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

Highlights are:

• Colombia: There is an Urgent Action regarding the need for stronger protection for members of the Inter-Church Commission for Justice and Peace following death threats against a human rights defender in northern Colombia.
• Ecuador: There is an update regarding efforts to end toxic gas flaring in the Amazon, as activists delivered nearly 500,000 signatures to the government.
• Argentina: A new Amnesty report warns that cuts to sexual and reproductive health programmes are creating growing barriers to accessing legal abortion across the country.
• Brazil: A planned reform to strengthen independent investigations into police killings has been delayed by one year, despite ongoing concerns over record levels of police violence.
• Venezuela: Human Rights Watch says the new amnesty law excludes many arbitrarily detained people, with at least 457 political prisoners still held.
• Bolivia: Congress has lifted limits on emergency presidential powers to deploy the army and restrict freedoms amid economic crisis protests, raising human rights concerns.
• Chile: The UN and human rights groups urge stronger action on enforced disappearances under the National Search Plan, amid concerns over Indigenous land rights and threats to community leaders.

COLOMBIA

URGENT ACTION: In late March, human rights defender Juan Carlos Gaona, a member of the Inter-Church Commission for Justice and Peace in northern Colombia, received a text message stating that an operation to murder him had been frustrated by chance – but that he would not be so lucky next time. This death threat highlights the urgent need for stronger protection for members of this organization across the country. Amnesty is calling on Colombian authorities to comply with international measures ordering it to protect the organization. Please click here to take action! [Read more…]

Dear Friends,

This month, we bring you news from Colombia, Paraguay,  Venezuela, Argentina, Brazil, and Chile

Highlights are:

• Regional : Amnesty International has released its annual report on the State of the World’s Human Rights
• Colombia: There is an Urgent Action regarding the threat to the lives and territorial rights of the Aseinpome Indigenous community.
• Paraguay : There is an Urgent Action calling for an investigation into an armed attack on Rubén Irala Galeano, a human rights defender, and to provide him with protection.
• Venezuela: There is an Urgent Action calling on the Venezuelan government to release all those arbitrarily detained for political reasons.
• Argentina: Amnesty Argentina has just published a report (in Spanish) arguing that press freedom in Argentina has deteriorated sharply.
• Brazil: Amnesty International’s annual report states that land invasions and acts of violence against Indigenous communities continue to be prevalent in Brazil.
• Chile: the director of Amnesty International Chile criticised plans to pardon state agents convicted of very serious crimes in the context of the social uprising.

REGIONAL

Amnesty International has released its annual report on the State of the World’s Human Rights.  The report assesses national, regional and global developments across a wide range of human rights themes, and documents human rights concerns during 2025 in 144 countries, connecting global and regional issues and looking to the future.  Individual country chapters can be found here, or via our website country pages.

COLOMBIA

URGENT ACTION: A billboard installed by the Aseinpome Indigenous community to mark the existence of its recognised reserve was violently destroyed on the same day that armed men carrying long guns intimidated one of the community’s settlements. Both acts represent a threat to the lives and territorial rights of the Indigenous community. Amnesty International is urging the National Lands Agency (ANT) to visit the area and guarantee the territorial rights and safety of the Aseinpome Indigenous community of El Porvenir, in the municipality of Puerto Gaitán, Meta department.  Please click here to take action.

PARAGUAY

Amnesty has issued an URGENT ACTION asking us to write to the Paraguayan authorities calling on them to investigate the motive behind an armed attack on Rubén Irala Galeano, a human rights defender and co-ordinator of the Diocesan Social Pastoral Ministry of Guairá, and to provide adequate protection measures for him and his family.  The attack took place on 20 March at the December 23 Settlement, Caazapá Department.  In view of previous threats, the aggression is highly likely to be linked to his work protecting the environment and communities affected by environmental degradation. [Read more…]

This month we bring you news from Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, and Venezuela, as well as one story impacting across the region.

Highlights are:

• Across the region, in a new report, Tearing Up The Social Fabric, Amnesty has documented how State authorities in the Americas have promoted and enacted a growing number of laws that restrict or control civil society organisations
• In Argentina, on the 50th anniversary of the 1976 military coup, tens of thousands marched in Buenos Aires and across the country to honour victims of the dictatorship.
• International Women’s Day marches in Brazil served as a rallying cry against gender-based violence, fuelled by the latest case to outrage the country involving the alleged gang rape of a 17-year-old girl in Copacabana.
• For Chile, there is a new Urgent Action, calling for the new president to ensure accountability for all serious human rights violations and crimes under international law and to refrain from pardoning convicted former Carabinero and military officials.
• Human rights defenders in Colombia have been subjected to unrelenting violence over the past decade, with on average just under 100 killed every year, a report issued by the UN Human Rights Office finds.
• For Ecuador, the United Nations Committee on Enforced Disappearances assessed the progress and challenges faced by Ecuador in preventing, investigating and punishing enforced disappearances. Amnesty submitted informationto the Committee.
• The Inter-American Court of Human Rights has condemned Peru over the death of its citizen Celia Ramos, who died at the age of 34 in 1997 after undergoing sterilisation “under coercion”.

REGIONAL

In a new report, Tearing Up The Social Fabric, Amnesty has documented how State authorities in the Americas have promoted and enacted a growing number of laws that restrict or control civil society organisations, reinforcing authoritarian practices that threaten freedom of association and curtail civic space. The report documents how new laws in Ecuador, El Salvador, Nicaragua, Paraguay, Peru and Venezuela are leading to self-censorship, weakened citizen participation and oversight, and erosion of the social fabric as trust and community networks break down, while victims of human rights violations are left unprotected.

 

ARGENTINA

On March 24, the 50th anniversary of the 1976 military coup, tens of thousands marched in Buenos Aires and across the country to honour victims of the dictatorship, while human rights groups and international experts warned of setbacks in ongoing efforts to secure truth and justice. Human rights organisations estimate that 30,000 people were disappeared during the dictatorship. At least 500 newborn babies were also stolen from prisoners and given to military families to raise, with some unaware to this day of their true identity. [Read more…]

Dear Friends,

This month we bring you news from Venezuela, Colombia, Brazil, Chile and Argentina.

Highlights are:

• Venezuela: Urgent Action issued calling on authorities to immediately release all arbitrarily detained individuals.
• Colombia: Indigenous groups face physical and cultural extinction as illegal groups battle for control of illicit mining and drug-trafficking routes.
• Brazil: The jury trial of two military policemen accused of the death of 13-year-old Thiago Menezes Flausino, due last week, has been adjourned; Thiago’s family continue to seek justice almost three years after his killing.
• Chile: Police officer accused of blinding protester Gustavo Gatica during Chile’s 2019 protests acquitted; President-elect José Antonio Kast names abortion opponent as gender equality minister; Kast also visits El Salvador’s mega-prison to explore collaboration on Chile’s penitentiary system.
• Argentina: Decree issued by President Javier Milei granting intelligence agency SIDE the power to arrest people is condemned by Amnesty International and other human rights organizations; mothers and grandmothers of Plaza de Mayo recognised for their enduring Human Rights struggle.

VENEZUELA

Between 25^th December and 19^th January, the Venezuelan authorities released a number of politically motivated arbitrary detainees, including Roland Carreno and Biagio Pillieri, as well as prisoners of conscience Rocio San Miguel and Carlos Julio Rokas. However, at least 780 individuals remain arbitrarily detained for political reasons, according to NGO Foro Penal. Amnesty International has issued an urgent action calling on the authorities to immediately release all arbitrarily detained individuals and to ensure that, whilst in custody of the state, every detainee sees their life and safety protected, fair trial guaranteed, adequate medical care, and family visits.

COLOMBIA

Violence is surging across Colombia as illegal groups battle for control of the country’s illicit economies, including key drug-trafficking routes and coca-growing regions. The 2016 peace deal with the guerrilla Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) has begun to unravel, allowing splinter factions to move into the vacuum it left behind.

Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta, located in northern Colombia on the Caribbean Coast, illustrates this vulnerability clearly. The UN has warned that five Indigenous groups living in the Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta – the Kogui, Wiwa, Kankuamo, Arhuaco and Ette Naka – face “physical and cultural extinction.” Indigenous leaders say assassination attempts have increased, while Colombian research organisation Cinep/Programme for Peace reports that some victims have been tortured, dismembered and displayed in public spaces in a bid to instil collective terror.

Indigenous leaders say they have faced death threats for speaking out against environmental destruction, and at least three have survived recent assassination attempts. Colombia has suffered the highest number of murders of environmental defenders for three years in a row. Colombia’s representative for the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights says this risk is “an ongoing tragedy that we can and must prevent.” [Read more…]