Catholic leaders mourn the killing of Honduran environmental activist Juan López
RNS Catholic leaders throughout the Americas are expressing grief and outrage at the killing of Juan Antonio López, a Honduran environmental activist and local Catholic leader, in Tocoa, in north-eastern Honduras, on Saturday. López, described by friends as his local bishop’s right-hand man, was shot dead by several men as he left church Saturday night, […]
Mexican election: Still hurting from violence, priests and families hope for peace
MARÍA TERESA HERNÁNDEZ, of Associated Press, reports on the hopes for peace following a 2022 attack which left two Catholic priests and a tour guide dead…
Americas rights court condemns violence against Haiti journalists
Reuters The Inter-American Commission on Human Rights on Tuesday condemned an escalation of violence against journalists in Haiti, saying media workers are among those who have been killed, kidnapped and lost their homes as gang violence has surged. People fleeing gang violence take shelter at a sports arena, in Port-au-Prince, Haiti on 1st September, 2023. […]
Violent response to Peru protesters may be ‘massacre,’ says rights group
Lima, Peru Reuters Peru’s security forces committed alarming human rights violations during anti-government protests last December, a regional human rights body said on Wednesday, adding that the response to demonstrators could be classified as a massacre. More than 60 people died in clashes with police and soldiers in protests that broke out following the ouster […]
Violence against Honduran human rights defenders “alarming” – OAS group
Tegucigalpa, Honduras Reuters Honduras is one of the deadliest countries in the world for human rights defenders, the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights said on Friday after a visit to the Central American country. Eight human rights figures were killed in the year’s first four months, on pace to surpass the 17 killed in 2022, […]
Americas rights body turns up heat on Mexico over missing students
Mexico City, Mexico Reuters Mexico’s government still owes an explanation to the families of 43 student teachers who disappeared eight years ago, and must clear up what role the armed forces played in the crime, a top international human rights body said on Tuesday. Commissioner Esmeralda Arosemena de Troitino of the Inter-American Human Rights Commission […]
Gang control of Ecuador’s prisons leave inmates’ families terrified
Quito/Guayaquil, Ecuador Reuters Gangs operating inside Ecuador’s prisons are taking advantage of state abandonment to expand their power, extorting inmates for access to services and threatening their lives with violence, prisoners’ families and human rights groups say. The prison system in the South American country has faced structural problems for decades, but jail violence has […]
Human rights concerns grow over Ecuador prison riots – UN officials
Quito, Ecuador Reuters United Nations human rights officials are concerned about Ecuador’s prison violence crisis, they said on Thursday, after yet another riot at a Guayaquil jail left at least 13 inmates dead and more than 20 prisoners and police injured. Violence has plagued Ecuador’s prison system since early 2021, with close to 400 killed […]
Ecuador’s prisons blighted by state abandonment, says rights body
Quito, Educador Reuters Ecuador’s prison system, blighted by state abandonment and the absence of a comprehensive policy, has unprecedented high levels of violence and corruption and poor conditions for inmates, the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights said on Thursday. A delegation from the IACHR visited Ecuador in December after violent clashes in prisons across the […]
Rights group raises alarm over threat to women in El Salvador
San Salvador, El Salvador Reuters An international rights watchdog named El Salvador the most unsafe country for women in Latin America and the Caribbean in a new report published Wednesday. The Inter-American Commission on Human Rights said in the report it had “great concern” over El Salvador and called on the government to strengthen protections […]