MEXICO CITY.
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ALatin America faces serious human rights challenges for the first time in decades, said the organization Human Rights Watch (HRW) when presenting its World Report 2022.
The alarming decline in fundamental freedoms in Latin America today forces us to defend democratic spaces that we used to take for granted, ”said Tamara Taraciuk Broner, Acting Director for the Americas at Human Rights Watch.
Taraciuk Broner affirmed that attacks on civil society occur in the region.
Even leaders who came to power through democratic elections have attacked independent civil society, freedom of the press, and judicial independence. Millions of people have been forced to leave their homes and countries, and the pandemic has had a devastating economic and social impact, “he added.
In the document, published yesterday, the organization analyzed human rights conditions in almost 100 countries.
Among them, he highlighted the cases of Nicaragua, Venezuela and Cuba, regarding abuses against dissidents and alterations in the electoral processes.
The Cuban government carried out systematic abuses against critics and artists, including arbitrary detentions, mistreatment of detainees, and abusive criminal proceedings, in response to largely peaceful protests against the government.
Officials prevented people from protesting or recording the demonstrations, arrested critics and journalists who led the demonstrations or limited their ability to leave their homes. Many were held incommunicado for days or weeks, or violently arrested ”, detailed the section dedicated to the Caribbean country.
Meanwhile, the November elections in Nicaragua were held without democratic guarantees, after the government headed by Daniel Ortega ordered the arrest of seven opposition candidates.
For its part, in the case of Venezuela, Human Rights Watch has reiterated the attack against opponents and the unequal conditions to compete in elections, which made it difficult for all voters to freely exercise their rights, the document said.
On occasion, governments in the region use restrictions linked to the pandemic to inhibit protests. Or restrictions have slowed access to school for children in the region, HRW concluded.
ABUSES PERSIST
Human rights violations, including torture, forced disappearances, abuses against migrants, extrajudicial executions, gender violence and attacks against independent journalists and human rights defenders, continue during the government of Andrés Manuel López Obrador, denounced the organization Human
Rights Watch in its World Report 2022.
“President López Obrador has considerably expanded the scope in which the Armed Forces operate, by arranging for their mobilization for public order tasks, customs control and irregular migration, the management of social programs, and the development and operation of megaprojects. “Said the document in the section dedicated to our country.
The military can legally detain civilians, take charges at crime scenes and preserve evidence, the organization’s document detailed.
In this sense, the National Human Rights Commission has received 3,799 complaints related to military abuses, the report said.
In addition, the agency denounced that Mexico is complicit in the “abusive” immigration policies of the United States government.
The report denounced the illegal deportations and abandonment of 71,000 asylum seekers in the American Union.
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