IRTF News

On April 25, El Salvador’s Legislative Assembly extended for another 30 days a state of emergency enacted the month prior in response to escalating gang violence. Since enacting the state of emergency on March 27, the Legislative Assembly has gone on to approve a series of measures proposed by President Nayib Bukele that allow judges to imprison children as young as 12, restrict freedom of expression, and dangerously expand the use of pretrial detention and counterterrorism legislation. More than 17,000 have been arrested under the degree, which restricts the right to gather, to be informed of rights upon detention, and access to a lawyer, as well as allows phone calls and emails to be intercepted without a court order. CISPES shares excerpts of an analysis of the situation by human rights experts in El Salvador.

Honduras: In 2021, according to data from the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights in Honduras (OACNUDH), 302 attacks on human rights defenders were reported, of which 169 are dedicated to the protection of human rights. common goods of nature in indigenous, peasant or Afro-descendant communities. Likewise, until April 20, 2022, 27 attacks on human rights defenders have been registered: 5 were victims of murder and 19 are dedicated to protecting the environment.

Five human rights groups reported Wednesday there have been complaints of at least 338 violations of human rights during El Salvador's massive arrests of suspected gang members. The most frequently cited abuse was arbitrary arrest, as well as illegal searches of homes, injuries, robbery and the death of a detainee. The roundups, begun in late March after a spike in homicides, have resulted in the arrest of over 24,000 presumed gang members.

Florida Atlantic University (FAU) Student/Farmworker Alliance: “About a week after the action in Palm Beach, a few SFA members at FAU confirmed with a Chartwells representative, our food service provider, that Wendy’s will not return to the Boca Raton campus. The news caused major excitement, especially because generations of students have organized to make this a reality.”

Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopes Obrador is going on a 4-day tour of Central America to talk about the possible migration surge if Title 42 is ended by the Biden Administration. The Mexican leader has urged the United States to invest in economic development in Central America to generate jobs so people do not need to flee poverty. US President Joe Biden "agrees that the causes must be addressed, but Central America is still waiting for several billion dollars pledged by Washington.

Human rights groups on Monday criticized the massive arrests of suspected gang members in El Salvador. The roundups, begun in late March after a spike in homicides, have resulted in the arrest of over 22,000 presumed gang members. “A growing amount of evidence indicate that Salvadoran authorities have committed serious human rights violations since the emergency decree was approved" on March 27, according to a report by Human Rights Watch and the Cristosal Foundation.

In January, Thalía Rodríguez, a renowned human rights defender for trans people, was murdered in Tegucigalpa. Her crime highlighted the challenges faced by the government of President Xiomara Castro in protecting the sexual diversity community in Honduras. The country is considered one of the most hostile places in Latin America to be a member of the LGTBIQ+ community. In her Government Plan, Xiomara Castro proposed to promote the Law of Protection for LGTBIQ+ persons and establish a variety of care programs. The inclusion of some of the demands of the LGTBIQ+ community in President Castro's Government Plan has raised expectations in this sector.

Social activists and former combatants in the peace process are still being widely targeted in many parts of Colombia. The first four months of 2022 saw the murders of more than 60 social activists and 18 former FARC combatants, while armed groups continued to impact heavily on communities in various parts of the country. Here is JFC’s monthly human rights update for May 2022.

A plan to create special self-governing zones for foreign investors in Honduras has been thrown into limbo with the new government’s repeal of a law many criticized as surrendering sovereignty. The zones were inspired by libertarian and free-market thinkers as a way to draw foreign investment to the impoverished country. Critics were worried that the zones could become nearly independent statelets and President Xiomara Castro, who took office in January, campaigned against the law. On Monday, she signed a measure passed by Honduras’ Congress to repeal it — though the permission for the zones still remains in the constitution. Castro called the repeal “historic” and said Honduras was “recovering its sovereignty.” Her administration said it did not want to destroy what had already been built, but that changes were coming.