enabling law
Thursday 9.6.2022 Chile - Latest Developments -
Chile: journalist Francisca Sandoval dies after being shot when covering protest
On 1st May 2022, during the Workers’ Day march in Santiago, shooters opened fire following an alleged altercation with protesters. Four people were injured, three of them journalists covering the march. Francisca Sandoval, a 29-year-old journalist with La Victoria's Señal 3, was critically wounded and died from her injuries on 12th May 2022. Read more
Tuesday 17.5.2022 Tanzania - Latest Developments -
President Suluhu acts on promise to expand media freedoms, arbitrary arrests of journalists continue
President Suluhu meets exiled opposition leader; Opposition party chairman released from detention; Planned eviction of Maasai community sparks protests in Tanzania and UK; Legislative amendments approved to expand media freedom; New licences issued to newspapers banned during Maghufuli era; Arbitrary arrests of journalists a remaining concern Read more
Wednesday 11.5.2022 Costa Rica - Latest Developments -
Costa Rica: partial veto of new Access to Information Law
In April and May 2022, violence against Indigenous peoples in China Kichá continued to take place with impunity. On 27th April 2022, the Legislative Assembly approved Bill 20.799, the “General Law of Access to Public Information and Transparency.” The bill was nicknamed the “Gag Law” by the Costa Rican press because its Article 8 established a series of limits on access to information. Read more | Read in Spanish
Wednesday 4.5.2022 Botswana - Latest Developments -
Landmark court judgment decriminalises same sex relationships
Botswana’s Court of Appeal hands down unanimous judgment affirming decriminalisation of same-sex relationships; Proposed amendments seek to provide oversight to interception of communications; Whistleblowing Act failing to protect expression Read more
Tuesday 26.4.2022 Brazil - Latest Developments -
Brazil: shocking violence on HRDs and journalists continues
On 10th February 2022, nine-year-old Jonatas de Oliveira dos Santos was shot and killed in an attack in Engenho Roncadorzinho, a community in the town of Barreiros, Pernambuco state. According to the local police, the boy was killed in retaliation against his father, Geovane da Silva Santos, a community leader and president of the local smallholder farmers’ association. Read more
Wednesday 30.3.2022 Ecuador - Latest Developments -
Ecuador: Amnesty granted to 268 rights defenders and protesters
On 11th March 2022, the National Assembly approved a bill granting amnesty to 268 people who faced prosecution for their defence of land, Indigenous and environmental rights, and for their involvement in 2019 protests. The bill was approved by the plenary of the National Assembly with 99 favourable votes out of the 125 parliamentarians in attendance. Read more | Read in Spanish
Wednesday 30.3.2022 Chile - Latest Developments -
Chile: same-sex marriage legalised; Gabriel Boric sworn in as President
On 11th March 2022, Gabriel Boric of Social Convergence was sworn in, becoming Chile’s youngest ever president. Boric is a former student union leader who had a key role in 2011 mass protests for free public education. Read more | Read in Spanish
Wednesday 23.3.2022 Honduras - Latest Developments -
Honduras: Guapinol water defenders released after trial annulled by Supreme Court
On 27th January 2022, Xiomara Castro of the Libre party was sworn in as Honduras’ president. She took office amid a dispute with dissidents in her own party, who rebelled against her preferred choice for Congress leadership. Read more | Read in Spanish
Thursday 10.3.2022 United States of America - Latest Developments -
USA: bills restrict freedom of expression in the classroom; massive protests in Puerto Rico
On 4th February 2022, thousands of teachers across Puerto Rico left their classrooms to demand higher wages, improved working conditions and better pensions. Videos showed streets crowded with protesters who rejected a fiscal plan allowing modest salary increases for teachers and other public employees, approved by the federal control board that oversees the island’s finances. Read more
Wednesday 2.3.2022 Colombia - Latest Developments -
Colombia: surveillance of civil society and detention of protest leaders
2022 began with astounding violence in the north-eastern department of Arauca along the Colombia-Venezuela border. Over 60 homicides were recorded in the region in January 2022, attributed to the escalating dispute over narcotrafficking routes between armed groups ELN (Ejército de Liberación Nacional) and dissidents of the FARC (Fuerzas Armadas Revolucionarias de Colombia). Read more
