lives: an intersectional approach”

Washington, D.C., March 5, 2021.- In the lead-up to International Women’s Day, the International Institute on Race, Equality and Human Rights (Race and Equality) held a webinar on Thursday, March 4th to launch the report “CEDAW and its Impact on Women’s Lives: an intersectional approach.” Representatives from organizations that defend the rights of Afro-descendant and LGBT women served as panelists alongside Gladys Acosta, president of the UN Committee on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW).

Marisa Hutchinson, program official at International Women’s Rights Action Watch Asia Pacific (IWRAW Asia Pacific); Janaina Oliveira, national director for LGBT issues of the Workers’ Party (PT) in Brazil; Laritza Diversent, director of the Cuban-American NGO Cubalex; María Vélez, coordinator of the Casa Afirmativa project operated by the Colombian organization Caribe Afirmativo; and Wescla Vasconcelos, coordinator of the Rio de Janeiro Forum of Travestis[1] and Transsexual People, all spoke on the panel about the impact of CEDAW and the challenges still facing its work. Cecilia Ramírez, an Afro-Peruvian activist with the Peruvian Center for Black Women’s Development, served as the moderator.

Race and Equality’s executive director, Carlos Quesada, gave the opening remarks. Melissa Monroy, the report’s author and an advisor on women’s rights at Race and Equality, presented the report, which analyzes CEDAW’s impact in Brazil, Colombia, Cuba, the Dominican Republic, Mexico, Nicaragua, and Peru.

The report

In her presentation, Monroy explained that the report analyzes the dialogue among state parties, civil society, and the CEDAW committee that results in the committee’s reports and recommendations. The report pays particular attention to the representation and participation of Afro-descendant women, including Afro-descendant LGBT women, in this dialogue.

The analysis drew upon a thorough review of states’ reports to CEDAW and of CEDAW’s recommendations between 2010 and 2020. Monroy also interviewed civil society activists and leaders to understand their place in the CEDAW process and their perspectives on its impact.

“The actions of CEDAW, civil society, and state parties are all interconnected. More participation from diverse Afro-descendant women is needed in all three spheres for their voices to be heard effectively,” she remarked, noting that the report includes recommendations to the Committee, civil society, and states to improve their approach to Afro-descendant women’s rights.

The evolution of CEDAW

 CEDAW president Gladys Acosta acknowledged the lack of representation and participation of Afro-descendant women in the CEDAW process while assuring the audience that since the adoption of the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women in 1979, the Committee has undergone several reforms as society’s understanding of women’s rights has evolved. For example, she explained, the Committee has moved from focusing on “violence against women” to “gender-based violence” as the latter term gains acceptance among experts.

“This is not just a conceptual change, this is a historical evolution brought about by struggle and activism. Struggle comes before advances in laws: first there is a struggle and later on national and international institutions recognize the change. These standards are elastic; they expand as social consciousness expands, so we may have said one thing in 1980, but today things are different. There is a broader understanding of what constitutes a human rights violation,” Acosta explained.

To give another example, Acosta referred to the concept of intersectionality, saying that it has helped to fulfill the Universal Declaration of Human Rights’ affirmation that all people are born free and equal in dignity and rights. “The Declaration establishes all people on equal footing, but for thousands of reasons we have delayed in arriving to this vision,” she stated.

“All this is in motion, it is not static, and the visibility that civil society brings to new issues is noticed – not only by CEDAW, but in all the UN treaty bodies. We are trying to create an understanding of human rights that is comprehensive, more specific, and more suited to protecting vulnerable people,” Acosta added.

An intersectional discussion of discrimination

 The panel’s civil society representatives drew on their experience working to defend and promote women’s rights to discuss how discrimination and violence are manifested in the lives of Afro-descendant and LGBT women.

“When I think about intersectionality, I first think about what it means to be a Black woman. We experience discrimination because of race or sexual orientation, because for a lesbian or trans Black woman, all your life experiences come to one point, which is your racial difference. This has a major impact on our experience with discrimination,” said Marisa Hutchinson, program official at IWRAW Asia Pacific.

Janaina Oliveira, national director for LGBTI issues of the Brazilian Workers’ Party, emphasized that not all public policies supposedly aimed at advancing women’s rights will improve the situation of Afro-descendant or LGBT women, especially in a country like Brazil, where the government of President Jair Bolsonaro denies the extent and impact of racism: “You can see this when we launch campaigns to fight violence against women, and there is a reduction in rates of violence only against non-Black women. State policies in favor of women don’t mean that the policies will reach the most vulnerable groups.”

Laritza Diversent, director of Cubalex, explained that in Cuba, Afro-descendant women suffer constant discrimination and violence at the hands of the authorities, including racial profiling by police who assume that Black women are involved in illegal sex work. “They assume Black women are more sexual and think that we try to go after tourists, so we are constantly being watched by police. During the pandemic, state violence against Black women has worsened,” she said, mentioning that the concept of intersectionality has not been mainstreamed in Cuba’s independent civil society, making it difficult to use an intersectional lens to gather and report data.

María Vélez of Caribe Afirmativo pointed out, “Lesbian, bisexual, and trans Black women experience life in racialized bodies, so we experience discrimination for our sexual orientation or gender identity differently than white LGBT women do. We experience it in an environment where racism against us is ingrained socially, economically, even religiously. Intersectionality requires us to think about racial, gender, and class oppression and how they are interrelated. This is how we can understand the inequality that we experience.”

The panel closed with remarks from Wescla Vasconcelos, coordinator of the Rio de Janeiro Forum of Travestis and Transsexual People, who warned of serious discrimination facing LGBTI people in Brazil. “We are the population that suffers the most hate crimes. This brutality must stop, it must be combatted – the situation must change,” she insisted.

At Race and Equality, we are committed to practicing intersectionality across our programs defending and promoting human rights, including the rights of Afro-descendant and LGBTI people. We hope that this new report will contribute to civil society’s understanding of intersectionality, its role in the fight against discrimination, and how to incorporate it into national, regional, and international policies for human rights.

The Spanish version of the report can be found here. English and Portuguese translations will be available soon.

The recording of the webinar can be found here.

[1] Travesti is a Portuguese term for a person who was assigned male at birth, but who identifies and self-expresses as female, with or without any related medical interventions.

National Journalists’ Day in Nicaragua: no guarantees for freedom of the press

Washington, D.C.; March 1, 2020.- Today, March 1st, Nicaragua celebrates National Journalists’ Day. For Nicaragua’s independent press and for Nicaraguan journalists forced into exile, however, there is little to celebrate. The socio-political crisis that has gripped the country since April 2018 has severely curtailed Nicaraguan journalism. Today, Nicaragua’s independent journalists lack the basic protections that would guarantee their ability to carry out their crucial work.

Race and Equality spoke with three journalists, all of whom have suffered human rights violations since the crisis began, about the critical situation in Nicaragua.

Aníbal Toruño: In Nicaragua, there is total suppression of the right to freedom of the press

 Aníbal Toruño, the director of Radio Darío in the city of León, finds it increasingly difficult to carry out independent journalism due to increasing censorship, threats, violence, and criminalization at the hands of police, government institutions, and paramilitary groups.

“There is total suppression of our constitutional right to freedom of the press. Not only are there constant threats against journalists, the government recently passed a set of laws that seek to censor not only journalism, but the free expression of all Nicaraguans by controlling social networks and the major means of communications,” said Aníbal, referring to the Special Law on Cybercrime, the Law to Regulate Foreign Agents, and the constitutional reform to introduce life imprisonment as a criminal sentence.

Toruño, his family, and the staff of Radio Darío are under constant assault by the police. Since April 2018, the channel’s office has been raided 125 times. Just this year, Toruño’s home has been raided three times, each time without a legal warrant. “We have learned to control our fear, but it is difficult to see police and paramilitaries outside your house that could attack and destroy it at any moment,” said Toruño, recalling that under the administration of President Daniel Ortega, over 20 media outlets and 10 news and opinion programs have shut down. Furthermore, of the 13 free-to-air television channels that once existed in Nicaragua, only two remain that do not adhere to official government line.

According to Toruño, “field journalism is off-limits” due to the persecution that reporters suffer as they attempt to carry out their work. Radio Darío has resorted to asking other colleagues to go out and gather information. “We are surveilled, persecuted, there is very little space to move, and the work is extremely complicated. If the world does not react, you’re going to be seeing the sun set on one of the biggest ongoing fights for freedom of expression,” he added.

Speaking to his fellow independent journalists, however, Toruño closed with a message of hope: “We all have to rally our strength to keep going, because the night has never defeated the dawn and the dawn might be far off, but it always comes. Our conviction that we are fighting for what’s right must renew our struggle and our perseverance every day.”

Kalúa Salazar: Day and night, the police attack me at my home

 Kalúa Salazar, chief press officer for Radio La Conteñísima in Bluefields on the Caribbean coast, told Race and Equality that the minimal conditions to guarantee free and independent journalism no longer exist in Nicaragua. “What we have today are conditions in which only journalists with a political bias can operate. But independent journalists have risen to the challenge, and as result we have what you see today: journalists being charged, imprisoned, and beaten,” she said.

In August 2020, three employees of the city government of El Rama filed a defamation complaint against Kalúa for reporting on corruption in the city government and exposing misuse of public funds. As a consequence, she told Race and Equality, “Since then, the police have come to my house at night and early in the morning, blowing their sirens, sounding the horns of the police cars, making an unbearable noise to prevent me from sleeping.”

The police siege of her home has prevented her from accessing sources to carry out her work, but above all it has disrupted her personal life. “With trucks full of armed police officers outside my house where my daughters are,” she reflected, “the biggest impact is on my personal life, because it affects my most basic concern for my children.”

On March 9th, Kalúa will go to court to challenge the accusations. “I have had to follow every possible legal path to make sure that my case illustrates the ways that my rights as an individual and as a journalist are being violated by this effort to prosecute me for exercising my free expression,” she remarked.

Despite these circumstances, Kalúa intends to continue pursuing journalism in Bluefields and throughout the Southern Caribbean region. For National Journalists’ Day, she shared with Race and Equality the mantra that she uses to motivate herself every morning: “We have a goal – not to bring down the government, but to share truthful information and to be able to criticize any government that violates human rights. We want to be able to go out among the people. We have to be confident and find the strength we need to keep working. They want us to censor ourselves out of fear, but we cannot let that fear overcome us and desist us from our work.”

Lucia Pineda: We keep on resisting. It is our profession, and nobody can stop us

Lucia Pineda, the director of the news channel 100% News, was the victim of one of the most extreme government measures against independent journalism. In December 2018, she was arrested and accused of “proposing, provoking, and conspiring to commit terrorist acts.” Pineda remained in prison until June 2019, when she was released under Nicaragua’s Amnesty Law. She left prison along with 55 other Nicaraguans imprisoned for their participation in the 2018 protests, including the owner of 100% News, Miguel Mora.

“We’re under a red alert – professional journalism is under threat in Nicaragua. There are defamation and calumny trials against journalists, encouraged by pro-government forces, and media outlets are being stolen away,” said Pineda, who left Nicaragua for Costa Rica after being released. From exile, she continues to direct 100% News, which now broadcasts exclusively online. Back in Nicaragua, the channel’s offices were occupied by police in December 2018. They have since been illegally expropriated and converted into a rehabilitation center owned by the Ministry of Health.

As she continues her work, Lucia has become all too familiar with the risks of independent journalism in Nicaragua. “Our team is under constant threat,” she recounted. “They attend a press conference given by an opposition party and the police search them, search their cars, go through their possessions. Our night reporter tells me that the police follow him every day. Sometimes they stop him to question him, and there have been times where they have beaten him.”

“The police see you as an enemy, they attack you to instill fear and try to make you throw in the towel (desist), make you feel that you’re always being watched and that you have to limit what you say,” added Pineda. She shared with Race and Equality that her life has been turned upside-down since her imprisonment. Before her arrest, the 100% News office had been her second home. Today, she must direct 100% News from abroad, and for her own safety cannot return to her life in Nicaragua.

Lucia closed with these comments for her colleagues still working in Nicaragua: “We keep on resisting, fighting for freedom. Someday Nicaragua will thank the press for this work. Around the world, Nicaraguan media is being recognized for their bravery. This is our profession, and nobody can stop us.”

Race and Equality’s Statement

On National Journalists’ Day, Race and Equality salutes Nicaragua’s independent media, who continue to struggle for freedom of the press despite lacking the most basic protections for their work. We call upon the Nicaraguan government to respect the freedom of the press; ensure that journalists can safely carry out their work without attacks, persecution, or threats; and repeal the Law on Cybercrime and the Law to Regulate Foreign Agents, both of which place unacceptable restrictions on the freedom of expression.

High Commissioner for Human Rights Michelle Bachelet calls on the government of Nicaragua to cooperate with international human rights mechanisms and to guarantee free, fair, and transparent elections

Washington, D.C.; February 25th, 2021.- The socio-political crisis that has gripped Nicaragua since April 2018 has been aggravated by the COVID-19 pandemic and by the effects of Hurricanes Eta and Iota, reported UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Michelle Bachelet. Bachelet delivered these remarks during the 46th period of sessions of the UN Human Rights Council, where she presented her report on the situation in Nicaragua. Her report was met with approval by many diplomatic missions and international human rights organizations that participated in a public discussion after the presentation.

“As the elections scheduled for November 2021 draw closer, the rule of law continues to deteriorate in Nicaragua. The adoption of several laws contrary to the freedoms of association, expression, political participation, and the right to due process demonstrate the continual closing of civic and democratic space,” stated Bachelet, whose report covered the period from August 2019 through December 2020.

According to the report, the Office of the High Commissioner documented 117 cases of harassment, intimidation, and threats by police or pro-government groups against students, rural communities, political activists, human rights defenders, women’s groups, and organizations of the victims of rights violations. The report also documented “34 cases of intimidation, threats, criminalization, and smear campaigns against journalists and media outlets perceived as loyal to the political opposition.”

High Commissioner Bachelet emphasized that arbitrary detentions, most of them short-term, persist and called attention to the situation of political prisoners. According to the Mechanism for the Recognition of Political Prisoners in Nicaragua, 111 people remain imprisoned for their political beliefs as of February 2021. Bachelet also highlighted that indigenous communities on the Atlantic coast continue to suffer land invasions and violent attacks in addition to the devastation of the two hurricanes. Furthermore, the report found that femicides and underage pregnancy rates have risen.

Human rights violations and impunity

“Impunity has persisted for human rights violations committed during the 2018 protests,” the report states, emphasizing that recommendations previously issued to Nicaragua in the High Commissioner’s reports and in the Bulletin of the Regional Office of the High Commissioner have not been implemented.

“Incorporating a focus on human rights and on participation by the most vulnerable people will contribute significantly to a resolution of the current crisis and to the post-disaster reconstruction efforts. Again, I call on the government to allow my Office access to the country to monitor human rights during the electoral process and provide technical assistance to ensure the exercise of human rights. Electoral reforms must be adopted to ensure free, fair, and transparent elections,” concluded Bachelet.

Nicaragua’s response

On behalf of the State of Nicaragua, the Attorney General, Wendy Carolina Morales expressed, the “absolute rejection and non-recognition” of the report, which she called “unilateral” and “biased.” “The government strongly rejects these interventionist and interfering reports that seek to disqualify and denigrate our national authorities and institutions, such as our legal system,” she said.

International support

The High Commissioner’s report was endorsed by the diplomatic delegations of Belgium, Brazil, Canada, Chile, Costa Rica, Colombia, Ecuador, France, Georgia, Germany, the Netherlands, Luxembourg, Paraguay, Peru, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, the United States, Uruguay and the European Union, as well as by international human rights organizations that participated in a discussion following the presentation of the report, which included the intervention of representatives of Nicaraguan civil society.

The representatives expressed their concern regarding the ongoing repression against civil society, journalists, media outlets, opposition figures, human rights defenders and the recent approval of the Foreign Agents Law, as well as the government’s refusal to take responsibility for the human rights violations committed during the protests of 2018.

The president of the Nicaraguan Center for Human Rights (CENIDH), Vilma Núñez was among those who spoke on behalf of Nicaraguan civil society, Race and Equality, the International Service for Human Rights, and the International Federation of Human Rights. She denounced the destruction of several buildings that once housed civil society organizations and independent media outlets, which were expropriated and occupied illegally by the authorities. These buildings are in the process of being converted into Ministry of Health facilities.

Remarks by the Center for Justice and Human Rights of the Atlantic Coast (CEJUDHCAN), the Center for Justice and International Law (CEJIL) and CENIDH emphasized that “throughout 2020, land invasions and violent attacks have increased, with at least 13 indigenous people killed, 8 wounded, 2 kidnapped, the forced displacement of an indigenous community, and 2 attacks on indigenous girls.”

To view the High Commissioner’s presentation, click here.

Read the High Commissioner’s report here.

Nicaraguan civil society and international experts call for a new Human Rights Council resolution to address the crisis in Nicaragua

Washington, D.C., February 18th, 2021.– As the United Nations Human Rights Council prepares to open its 46th period of sessions, representatives of Nicaraguan civil society, including victims of human rights violations, joined international experts from the UN and the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) to urge the Council to approve a resolution strengthening High Commissioner Michelle Bachelet’s mandate to monitor Nicaragua’s human rights crisis.

The event “The role of the United Nations Human Rights Council in the face of the continuing human rights crisis in Nicaragua” included the participation of Thelma Montenegro, family member of two political prisoners and four people killed in the context of the repression unleashed by the social protests of April 2018; Lottie Cunningham, founder and president of the Center for Justice and Human Rights of the Atlantic Coast of Nicaragua (CEJUDHCAN); Aníbal Toruño, director of Radio Darío and victim of constant police raids on his home and radio headquarters; Clément Voule, Special Rapporteur on the Right to Freedom of Peaceful Assembly and Association of the United Nations, and Pedro Vaca, Rapporteur for Freedom of Expression of the IACHR. The moderator was Erika Guevara, Director for the Americas of Amnesty International.

Context

UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Michelle Bachelet will present her report on the human rights situation in Nicaragua during the upcoming session of the Human Rights Council (February 22-March 23). Twelve Nicaraguan and regional organizations, among them the International Institute on Race, Equality and Human Rights (Race and Equality), organized the virtual panel event to update attendees on the ongoing human rights violations in Nicaragua and to emphasize the importance of renewing and strengthening the High Commissioner’s mandate.

The Montenegro Family

Thelma Montenegro took part in the panel to expose the persecution, criminalization, and violence that her family has suffered for participating in the protests of April 2018. “Our participation unleashed hate, persecution, and cruelty on the part of the government’s supporters,” she said, revealing that since the protests, four of her family members have been killed, among them her two brothers Oliver and Edgar Montenegro and her husband Francisco Blandón.

Ms. Montenegro also shared that two of her nephews remain in prison as a consequence of their beliefs. Oliver Montenegro Muñoz, who was detained on June 21, 2020, was sentenced to 10 years in prison for the supposed crime of attempted homicide. Dorling Montenegro Muñoz, detained November 30, 2020, is charged with obstruction of justice, illegal possession of weapons, and attempted murder.

“We ask for monitoring and decisive action towards our country…We are in an election year, and now is the moment of opportunity to change our history, so that all this suffering does not repeat itself,” she stated.

Violence and vulnerability in the Northern Caribbean

In her presentation, human rights defender Lottie Cunningham stated that Nicaragua’s closing civic spaces and weakening democratic protections are causing displacement and systematic violence against indigenous peoples and those who defend their rights. In 2020, she stated, 13 indigenous Nicaraguans were killed, 8 were wounded, 2 were kidnapped, and at least one community was displaced from their territory. Since 2011, 49 indigenous people have been killed, 52 injured, 46 kidnapped, and 4 disappeared.

“As a result of this violence, it is estimated that 3,000 individuals from the Miskitu people alone have been forcibly displaced from their communities, including in the Honduran border region,” Ms. Cunningham explained, reporting that this violence is usually carried out by non-state actors with the consent or complicity of the state and that the perpetrators enjoy total impunity.

Cunningham also expressed her concern at the approval of the Law to Regulate Foreign Agents and the Law on Cybercrime, which she labeled as “repressive against the effort to defend indigenous rights.” She recounted how the Ministry of the Interior has refused to accept CEJUDHCAN’s registration as a non-governmental organization and how pro-government actors frequently slander the organization’s members as spreaders of ‘fake news.’

“We call on the international community and exhort the Human Rights Council to approve a resolution on Nicaragua that accounts for the needs of indigenous and Afro-descendant peoples,” she emphasized.

Attacks on the independent press

Aníbal Toruño, director of Radio Darío in the city of León and a beneficiary of protective measures granted by the IACHR, discussed the prosecution of at least three journalists, the confiscation of the offices of independent outlets Confidencial and 100% News since April 2018, and other government efforts to repress independent journalism.

Mr. Toruño explained that pressure from the government of President Daniel Ortega has caused the closure of over 20 news outlets and at least 10 news and opinion programs. Furthermore, of the 13 free-to-air television channels that once broadcasted in Nicaragua, only two remain. One of these, Channel 12, has been under embargo since September 2020.

Toruño himself has suffered 125 police actions against Radio Darío and 32 against his home. His home was raided by police, violently and without a court order, three times between January 4 and February 4 of this year.

International concern

Both UN Special Rapporteur on the Right to Peaceful Assembly and Association Clément Voule and IACHR Rapporteur on Freedom of Expression Pedro Vaca expressed great concern at the situation in Nicaragua, agreeing that the recent passage of laws to restrict civil and political rights, including by imprisoning those who broadcast information that the government considers threatening, has worsened the outlook for human rights in the country.

Mr. Voule expressed that “We have concerns, including the use of arbitrary force against those who go out to the street to protest, criminalization and attacks against political opponents, and attacks on the press,” reminding the audience that he has made several requests for an official visit to Nicaragua since 2018, but has received no answer. “Also concerning is the lack of information or false information used against victims-including women, LGBTI people, or environmentalists-who are accused of being terrorists or drug traffickers.”

Mr. Vaca concluded that Nicaragua has unleashed a sophisticated program of censorship and that the National Assembly’s legislative initiatives appear to be focused on eroding the rule of law. He observed that Nicaragua is suffering a “dismantling of the social fabric” and that there is a risk of losing key information about human rights violations. “Nicaragua is fearful, and we are listening. This is part of what can hopefully be included in our ongoing analysis,” he concluded.

 Calls for a new resolution at the Human Rights Council

Amnesty International’s Americas Director, Erika Guevara, insisted that Nicaragua’s human rights crisis is ongoing and that with the government refusing to cooperate with the regional and international human rights protection systems, action by the Human Rights Council and the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights is critical.

Speaking for all the co-sponsors of the event, Ms. Guevara called on the Council’s member states to adopt a strong resolution renewing the High Commissioner’s mandate to address the Nicaraguan situation. She emphasized that such a resolution should establish clear criteria to judge Nicaragua’s cooperation, sending a message to victims, human rights defenders, and independent journalists that the international community is committed to truth, justice, and reparations for the abuses of their rights.

Race and Equality celebrates Brazil’s ratification of the Inter-American Convention against Racism

Brazil, February 19th, 2021 – The International Institute on Race, Equality and Human Rights (Race and Equality) congratulates the Brazilian State for its ratification  of the Inter-American Convention against Racism, Racial Discrimination and Related Forms of Intolerance [1], originally signed by the member countries of the Organization of American States (OAS) in Guatemala in 2013 [2]. The Brazilian Senate’s ratification of the Convention marks a major achievement for the Afro-Brazilian movement, which has fought for the adoption and strengthening of the Convention for over 20 years. In signing and ratifying the convention, Brazil has committed to fighting intolerance and racism, presenting an opportunity to break with the racism ingrained in Brazilian society.

With its ratification, the Convention gains the status of a constitutional amendment in Brazil, allowing laws which go against its statutes to be challenged in court. These potential challenges represent a new path for anti-racist discourse and activism in the country. Aligning domestic legislation with human rights standards is of paramount importance in the fight to end, prevent, and punish racism and discrimination. It is noteworthy that in Article 5, Subsection 42, the Brazilian Constitution makes the crime of racism ineligible for bail and exempt from a statute of limitations. In Article 3, Subsection 4, the Constitution rejects prejudice and other forms of discrimination.

Lúcia Xavier, General Coordinator of the Brazilian organization Criola, welcomes Brazil’s ratification of the Convention, telling Race and Equality that the Convention now represents a fundamental instrument for promoting the rights of Afro-Brazilians, especially Afro-Brazilian women, amidst attacks on human rights and the continuing effects of COVID-19 in Brazil. “While conservative governments are advancing against rights, the Convention will mean having more instruments for human rights and  strengthening the regional human rights system itself. It will be a fundamental political instrument going forward to confront racism in Brazil and in the region,” she remarked.

“Now that it has been ratified by Brazil and consolidated in our legislation, the Convention reinforces the effort that the Afro-descendant and Afro women’s movements have been making for years to definitively eradicate racism – especially institutionalized racism, that which does not consist of laws, rules, or policies, but is implemented by the State in all its instances, every day. So, the possibility of having this instrument against the conservative attacks that the current Brazilian government is making on the Black population is very good,” Lúcia Xavier, General Coordinator, Criola. 

Carlos Quesada, Executive Director of Race and Equality, commented that in Brazil, there are many forms of racism which are hidden at first glance, but can be found in the high levels of violence facing the Black population and in unequal access to the labor market, housing, health, and education. “Given the historical circumstances of Brazil, starting with the fact that Brazil is the country with the most Afro-descendant people outside Africa and a country whose Black population faces serious discrimination and the erasure of their human rights, the ratification of this agreement opens more possibilities for tackling and undoing structural racism”, explained. 

In Brazil, structural and systematic racism is evident in the statistics regarding incarceration, poverty, and suicide among Afro-Brazilians. These outcomes reveal institutional racism throughout social and legal structures, including many public institutions that are historically rooted in efforts to maintain privileges through exclusion and marginalization. The Convention will allow activists to challenge these structures and pursue democratization of rights through public policies oriented towards social justice.

Lívia Casseres, a lawyer with the Public Defender’s Office of the State of Rio de Janeiro, was a leader in the effort to ratify the Convention. She recalls that Brazil played a leading role in urging other OAS members to draft and sign the Convention. She believes that this leadership is a testament to the work of the Afro-Brazilian movement. “It’s a Convention that attacks indirect discrimination and provides for the prohibition of public policies with discriminatory impacts,” she explained.

“We have for the first time a legal document with the capacity to face the complexity of the phenomenon of racism. It is a great advance, because it is a Convention that has much more sophisticated and refined legal elements, capable of accounting for the complexities of racism that we were unable to fully address with the legal framework that existed before ratification.” Lívia Casseres, Public Defender of the State of Rio de Janeiro.

With the Convention now ratified, Race and Equality emphasizes that the implementation of the Convention must take place in consultation with civil society. Article 15, Paragraphs 4 and 5 of the Convention call for each State Party to appoint an independent expert tasked with monitoring the commitments made in the Convention. In addition, a committee should be created to exchange ideas and review the progress made by State Parties in their implementation [3]. Consultations with civil society are an opportunity for the State to dialogue with different sectors of society, especially with the Afro-Brazilian population, so that the challenges in the fight against racism can be addressed.

Faced with this conjuncture of new possibilities to combat racism, Race and Equality celebrates the work of the Afro-Brazilian movement in the struggle for the approval and ratification of the Convention. We are committed to strengthening this movement and contributing to the anti-racism and human rights struggles of Afro-Brazilians. We recognize the great importance of this agreement for repaying the social debt owed to Afro-Brazilians and for improving the lives of Afro-descendants facing great vulnerability across the country. We recommend that the State of Brazil:

1 – Implement the articles of the Inter-American Convention against Racism, Racial Discrimination and Related Forms of Intolerance in consultation with different sectors of civil society, especially in dialogue with Afro-Brazilian movement;

2 – Formulate a plan so that the legislative, executive, and judicial branches can each implement actions for immediate compliance with the Convention;

3 – Create public policies that punish racist acts and repair structural racism with a view to promoting equality and affirmative action in the areas of ​​health, work, well-being, education, and political participation.

 

[1] https://g1.globo.com/politica/noticia/2021/02/10/senado-aprova-projeto-que-ratifica-texto-da-convencao-interamericana-erca-o-racismo.ghtml

[2] and [3] https://www.cut.org.br/system/uploads/ck/files/interamericantreatiesA-68ConvencaoInteramericanaracismoPOR.pdf

 

 

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