“The region cannot continue down the path of repressing protests, militarizing borders and public security, environmental destruction and failing to protect historically marginalized communities, such as Indigenous peoples and human rights defenders,” said Erika Guevara-Rosas, Americas director at Amnesty International. “The heads of state in the Americas must change course and seek solutions to create a freer and safer continent, with full respect for the human rights of all.”

Amnesty International’s concerns include the excessive use of force to suppress social protests, seen in several countries in the region and most recently in Peru. States in the Americas must ensure that individuals can exercise their right to peaceful protest and that any use of force by the security forces when policing demonstrations is necessary, legitimate and strictly proportionate. The organization also calls on states to end arbitrary detentions, unlawful killings, torture and other ill-treatment, which are frequently committed in much of the region.

Another issue that must be urgently addressed by states in the region is that of human mobility and the need for international protection, specifically in the case of people fleeing human rights crises in countries such as Venezuela, Cuba, Haiti, Nicaragua, Honduras, El Salvador and Guatemala. It is alarming how restrictive and even inhumane migration policies, such as those of the USA, Mexico, Peru and Chile, have endangered people in need of international protection, rather than seeking cooperation to address the humanitarian crisis at various borders across the continent.

The region cannot continue down the path of repressing protests, militarizing borders and public security, environmental destruction and failing to protect historically marginalized communities, such as Indigenous peoples and human rights defenders 

Erika Guevara-Rosas, Americas director at Amnesty International

Amnesty International also believes that states must find alternatives to address public security crises other than militarization, which has become the norm in several countries in the region. The use of the armed forces for public security tasks has been intensified in countries such as Mexico and Ecuador, which has created contexts that facilitate grave human rights violations without addressing the root causes of criminal violence.

States must take urgent action to protect human rights defenders; the Americas remains the most dangerous region for human rights defenders. According to Front Line Defenders, Colombia was the world’s deadliest country for defenders in 2022, with at least 186 killings, followed by Mexico (45), Brazil (26) and Honduras (17).

The climate crisis is another danger that threatens the region. Although the impacts of climate change on rural and historically marginalized communities are becoming increasingly clear, states’ efforts have been insufficient and have failed to address dependence on fossil fuels, the main factor behind the crisis.

Similarly, states have not done enough to guarantee the rights of Indigenous peoples in the Americas. Over the past year, Amnesty International has documented cases of killings of Indigenous leaders in countries including Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador and Mexico in the context of land-related conflicts. Meanwhile, several states have proceeded with or granted concessions to national and multinational companies to implement extractive, agricultural and infrastructure projects without the free, prior and informed consent of the affected Indigenous peoples.

Violence and discrimination against women, girls and LGBTI people is another historical problem that urgently needs a concerted response. States in the region continue to fail to adequately address the very high levels of gender-based violence, including feminicides, and several states have taken measures that endanger people’s sexual and reproductive rights.

Finally, the General Assembly is due to elect four people to the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR). Faced with the withdrawal of nominations from four countries, Amnesty International urges states in the Americas to elect people with the highest credentials, in line with the principles of suitability, impartiality, independence and recognized competence in the field of human rights, and to ensure that nominations and the withdrawal of nominations is firmly based on the inter-American legal framework.

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“The development of autonomy in weapons is accelerating, and the growing application of new Artificial Intelligence and machine learning technologies is a deeply worrying development. These machines risk automating killing, treating it as a technical undertaking which raises human rights risks as well as humanitarian, legal and ethical concerns. Autonomous machines will make life and death decisions without empathy or compassion.

The development of autonomy in weapons is accelerating, and the growing application of new Artificial Intelligence and machine learning technologies is a deeply worrying development.

Agnès Callamard, Secretary General, Amnesty International

“Autonomous weapon systems lack the ability to analyse the intentions behind people’s actions. They cannot make complex decisions about distinction and proportionality, determine the necessity of an attack, refuse an illegal order, or potentially recognize an attempt to surrender, which are vital for compliance with international human rights law and international humanitarian law.

“These new weapons technologies are at risk of further endangering civilians and civilian infrastructure in conflict. Amnesty International remains concerned about the potential human rights risks that increasing autonomy in policing and security equipment poses too, such as systems which use data and algorithms to predict crime.

“It has never been more urgent to draw legal red lines around the production and use of autonomous weapons systems to ensure we maintain meaningful human control over the use of force.

“Amnesty International supports the call made by governments from Latin American and Caribbean countries today for binding international legal controls on these weapons and welcomes the decision to work in alternative forums, beyond the Convention on Certain Conventional Weapons (CCW) where talks have stalled, to advance this new law.”

Background

The Regional Conference on the Social and Humanitarian Impact of Autonomous Weapons in San José, Costa Rica is the first of its kind and involved regional and observer governments, representatives of the United Nations, the International Committee of the Red Cross and civil society. Amnesty International is a founding member of Stop Killer Robots, a global coalition of more than 160 organizations working to address autonomy in weapons systems.

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“The last few years in Honduras have been characterized by state violence, repression and impunity, with governments that have completely ignored human rights. The arrival of Xiomara Castro’s government a year ago represented a historic opportunity to change the course of the nation and revindicate human rights, but there has been insufficient change to address the grave crisis facing the Honduran population. Now is the time to change course,” said Erika Guevara-Rosas, Americas director at Amnesty International.

In the context of the November 2021 presidential elections, Amnesty International sent a letter to the presidential candidates with seven minimum points to build a government programme based on human rights, including respect for the right to peaceful protest; ending impunity; creating a safe environment for the defence of human rights; guaranteeing the right to health, including sexual and reproductive health; and eliminating discrimination and gender-based violence.

The arrival of Xiomara Castro’s government a year ago represented a historic opportunity to change the course of the nation and revindicate human rights, but there has been insufficient change to address the grave crisis facing the Honduran population.

Erika Guevara-Rosas, Americas director at Amnesty International

One year after the inauguration of President Xiomara Castro, Amnesty International has sent a new open letter outlining some of the human rights concerns that the organization considers urgent, as well as a series of recommendations for the Honduran state to fulfil its international human rights obligations.

“The violence that human rights defenders continue to face in Honduras, particularly those who defend territory and care for the environment, is extremely serious. Xiomara Castro’s government must take action immediately and prioritize their protection and the investigation of attacks and threats against human rights defenders and community leaders. It must also urgently stop the intervention of militarized forces in the streets and protect the human rights of historically marginalized groups, such as women, LGBTIQ people, Indigenous Peoples and Afro-Hondurans, among others,” said Erika Guevara-Rosas.

“Thousands of people continue to be displaced outside and inside the country, fleeing the devastation of the climate crisis, violence, poverty and inequalities. Addressing the structural causes of these issues with a human rights perspective is key for people to live with dignity in Honduras.”

Amnesty International reiterates its interest in engaging in direct dialogue with President Xiomara Castro and her government and requests a meeting as soon as possible to discuss the human rights challenges facing Honduras.

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The climate crisis is already upon us – yet most governments have chosen to remain in the deadly embrace of the fossil fuel industry, submitting desperately inadequate emissions targets and then failing to meet even those.

Agnès Callamard, Secretary General, Amnesty International

“COP27 comes in the wake of a terrifying summer in which the Arctic burned, scorching heatwaves ravaged Europe, and floods submerged huge swathes of Pakistan and Australia. In short, the climate crisis is already upon us – yet most governments have chosen to remain in the deadly embrace of the fossil fuel industry, submitting desperately inadequate emissions targets and then failing to meet even those,” said Agnès Callamard, Amnesty International’s Secretary General.

“These failures mean we are currently heading for global warming exceeding 2.5°C, a scenario which would see famine, homelessness, disease, and displacement unfold on an almost unfathomable scale. These violations are already happening in many parts of the world.

“As the climate crisis unfolds, the people who are least responsible for causing it are being hit hardest and first, exacerbating the marginalization they already face. At COP27 we need to see measures that will radically shift responsibility-sharing and address this injustice. Wealthy governments must increase their commitments on climate finance to help lower-income countries phase out fossil fuels and scale up adaptation measures. They must also establish a loss and damage fund in order to provide speedy remedy to those whose rights have been violated by the crisis they helped to create.”

“I’m getting poorer every day”

Amnesty International’s new briefing ‘Any tidal wave could drown us’: Stories from the climate crisis, includes case studies featuring seven marginalized communities from around the world, including in Bangladesh, Fiji, Senegal, and the Russian Arctic.

Amnesty International worked with local activists to interview marginalized people, including those living in some of the world’s most climate-vulnerable places, and shared their stories and calls to action. Their accounts provide a glimpse of life on the frontlines of the climate crisis, characterized by discrimination, forced displacement, loss of livelihood, food insecurity, and destruction of cultural heritage.

In Bangladesh, interviewees from impoverished and marginalized coastal communities, including Dalits and Indigenous Munda people, explained how frequent flooding means they have had to rebuild their houses again and again, or else live in the ruins of their flooded homes. Floods have also damaged water and sanitation infrastructure, leaving the communities with salty drinking water and unusable toilets.

The Indigenous peoples of the Arctic region of Yakutia live in the far north-east of Russia, where the average temperature has risen by 2-3°C in recent years. This has caused permafrost to thaw, intensifying wildfires, and leading to biodiversity loss.

Unpredictable weather has a severe impact on the way of life of Indigenous peoples, as one Chukcha man explained: “The weather is essential for the traditional way of life of Indigenous peoples. Based on weather patterns, we determine where the reindeer will graze, where to set up a camp between migrations, when the snowstorm will come, when and where animals, birds and fish will migrate.”

In Québec, Canada, the Indigenous Innu people in the community of Pessamit face similar threats. Rising temperatures have led to reduced coastal ice and other weather changes which have severely impacted the community’s way of life. For example, the fact that lakes do not freeze in winter means elders are less able to travel on their ancestral territory and cannot pass on their traditional knowledge about wayfaring.

“If you are no longer able to talk about your knowledge, there is a certain shame. You lose some dignity,” David Toro, environmental adviser at Mamuitun Tribal Council said.

The case studies also reveal how people facing loss and damage due to climate change are often left to fend for themselves after disasters, forcing them to take out exorbitant loans, migrate, cut down on food, or pull their children out of school.

“I used to be able to send my son to school… but now I don’t have that luxury, I’m getting poorer every day,” said a fisherman who lives in the Fonseca Gulf area of Honduras, which suffers regular flooding and cyclones.

“We are not listened to”

Some interviewees shared information about adaptation strategies they have developed. These provide important learnings for the rest of the world and underscore the importance of including the worst-impacted communities in developing strategies to address the climate emergency. For example, the Pessamit Indigenous community in Québec, Canada, have initiated projects to protect salmon and caribou.

“For the past ten or twelve years, community or even individual hunting of the caribou has been prohibited,” Adelard Benjamin, project coordinator for Territory and Resources in Pessamit, explained.

The resourcefulness of the hardest-hit communities underscores the importance of genuinely including them in decision-making concerning responses to the climate emergency. For the Pessamit people, the impacts of climate change and environmental degradation have entrenched inequalities caused by long histories of colonialism, racism and discrimination.

As Eric Kanapé, environmental adviser for the Pessamit community said: “We are consulted for the sake of it. We propose new ways of doing things but we are not listened to. We are not taken seriously.”

The Langue de Barbarie is a sand peninsula near the Senegalese city of Saint Louis, where around 80,000 people live in densely populated fishing villages at high risk of flooding. Coastal erosion has led to the loss of up to 5-6 meters of beach every year; “the sea is advancing”, as one fisherman put it.

Interviewees in Saint Louis have developed several of their own initiatives to cope with the climate crisis. For example, one community-led project helps locals affected by sea-level rise to build houses and set up income-generating recycling activities. Others have set up a community solidarity fund to help people through times of hardship, although it is sometimes left empty because of economic problems affecting the whole community.

The lack of support measures and effective remedies for loss and damage caused by climate change is a major injustice. The wealthy countries that have contributed the most to climate change, and those with the most resources, have a heightened obligation to provide redress. At COP27, this should start with an agreement to establish a loss and damage fund and commitments of adequate funds dedicated for this purpose.

Last chance

Amnesty International will be attending COP27 in Sharm El-Sheikh, Egypt, between 5 and 19 November. The organization is calling on all governments to urgently ensure that their 2030 emissions targets are compatible with keeping the global temperature increase below 1.5°C.

Meeting the 1.5°C target would mitigate some of the worst impacts of climate change, but the window to do so is rapidly closing. Despite the COP26 Glasgow Climate Pact Decision requesting all states to strengthen their 2030 targets, only 22 countries have submitted updated pledges in 2022. In addition, most national policies that are currently being implemented are inadequate to meet countries’ pledges.

Wealthy states must present a clear plan to increase their contributions to climate finance, so they can collectively meet the long overdue goal of raising at least 100billion USD annually to help lower-income countries phase out fossil fuels and scale up adaptation measures. In addition, wealthy countries must ensure the rapid provision of new funding to support and remedy communities who have suffered serious loss and damage caused by the effects of climate change.

Civil society participation in COP27 is severely threatened by the Egyptian authorities’ years-long crackdown on the rights to freedom of expression, association, and peaceful assembly which Amnesty has been documenting. All states attending COP27 must pressure the Egyptian government to protect civic space and guarantee the meaningful input of NGOs and Indigenous peoples.

“We are living a natural phenomenon caused by global warming and, caused by ourselves for not obeying the ecological damage we did,” said a resident of Punta Ratón in Honduras. “Now we must take care of what is left for the generations to come.”

Case studies

Bangladesh

People from impoverished and marginalized coastal communities, including Dalits and Indigenous Munda people living in coastal villages in south-west Bangladesh, described the impact of regular flooding and cyclones. These communities live in poverty, and some are subject to pervasive and systematic discrimination, and as a result they are extremely vulnerable to climate shocks. Interviewees explained how frequent flooding has meant they have had to rebuild their houses again and again, and has also damaged sanitation infrastructure, leaving them with salty drinking water and unusable toilets.

Russia

The Indigenous peoples of the Arctic region of Yakutia, in the far north-east of Russia. Yakutia is one of the coldest inhabited regions on earth, but its average temperature has risen by 2-3°C in recent years, causing permafrost to thaw, intensifying wildfires, and causing biodiversity loss.

This has a severe impact on the way of life of Indigenous peoples, as one Chukcha man explained: “The weather is essential for the traditional way of life of Indigenous peoples. Based on weather patterns, we determine where the reindeer will graze, where to set up a camp between migrations, when the snowstorms will come, when and where animals, birds and fish will migrate.”

The impacts of climate change in Yakutia are compounded by the Russian government’s plans to maximize extraction and production of oil and gas in the region.

Austria and Switzerland

In 2022, Europe experienced its hottest summer on record, with multiple heatwaves, record-breaking temperatures, drought, and wildfires in several countries. Amnesty International interviewed people in Austria experiencing homelessness, and older people and people with disabilities in Austria and Switzerland, who were all especially badly impacted by the heat.

Fiji

Amnesty International spoke to residents of a safe house – many of whom were LGBT – in an informal settlement in Fiji, one of the most climate-vulnerable countries in the world. Fiji has experienced rising sea and air temperatures, more intense tropical cyclones, storm surges, droughts, and changing rainfall patterns as a result of climate change. Residents reported struggling to access sufficient food immediately after cyclones and having to evacuate several times in recent years as the shelter got damaged by several cyclones. They also explained how people of diverse sexual orientation and gender identity may bear the brunt of public anger or administrative disruption in the context of disasters, including community and police harassment, as a consequence of stigma and discrimination.

Honduras

Communities in the Fonseca Gulf area of Honduras rely on subsistence fishing and are therefore highly vulnerable to climate shocks. Extreme weather events and the reduction in fish species have drastically reduced the standard of living among these communities and caused deepening poverty. Residents described how they are often reduced to cutting mangrove to sell as timber or firewood, contributing to the further degradation of their environment.

One fisherman in Cedeño village said: “You have no idea what the mangroves used to be like, it was a pleasure to see and appreciate them. Today you can no longer see them, they have been destroyed, it is a desert over the water.”

Canada

The Pessamit are an Indigenous community of the Innu Nation in the province of Québec, Canada. Rising temperatures have led to reduced coastal ice and other weather changes which have severely impacted the Innu peoples’ way of life and culture. For example, the fact that lakes don’t freeze in winter means elders are less able to travel on the territory and cannot pass on their traditional knowledge.

“If you are no longer able to talk about your knowledge, there is a certain shame. You lose some dignity,” one man said.

The Pessamit community is also living with the impacts of hydroelectric dams located in their ancestral territory, while the forestry industry has stripped their land of trees. One Pessamit Elder said “Those who made the dams, they install them but they don’t pay attention. There are fish in the rivers, but they don’t care. There are animals, they don’t care. Even if it floods the land, they don’t care about humans, let alone animals.”

Senegal

The Langue de Barbarie is a peninsula in Senegal where 80,000 people reside in densely populated fishing villages. It is one of the most climate vulnerable places on the African continent, exposed to sea-level rise and experiencing frequent flooding and storm surges.

Residents described how these weather events had damaged fisheries and left them with no means of making a living – but the prospect of moving is devastating for some:
“We’re thinking of moving, but we don’t really want to. Because if you want to kill a fisherman, you have to take him away from the sea,” said one local fisherman.

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“The main theme of the OAS General Assembly is ‘together against inequality and discrimination’, but it is time for governments to move from words to urgent action to tackle the systemic failures that are preventing the full realization of human rights for all people in the region. This requires comprehensive action to dismantle inequality, racism, and discrimination,” said Erika Guevara-Rosas, Americas director at Amnesty International.

As Amnesty International has documented, the Covid-19 pandemic highlighted and exacerbated the deep structural inequalities in the Americas that are rooted in economic, racial and gender-based factors. Many people in the region, among them women, Indigenous people, and people of African descent, suffered disproportionately in terms of rights to life, health, social protection, and the rights to an adequate standard of living and to work.

Emergency measures adopted by governments to deal with the pandemic have not been sufficient insofar as complying with their duty to eradicate discrimination and actively promote substantive equality in the enjoyment of human rights, particularly economic and social rights.

The main theme of the OAS General Assembly is ‘together against inequality and discrimination’, but it is time for governments to move from words to urgent action to tackle the systemic failures that are preventing the full realization of human rights for all people in the region.

Erika Guevara-Rosas, Americas director at Amnesty International

Furthermore, the structural problems in the health systems in the Americas in terms of free and universal access and adequate budgetary and human resources mean that the healthcare systems do not comply with the requirements of accessibility, availability, quality, and cultural relevance established by the right to health.

Almost every country in the region spends less than 6% of its Gross Domestic Product (GDP) on public health, which is the standard set by the Pan-American Health Organization to achieve universal health coverage. Governments in the Americas must, at the very least, ensure that public spending on health is at least 6% of GDP as established by PAHO. To achieve this, they must organize their tax policies, both in revenue collection and expenditure, in order to progressively seek to significantly reduce discrimination and inequality.

The American continent is the location of some of the world’s most important cross-border movements of people. The human rights crisis in Venezuela has forced more than 6.8 million people to flee the country in search of international protection. Meanwhile, the political and humanitarian crisis in Haiti has led to the movement of thousands of people who are trapped at different borders in the region. In addition, as a result of the situation of generalized violence, compounded by natural disasters associated with climate change in Central America, tens of thousands of people from El Salvador, Honduras and Guatemala have set off for the north of the continent.

For women refugees and migrants, their migration status is a risk factor that increases their vulnerability, exposing them to gender-based violence throughout the migration route or in the cities where they decide to stay. A recent Amnesty International investigation revealed that figures on gender-based violence against Venezuelan women refugees in Colombia and Peru have increased alarmingly in recent years. 

In the case of Haiti, Amnesty International concluded that the mass or collective expulsions of Haitian asylum seekers by US authorities under Title 42 form part of a practice of detention, exclusion, and deterrence based on systematic discrimination against people of African descent. The treatment of Haitians by US authorities constitutes race-based torture under international human rights law.

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“The tragedy in San Antonio is a devastating example of the failure of states across the Americas to protect migrants and asylum seekers. It is heartbreaking to reflect that this has happened before and it will continue to happen until there are profound changes in the migration policies of the United States and neighboring countries.”

“Cruel and inhumane migration policies endanger lives, forcing people into taking ever-more risky routes when all they want is to find a safe place where they can rebuild their lives. Instead of pushing migrants and asylum seekers into desperate situations where they risk suffocation, drowning or dying of thirst, states must put human rights at the center of their policies and uphold their international obligations to protect them.” 

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“Knowing the punishment handed down on those who participated in the heinous crime against Indigenous leader Berta Cáceres is a key moment in the search for truth, justice and reparation for her family, who have endured a wait of more than six years for this. The Honduran authorities must show themselves equal to the task and ensure that the sentence, including its implementation, is in line with the highest human rights standards, ensuring that Berta’s killing does not go unpunished,” said Erika Guevara-Rosas, Americas director at Amnesty International. 

“Unfortunately, this process does not end here. Around the world, the wait continues to know the full truth about the killing of Berta Cáceres so that all those responsible can be held accountable. Berta Cáceres’ case must set a precedent for access to justice for human rights defenders in Honduras who continue to lose their lives in order to save our planet.”

Knowing the punishment handed down on those who participated in the heinous crime against Indigenous leader Berta Cáceres is a key moment in the search for truth, justice and reparation for her family, who have endured a wait of more than six years for this

Erika Guevara-Rosas, Americas director at Amnesty International

Further information

On 2 March 2016, Berta Cáceres, a courageous defender of the environment and Indigenous rights, was shot dead by armed men in her home in Intibucá, Honduras. She was the coordinator of the Civic Council of Popular and Indigenous Organizations of Honduras (COPINH) and campaigned against the Agua Zarca hydroelectric dam project and the impact it would have on the territory of the Lenca Indigenous people. 

Human rights defenders in Honduras continue be attacked with impunity. Killings are the biggest danger faced by environmental defenders in the country, which, according to Global Witness has the world’s second-highest homicide rate per capita. The start of 2022 has been particularly deadly for environmental defenders in Honduras, with two activists found dead in January.

Amnesty International has also documented threats, including disappearances, targeting environmentalists. Today, the whereabouts of four members of the Garifuna Indigenous community belonging to the Black Fraternal Organization of Honduras (OFRANEH), who have been missing since July 2020, remain unknown.

Despite the seriousness of the attacks on these defenders, Honduras has not yet signed the Escazú Agreement, the first environmental human rights treaty in Latin America and the Caribbean, which obliges signatory states to protect environmental defenders and entered into force on 22 April 2021.

For more information or to arrange an interview, please contact Amnesty International press office: press@amnesty.org

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Amnesty International Report 2021/22: The State of the World’s Human Rights details how, two years into the pandemic, the Americas is still the region with the most deaths from Covid-19, largely due to limited and unequal access to healthcare, poorly funded public health systems, and inadequate social protection policies and measures for marginalized communities. Impunity for grave human rights violations and crimes under international law remains a serious concern in more than half the countries in the region, while attacks on judicial independence have also increased.

“It’s shameful and unconscionable that instead of addressing the injustices and deep-seated inequalities that have plagued the Americas for generations and exacerbated the impact of the pandemic, many governments have instead sought to silence and repress those who protest peacefully and speak out in demand of a safer, fairer and more compassionate world,” said Erika Guevara-Rosas, Americas director at Amnesty International.

The Americas has achieved the world’s second-highest vaccination rates per capita, with Cuba and Chile leading the way in vaccinating over 90 percent of their populations, but unequal regional access has undermined protection in countries like Haiti, where less than two percent of the population had been vaccinated as of 10 March 2022. Meanwhile, wealthy nations such as the USA and Canada stockpiled more doses than needed and turned a blind eye as Big Pharma put profits ahead of people, refusing to share their technology to enable wider distribution of vaccines.

“Many states in the Americas have made encouraging progress in vaccinating their populations, but they must do much more to ensure equal and universal access to vaccines in every country and address the socioeconomic impact of the pandemic, which has disproportionately affected those who already face multiple and intersecting forms of discrimination and marginalization, such as women and Indigenous and Afro-descendent people,” said Erika Guevara-Rosas.

Even before the pandemic, the Americas had the world’s highest rates of income inequality. The continent’s uneven economic recovery last year made little impact on the consequences of decades of structural inequality and proved insufficient to reverse the 2020 economic downturn, which brought record unemployment, falling incomes and increases in poverty. This has worsened preexisting humanitarian emergencies in countries like Haiti and Venezuela, where millions of people continue to lack access to sufficient food and health care.

It’s shameful and unconscionable that instead of addressing the injustices and deep-seated inequalities that have plagued the Americas for generations and exacerbated the impact of the pandemic, many governments have instead sought to silence and repress those who protest peacefully and speak out in demand of a safer, fairer and more compassionate world

Erika Guevara-Rosas, Americas director at Amnesty International

Meanwhile, efforts to stifle independent and critical voices gathered steam in 2021 as states deployed a widening gamut of tools and tactics, including threats, harassment, politically motivated arbitrary arrests, unfounded prosecutions, unlawful surveillance, excessive use of force, enforced disappearance and unlawful killings, to crack down on the rights to freedom of expression, association and peaceful assembly.

At least 36 states in the USA introduced more than 80 pieces of draft legislation limiting the right to freedom of peaceful assembly, while in Colombia authorities brutally repressed protesters during last year’s National Strike, resulting in 46 deaths, 3,275 arbitrary detentions, over 100 ocular injuries, and 49 reports of sexual violence.

Cuban authorities also arbitrarily detained hundreds of people during historic protests last July and banned another march to call for their release in October, as well as resorting to internet shutdowns to prevent people from sharing information about repression and organizing in response. Surreptitious digital technologies were further weaponized in El Salvador, where NSO Group’s Pegasus spyware was deployed against journalists and activists on a massive scale.

Dozens of journalists and media workers were threatened, censored, attacked and detained across the region, with Mexico remaining the world’s most lethal country for journalists after recording nine killings in 2021 and at least eight more in early 2022.

Excessive and unnecessary use of force in law enforcement operations also proved deadly in many countries, including Brazil, where the deadliest ever operation by police in Rio de Janeiro left 27 residents of the Jacarezinho favela dead last May. In the USA, police shot dead at least 888 people in 2021, with Black people disproportionately impacted.

Racism and discrimination remained prevalent across the Americas, with inadequate access to water, sanitation, health services and social benefits exacerbating the impact of the pandemic on Indigenous peoples in particular. Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico, Paraguay, Peru and Venezuela all continued to allow major extractive, agricultural and infrastructure projects to proceed without obtaining the free, prior and informed consent of affected Indigenous peoples, and sometimes despite judicial orders to suspend operations.

Despite some progress, action on climate change remained limited. The Escazú Agreement, a regional treaty for environmental justice and the protection of environmental defenders in Latin America and the Caribbean, finally came into force last April, although Cuba, Honduras and Venezuela have yet to sign it and 12 other countries have still not ratified it. The USA rejoined the Paris Agreement under President Biden and sought to reverse hundreds of laws and policies that the Trump administration passed to deregulate the environmental and energy sectors, but it continued to approve oil drilling projects on federal land.

Brazil’s President Bolsonaro continued to encourage deforestation and extraction of natural resources in the Amazon, exacerbating the impact of the climate crisis on Indigenous peoples’ lands and territories, and drawing accusations of genocide and ecocide before the International Criminal Court. Elsewhere, Canada continued to subsidize the fossil fuel industry, Bolivia passed regulations that incentivized logging and the burning of forests, and Mexico, the world’s 11^th largest greenhouse gas emitter, failed to present new emission reduction targets at COP26.

Tens of thousands of people – mostly from Guatemala, Haiti, Honduras and Venezuela – fled human rights violations related to violence, poverty, inequality and climate change throughout the year. Yet the governments of Canada, Chile, Curaçao, Mexico, Peru, Trinidad and Tobago, and the USA continued to prohibit the entry of refugees, asylum seekers and migrants, and violated international law by deporting, without proper consideration of their claims, those who did make it across borders.

Tens of thousands of Haitian refugees sought international protection, but governments across the region failed to shield them from detention and unlawful pushbacks, extortion, racial discrimination and gender-based violence. US border control officials pushed back over a million refugees and migrants at the US-Mexico border, including tens of thousands of unaccompanied children, using Covid-19 public health provisions as a pretext.

Gender-based violence remains a major concern across the region, with measures to protect women and girls inadequate throughout the region, and investigations into domestic violence, rape and femicide often flawed. Mexico recorded 3,716 killings of women in 2021, of which 969 were investigated as femicides, while Mexican security forces used excessive force, arbitrary detentions and sexual violence against women protesters. Both Paraguay and Puerto Rico declared states of emergency because of increased violence against women and there were also significant increases in violence against women in Peru and Uruguay.

The Americas saw some limited progress in the recognition of the rights of LGBTI people last year with Argentina introducing identity cards recognizing people who identify as non-binary and passing a law to promote the employment of trans people. President Biden’s government took steps to repeal the previous administration’s discriminatory policies toward LGBTI people in the USA, but hundreds of state-level bills were also introduced that would curtail their rights.

From Argentina to Colombia, the green tide has built up unstoppable momentum and shown that change is possible even in seemingly hopeless situations. The feminist activists of the Americas are an inspiration for all the world to never stop standing up for human rights 

Erika Guevara-Rosas, Americas director at Amnesty International

Legislation that would better protect the rights of LGBTI people was blocked in many parts of the region, while individuals in several countries continued to be the targets of discrimination and violence because of their sexual orientation and gender identity. The Americas accounted for 316 of 375 trans and gender-diverse people reported murdered worldwide from October 2020 to September 2021, with Brazil recording 125 killings – more than any other country on earth.

Many governments did not do enough to prioritize sexual and reproductive health in 2021. Essential services were lacking, and safe abortion services remained criminalized in most countries, with the Dominican Republic, El Salvador, Haiti, Honduras, Jamaica and Nicaragua maintaining total bans on abortion. State governments in the USA introduced more abortion restrictions than in any other year, with Texas enacting a near-total ban that criminalizes abortion just six weeks into pregnancy.

Undeterred, Latin America’s vibrant feminist movement has continued to gain momentum since Argentina legalized abortion in late 2020, with Mexico’s Supreme Court declaring the criminalization of abortion unconstitutional in September 2021 and in Colombia’s Constituional Court decriminalizing abortion during the first 24 weeks of pregnancy in February 2022.

“From Argentina to Colombia, the green tide has built up unstoppable momentum and shown that change is possible even in seemingly hopeless situations. The feminist activists of the Americas are an inspiration for all the world to never stop standing up for human rights,” said Erika Guevara-Rosas. 

For more information or to arrange an interview, please contact Amnesty International press office: press@amnesty.org

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“This verdict is outrageous and goes against Honduras’ obligations to guarantee the right to defend human rights. It must be overturned immediately. We will not stop demanding this of the authorities until all of the Guapinol defenders are immediately and unconditionally released,” said Erika Guevara-Rosas, Americas director at Amnesty International.  

The Honduran authorities must stop using the justice system to criminalize, intimidate and harass human rights defenders

Erika Guevara-Rosas, Americas director at Amnesty International

“It’s extremely serious that, despite the lack of diligence in the investigations by the Public Prosecutor’s Office, six of the Guapinol prisoners of conscience are facing prison sentences. The defenders are victims of arbitrary detention and unfounded criminal prosecution, stemming solely from their legitimate work defending the right to water and a healthy environment in Honduras.” 

“The Honduran authorities must stop using the justice system to criminalize, intimidate and harass human rights defenders.” 

Further information 

Amnesty International recognized the eight defenders as prisoners of conscience after reviewing the available evidence, including the criminal proceedings against the Guapinol eight and videos related to the case, and having spoken to witnesses as well as the Honduran human rights community.   

The organization sent a letter to the Honduran Attorney General after the trial began on 1 December 2021, expressing concern about serious irregularities in the investigation and prosecution of the Guapinol eight. Amnesty International believes that the eight prisoners of conscience were detained solely for their work defending the right to clean water and a healthy environment, and that the criminal charges against them, as well as their prolonged pre-trial detention, are unjustified and constitute a misuse of the justice system.  

For more information or to arrange an interview, please contact Amnesty International press office: press@amnesty.org 

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“The Guapinol eight should not spend one more day in prison, as the available evidence has shown us that they stand accused of crimes they did not commit. They are victims of arbitrary detention and unfounded criminal prosecution stemming solely from their human rights work. The Public Prosecutor’s Office must not only drop the charges against them and call for their immediate release, but also carry out an independent, impartial and thorough investigation to identify and bring all those responsible for violating their human rights to justice,” said Erika Guevara-Rosas, Americas Director at Amnesty International.

The unjust imprisonment of the Guapinol eight for more than two years is a clear attempt to criminalize and intimidate those who legitimately defend the right to water and a healthy environment in Honduras

Erika Guevara-Rosas, Americas director at Amnesty International

Amnesty International is today publishing a letter it sent to the Attorney General of Honduras, Oscar Fernando Chinchilla, on 11 December 2021. In the letter, the organization expressed its concerns about serious irregularities in the investigation and prosecution of the Guapinol eight, concluding that the criminal charges against them, as well as their prolonged pre-trial detention, were unjustified and constitute a misuse of the justice system. To date, Amnesty International has not received a response to the recommendations contained in the letter.

“The unjust imprisonment of the Guapinol eight for more than two years is a clear attempt to criminalize and intimidate those who legitimately defend the right to water and a healthy environment in Honduras. The Honduran judiciary’s ruling must be fair and subject to due process. The Guapinol eight must be released immediately and unconditionally,” said Erika Guevara-Rosas.

For more information or to arrange an interview, please contact Amnesty International press office: press@amnesty.org

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“The killing of 20 human rights defenders and four journalists in just one month is alarming and paints a frightening picture of what the year may hold for those who speak out for human rights in the Americas if states do not take urgent action to reverse this trend,” said Erika Guevara-Rosas, Americas Director at Amnesty International.

“We must build a future where defending human rights in this continent does not mean risking one’s life. It is imperative that states take urgent measures to guarantee a safe and conducive space for the defence of human rights and independent journalism in the region, and that these cease to be lethal activities.”

The killings have occurred precisely in the countries considered most dangerous for the defence of human rights in previous years: 13 in Colombia, three in Brazil and three in Honduras, while one human rights defender and four journalists have been killed in Mexico, the most lethal country on the continent for practicing journalism. Of the 20 human rights defenders killed, 18 were involved in defending human rights related to access to land and the protection of territories and the environment.

“States have an obligation to investigate the killings in a prompt, thorough, independent and impartial manner, and with a primary line of investigation that considers the work of human rights defenders or journalistic work. Eliminating impunity in these cases is crucial to achieving a safe environment for defending human rights and sending a clear message that these acts will not be tolerated,” said Erika Guevara-Rosas.

Honduras

On 9 January, two unidentified men killed Pablo Isabel Hernández, an Indigenous leader, social communicator, and human rights and environmental defender, while he was on his way to a church in the municipality of San Marcos de Caiquín, department of Lempira. According to the Committee of Relatives of the Detained/Disappeared of Honduras, Pablo had been the victim of multiple threats for his human rights work, in particular for his reports on the community radio station where he worked.

The following day, Thalía Rodriguez, a trans human rights defender, was killed in Tegucigalpa. Thalía carried out her activism through several organizations, including Asociación Kukulcán, Cattrachas, Colectivo Violeta and Cozumel Trans, among others, raising awareness of human rights, leading self-help groups and promoting labour alternatives to sex work for transgender women.

The Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights reported that on 22 January, Melvin Geovany Mejía, a territorial defender and member of the Tolupán Indigenous community, was found dead with gunshot wounds in the municipality of Morazán, department of Yoro.

Colombia

According to the Institute for Development and Peace Studies (Instituto de Estudios para el Desarrollo y la Paz), 13 human rights defenders were killed in Colombia in January, all of them linked to the defence of land, territory and the environment. In addition, the Institute has documented thirteen massacres resulting in the deaths of 40 people living in rural areas in Colombia.

Our region remains the most dangerous for the defence of human rights and independent journalism because human rights defenders and journalists threaten the political and economic interests of a few while states remain apathetic and negligent in the face of the violence they face

Erika Guevara-Rosas, Americas director at Amnesty International

One of the defenders killed was Luz Marina Arteaga. Her body was found on 17 January, after she had been missing for five days. Luz Marina was a well-known defender of the rights of campesino communities in the department of Meta. Amnesty International had visited her home in the municipality of Puerto Gaitán in 2019. On that occasion, Luz Marina mentioned that the situation in the area was complex due to historical neglect by the state, which resulted in the invasion of Indigenous and campesino territories by illegal armed groups, contributing to a series of threats and attacks on social leaders in Meta.

The National Protection Unit had granted Luz Marina protective measures since April 2019. However, the measures granted were mostly of a material nature and did not reduce the risk she faced. In October 2019 Luz Marina reported threats against her to the Public Prosecutor’s office and in 2020 she informed the National Protection Unit that one of the measures was not culturally appropriate for the region she lived in.

On 24 January, the Defence of Life and Human Rights Network (Tejido de Defensa de la Vida y los Derechos Humanos, TDVD) reported the killing of Albeiro Camayo Güetio, former regional coordinator of the Indigenous Guard in the Las Delicias reservation, municipality of Buenos Aires, in Cauca. According to information from the TDVD, Albeiro Camayo was killed when suspected members of a paramilitary group shot at the community after the Indigenous Guard had expelled them from the territory.

Amnesty International has reported on the failed prevention and protection policies that contribute to an unsafe environment for the protection of human rights defenders in Colombia. 

“The protection of Indigenous, campesino and Afro-descendant communities in Colombia is ineffective because it does not address the structural causes of violence and often occurs without the proper participation of those at risk. Defenders of communities at risk are constantly unprotected, and threats, attacks and killings are constant in the country considered the most dangerous in the world for defending human rights,” said Erika Guevara-Rosas.

Brazil

On 9 January, the bodies of three members of the same family known for releasing turtle hatchlings and for defending the land and environmental protection were found in San Francisco do Xingú, Pará state. On 14 January, the Federal Public Prosecutor’s Office (MPF) stated that the events took place in a context of repeated attacks on environmentalists and human rights defenders in the country. The MPF also requested information from the Military Police on the measures taken for the protection of the victims’ families, as well as other human rights defenders in the region.

Mexico

The journalists José Luis Gamboa Arenas, Lourdes Maldonado, Alfonso Margarito Martínez Esquivel and Roberto Toledo were killed in January. Amnesty International believes that journalism can only be practised freely in an environment free from threats, physical, psychological or moral aggression, or other acts of intimidation and harassment. The Mexican government must take concrete, prompt and effective measures to guarantee the lives and safety of journalists in Mexico, as well as to investigate these killings.

On 27 January, human rights defender Ana Luisa Garduño was killed in Temixco, Morelos. Ana Luisa was fighting for justice for the feminicide of her daughter. Amnesty International has shown that Mexico is a dangerous country for families seeking justice in cases of feminicide.

“Our region remains the most dangerous for the defence of human rights and independent journalism because human rights defenders and journalists threaten the political and economic interests of a few while states remain apathetic and negligent in the face of the violence they face. It is time to act, otherwise lives will continue to be lost, lives that are essential for building an equal and just region where human rights are a reality,” concluded Erika Guevara-Rosas.

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“Having reviewed all the evidence available, including the criminal proceedings against the Guapinol eight and videos related to the case, and spoken to witnesses as well as to the human rights community in Honduras, Amnesty International considers that they are being detained only because of their activities in defense of the right to clean water and a safe environment,” said Erika Guevara-Rosas, Americas director at Amnesty International.

The eight men are part of the Municipal Committee for the Defence of Common and Public Goods (Comité Municipal en Defensa de los Bienes Comunes y Públicos, CMDBCP), an organization that has mobilized communities in and around Tocoa since 2015 to peacefully challenge the legality of iron mining concessions granted to Inversiones Los Pinares (ILP), because they argue it affects the quality of the Guapinol and San Pedro river waters. The concessions are in the protected Montaña de Botaderos Carlos Escaleras National Park.   

The newly elected government of Xiomara Castro must send a clear message that the violence and criminalisation against human right defenders will not be tolerated any longer.

-Erika Guevara-Rosas, Americas director at Amnesty International

Seven of the CMDBCP members have been in pretrial detention since August 2019, accused of the crime of deprivation of liberty (privación ilegal de la libertad) and aggravated arson (incendio agravado), after they voluntarily handed themselves to judicial authorities to contest criminal charges against them arising from a protest encampment in 2018. The eighth man, Jeremias Martínez, has been detained on the same charges since November 2018.

After rigorous analysis, Amnesty International determined that the case file shows multiple flaws in the investigation, including what appears to be a lack of due diligence by the prosecutors to properly clarify the facts, conduct an impartial and independent investigation and provide concrete evidence that could link these men with the charges they are accused of. Instead, the authorities have handpicked these eight human rights and environmental defenders and actively contributed to building a narrative that the Guapinol eightare criminals, having misused the criminal justice system to keep them in pretrial detention as a way to hinder their activism. These irregularities coincide with a wider pattern of criminalization of environmental defenders that we have documented in the region for years.

In 2020, the UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention found the detention of the human rights defenders to be arbitrary and called for their immediate release. Nevertheless, the Honduran authorities have refused to recognise the injustice inflicted on the men and their families, or to remedy the situation.

The Honduran authorities must urgently put an end to these unfair practices that jeopardise the right to defend human rights.

-Erika Guevara-Rosas, Americas director at Amnesty International

The trial of the Guapinol eight begins immediately after the presidential elections in Honduras.

“The newly elected government of Xiomara Castro must send a clear message that the violence and criminalisation against human right defenders will not be tolerated any longer. This context offers the opportunity to break this cycle of attacks against environmental and other human rights defenders. Amnesty International demands the immediate and unconditional release of these eight prisoners of conscience and calls on the Attorney General’s Office to drop the charges against them,” said Erika Guevara-Rosas.

“Unfortunately, in Honduras, those who speak out and protest to protect the environment face frequent threats and attacks, as in the murder of Berta Cáceres, or unjust criminalization, particularly where powerful vested economic interests are involved. The authorities continue to misuse the criminal justice system to silence and imprison human rights defenders. The Honduran authorities must urgently put an end to these unfair practices that jeopardise the right to defend human rights.”

More information

Amnesty International defines as prisoners of conscience people who are imprisoned or subjected to other restrictions on their liberty due to their religious, political or other beliefs, their ethnic origin, sex, colour, language, national or social origin, sexual orientation or gender identity, or other status, and that have not used violence or advocated violence and hatred.

In 2018, as construction work on the mining project began to impact the Guapinol and San Pedro rivers, local residents joined the CMDBCP to demand that national and local authorities respond to their concerns, filing legal actions and holding protests. As the authorities failed to respond, the CMDBCP established a protest encampment on the access road to the mines. The peaceful encampment lasted for 88 days, with local communities, church pastoral activists and other civil society organizations all participating. Negotiations were held with government officials, but in October 2018, the police and the military violently evicted those in the encampment.

The prosecution case against the eight defenders relates to a dispute that took place on 7 September 2018 near to a protest encampment, in which a ILP security staff reportedly shot one of the protesters and in response, protesters retained a contractor before handing him over to police. The shooting of the protester was never investigated, but the ILP reported the retention of the contractor and the burning of a rented car and two ILP shipping containers during the disturbances.

For more information or to arrange an interview, contact: press@amnesty.org

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