This month we bring you news from Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Ecuador, Suriname, and Venezuela. 

Highlights are: 

• Amnesty has raised an alarm about the proliferation of legal initiatives to curtail the work of civil society organisations in Latin America and which seriously threaten the efforts of these organisations to promote and defend human rights in the region. 

• In Argentina, a violent police operation during protests on 12 June resulted in 33 people being arbitrarily detained and charged with several offences, including attacks on constitutional order and democratic life. Amnesty International has issued an Urgent Action urging the prosecutor to immediately drop the charges against them. 

• Following reports of a failed coup attempt in Bolivia, UN Human Rights Chief Volker Türk expressed deep concern at the news, calling on Bolivian authorities, including the armed forces, to ensure full respect for human rights under all circumstances 

• El Pais (English version) reports on the findings of the Gamboa case in Brazil where three police officers are charged with the killing of three young Black individuals during Carnival in 2022. 

• Yuly Velásquez, President of FEDESPAN (Federation of Artisanal, Environmental, and Tourist Fisherfolk of Santander Department), received AI Germany’s human rights award on 4 June. 

• Amnesty has submitted a briefing to the UN Committee against Torture setting out its main concerns with regard to the current crisis within Ecuador’s prisons. 

• There will be a new Amnesty report this month focusing on demanding justice and accountability for the victims of the military and police repression of the 2022/23 Peruvian protests. 

• According to a report from Dialogue Earth, Suriname is the only remaining country in South America that has yet to enshrine Indigenous land rights in its constitution. 

• The United Nations published an update denouncing the growing restriction of civil liberties in Venezuela, especially before the election later this month. 

REGIONAL 

Amnesty has raised an alarm about the proliferation of legal initiatives to curtail the work of civil society organisations in Latin America and which seriously threaten the efforts of these organisations to promote and defend human rights in the region.  Taking cues from questionable, regressive and authoritarian measures that certain countries in the region have adopted, the parliaments of Paraguay, Peru and Venezuela are currently considering passing laws that would arbitrarily restrict and unduly interfere with civil society organizations, associations, and groups. These measures threaten to silence criticism, compromise the pursuit of justice and undermine progress on human rights.  [click to continue…]