HRD killing
Tuesday 7.7.2020 Guatemala - Latest Developments
Indigenous defender killed and others threatened and attacked in Guatemala
On 15th June 2020, Indigenous land defender Medardo Alonzo Lucero was found dead with signs of torture in Olopa, Chiquimula department. Read more
Monday 29.6.2020 Chile - Latest Developments
Chilean police forces repress protests with COVID-19 regulations
On 18th March 2020, the Chilean government issued a decree that established an exceptional “state of catastrophe” for three months due to the coronavirus (COVID-19). The legislation also allowed the president to take further measures such as restrictions on gatherings in public spaces and individuals’ movement, quarantines or curfews. Read more
Monday 15.6.2020 Burundi - Latest Developments
Election period sees clampdown on freedoms; Outgoing president Nkurunziza dies suddenly
Ahead of the May 2020 elections,United Nations Commission of Inquiry on Burundi launches an appeal to the international community to join forces to encourage the Burundian Government to reopen the democratic, civil and political space in the country; Opposition face hurdles and attacks ahead of elections; internet restrictions experienced on election day; while journalists and HRDs face prosecution for peacefully exercising their freedom of expression Read more | Read in French
Friday 22.5.2020 Honduras - Latest Developments
Honduras’ undue restrictions on expression and police abuse of emergency powers during COVID-19
On 10th March 2020, Honduran president Juan Orlando Hernández declared a state of sanitary emergency due to the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. On 16th March 2020, another decree (PCM-021-2020) restricted several constitutional guarantees, including freedoms of expression, association, assembly, and movement. Read more | Read in Spanish
Thursday 21.5.2020 Colombia - Latest Developments
Social leaders and journalists at increased risk during COVID-19
In response to the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, Colombia’s government declared a sanitary emergency and banned public gatherings on 12th March 2020. On 22nd March 2020, a new decree established a nationwide mandatory quarantine which was subsequently extended into May 2020. Despite the obligatory isolation measures, several protests have taken place since the beginning of the public emergency – often mobilised by people denouncing the lack of food, financial aid and access to medical services. Read more | Read in Spanish
Wednesday 20.5.2020 Nicaragua - Latest Developments
Increased police repression on second anniversary of mass mobilisation
18th April 2020 marked two years since nationwide socioeconomic protests and their brutal repression that launched an enduring a human rights and political crisis in Nicaragua. In the context of the crisis, at least 328 people have been killed, around 2,000 injured and over 700 detained. Over these two years, more than 100,000 people in Nicaragua have sought asylum abroad, reportedly fleeing persecution and human rights abuses, according to the UN refugee agency (UNHCR). Around this date, there have been several reports of increased repression of political dissidence. Read more | Read in Spanish
Wednesday 20.5.2020 Kazakhstan - Latest Developments
Systematic persecution of CSO activists; attacks on freedom of expression and assembly continue
The first three months of 2020 saw ongoing and systematic persecution of civil society activists, journalists, bloggers and other citizens exercising their right to freely express themselves. The situation is currently deteriorating, particularly in connection with the state of emergency, which was declared in the country on 16th March 2020 due to the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. Citizens who spoke up about the status of the pandemic in Kazakhstan and the authorities’ handling of it have on numerous occasions been criminally prosecuted. Political activists associated with two unregistered political parties – the new Democratic Party and the new movement “Street Party” - have faced persecution, administrative prosecution and significant harassment, both from the authorities and from unidentified persons. Read more
Tuesday 12.5.2020 Pakistan - Latest Developments
Pashtun activists targeted amid pandemic while press increasingly muzzled in Pakistan
In recent months, Pashtun activists continue to be targeted while women’s rights activists continue to face risk and attacks. There has been a lack of accountability over the enforced disappearance of Idris Khattak, activist Muhammad Ismail continues to face judicial harassment, while the state has continued to silence critical media and block online content. Healthcare workers were also arrested for protesting against the lack of protective equipment amid the coronavirus pandemic. Read more
Wednesday 1.4.2020 Peru - Latest Developments
Peru: Awajun leader killed as community resists mining in their territory
On 10th and 11th February 2020, members of Peru’s Awajun and Wampis communities protested outside the main offices of the Amazonas regional government to denounce alleged action by the government to enable mining in their territories. Read more | Read in Spanish
Friday 20.3.2020 Costa Rica - Latest Developments
An Indigenous leader killed and another shot in the leg by land invaders in Costa Rica
On 24th February 2020, a leader of the Indigenous Brörán community of Térraba, Jerhy Rivera Rivera, was killed in the Puntarenas province. Rivera led the land recovery process of indigenous territories in the region. Read more | Read in Spanish
