Human Rights Watch expressed in a letter to the Uruguayan minister of education and culture and the Communication Services Regulation Unit today that the Uruguay authorities should investigate whether a decision by private television stations not to run a public awareness commercial designed to reduce discrimination against lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) people is lawful.

Human Rights Watch expresses concern that two major television channels in Uruguay, 4 and 10, have decided not to broadcast a television commercial that is part of a campaign by Ovejas Negras, a collective working on lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) people’s human rights in Uruguay.

Criminal charges filed against a former Uruguayan president for killings committed under military rule represent an important step toward establishing responsibility for gross human rights abuses, Human Rights Watch said today.