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This week the Inter-American Commission of Human Rights is having its 186th Period of Sessions at UCLA. This post is made up of highlights of each of the hearings from Wednesday, March 8, 2023.
Sexual violence against women and girls in Haiti
Participants: Bureau des Avocats Internationaux, Center for Gender & Refugee Studies, CUNY School of Law Human Rights and Gender Justice Clinic, Haitian Women’s Collective, Institute for Justice & Democracy in Haiti, Komisyon Fanm Viktim Pou Viktim, MADRE, Nègès Mawon, Regional Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, Réseau National de Défense des Droits Humains, State of Haiti
By Leigh Marie Dannhauser
Contributed by Cat Washington
The first hearing today started off with harrowing accounts of sexual violence against women and girls in Haiti and the danger they are in while they are just trying to live their lives. Civil society provided accounts of women kidnapped, raped, beaten, and killed; at times in public and recorded so that their families can subsequently suffer. Civil society emphasized the lack of accountability by the police and judiciary in Haiti, allowing gang members who are using sexual violence as a weapon of terror to carry on with impunity, and accused the leaders of Haiti of being in total denial of responsibility. A representative from the Haitian government, presenting virtually, said they were taking action, albeit delayed, and welcomed any recommendations so that they, civil society, and the IACHR can fight collectively against the violence in Haiti.
Reproductive rights and violence against women and girls in Brazil
Participants: The Center for Reproductive Rights (CRR), Criola, the Anis – Instituto de Bioética, Special Rapporteur on the Human Right to Sexual and Reproductive Health of the Human Rights Platform – DHesca Brazil, Latin American and Caribbean Committee for the Defense of Women’s Rights (CLADEM Brasil), Ipas, State of Brazil
By Leigh Marie Dannhauser
Contributed by Madison Old
Brazil civil society organization representatives spoke at length about the sexual violence perpetuated against women and the pressing need for the protection of their reproductive rights. Some of the issues most highly emphasized were the lack of abortion access and the worryingly high maternal mortality rates in the country. These disproportionately affect Black women, women in poverty, and women living in rural areas. Girls as young as 11 are told to give up on accessing an abortion and must put their health and lives at risk.
Representatives of the Brazilian government acknowledged these issues and provided steps that it has taken such as creating a Ministry of Women in 2023. Regarding the integration of racial discrimination with these issues, the government stated they will take more steps to include Black communities in all decision making in any policy, legislation, or project involving them. Commission President Margarette May Macaulay stressed that such inclusion must involve equal participation since many states say they will include Black participation but do not allow their voices to actually be heard.
Case 12.781 – Indigenous peoples of Raposa Serra do Sol vs Brazil
Participants: Conselho Indígena de Roraima, Rainforest Foundation (RFF), Forest Peoples Programme, Vanessa Jiminez, State of Brazil
By Jay Parepally
As highlighted by an attorney representing Indigenous people, this case has been in the Brazilian courts and the Inter-American Human Rights System for decades but still lacks resolution. The Indigenous people of Raposa Serra do Sol, a region of Brazil bordering Venezuela and Guyana, have been pressured to leave their ancestral territory by way of illegal mining and farming operations, hydroelectric plants, and destruction of their homes and other property. The aforementioned attorney stressed the importance of recognizing and protecting Indigenous peoples’ right to self-determination in addition to the general discussion about land disputes. In addition to general representatives of Brazil’s government, the head of the newly created Ministry of Indigenous Peoples, Sônia Guajajara, spoke about a legacy of more than 500 years of oppression of Indigenous peoples and denounced atrocities committed by the government under former President Jair Bolsonaro against Indigenous people between 2019 and 2022. Although the legal counsel for the petitioners welcomed the Brazilian government’s desire to support human rights defenders and Indigenous people in Raposa Serra do Sol, he expressed the need for the Commission to take concrete steps like adopting a merits report for this case as soon as possible.
Protection of human rights defenders and journalists in the region
Participants: Reporteros Sin Fronteras, Asociación Brasileńa de Periodismo de Investigación (ABRAJI), ARTICLE 19 México y Centroamérica, Asociación por la Democracia y los Derechos Humanos (ASOPODEHU) (Honduras), Comité para la Protección de Periodistas (CPJ), Comunicación e Información de la Mujer, A.C. (CIMAC) (México), Federación Colombiana de Periodistas, Fundación para la Libertad de Prensa (FECOLPER) (Colombia), Justiça Global (Brasil), Propuesta Cívica (México), Terra de Direitos (Brasil), Voces del Sur, Foro de Periodismo Argentino (FOPEA) (Argentina), Asociación Nacional de la Prensa (ANP) (Bolivia), Fundación para la Libertad de Prensa (FLIP) (Colombia), Instituto Cubano por la Libertad de Expresión y Prensa (ICLEP) (Cuba), FUNDAMEDIOS (Ecuador), Asociación de Periodistas de El Salvador (APES) (El Salvador), Instituto DEMOS (Guatemala), Comité por la Libre Expresión (C-LIBRE) (Honduras), Fundación por la Libertad de Expresión y Democracia (FLED) (Nicaragua), Instituto de Prensa y Sociedad (IPYS) (Perú y Venezuela), Centro de Archivos y Acceso a la Información Pública (CAinfo) (Uruguay), Regional Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights
By Jay Parepally
Contributed by Cat Washington, Aine Lawlor & Mollie Cueva-Dabkoski
During the last hearing of the day, testimonials indicated that Latin America is the most dangerous region in the world for journalists investigating human rights abuses. Very high rates of impunity exist for these crimes, and violent attacks on journalists represent major obstacles to exercising the freedom of expression. For example, 242 journalists were attacked in Ecuador in 2022, and 178 journalists have been forced to leave Nicaragua since 2018. According to Commissioner Joel Hernández García, 75 percent of worldwide murders of environmental defenders have occurred in the Americas. Female journalists are disproportionately harassed and attacked by States throughout the region and are subjected to troubling intrusions into their personal lives by way of invasive surveillance technology. Protection mechanisms that have been put in place tend to lack sufficient funding and staffing. A representative from the UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, Guillermo Fernández-Maldonado, stressed the importance of meaningfully improving the situation on the ground for journalists and human rights defenders in a timely fashion because this year marks 75 years since the drafting of the Universal Declaration on Human Rights. Just before the hearing concluded, several members of the Quechua people stood up with a large banner to raise attention towards the Indigenous people and journalists allegedly being killed by government actors in Peru; these civil society members asserted that Peru is committing genocide against their fellow indigenous community members.
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