• Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez speaks next to Vice President Nicolas Maduro (right) and National assembly president Diosdado Cabello (left) during a national broadcast at Miraflores Palace in Caracas on December 8, 2012.
    © 2012 Reuters
    Venezuela: Chávez’s Authoritarian Legacy

    Hugo Chávez’s presidency (1999-2013) was characterized by a dramatic concentration of power and open disregard for basic human rights guarantees, Human Rights Watch said today.

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Americas

  • Argentina: Reject Interference with Judicial Independence
    Apr 24, 2013

    The Argentine Congress should reject proposals by the Fernández de Kirchner administration to reform the justice system because they would undermine judicial independence, Human Rights Watch said today.

  • Guatemala: Genocide Trial Suspension
    Apr 19, 2013
    The abrupt suspension of the genocide trial of former de facto head of Guatemala, Efraín Ríos Montt, raises serious concerns about victims’ access to justice, Human Rights Watch said today.
  • Syria: Allow UN Aid Directly Over Borders
    Apr 19, 2013
    Brazil should respond to the stark new picture of Syria’s humanitarian crisis by working with India and South Africa for improved access to humanitarian aid, including over Syria’s borders.
  • Universal Periodic Review: HRW Submission on Cuba
    Apr 18, 2013
    Cuba remains the only country in Latin America that represses virtually all forms of political dissent. In 2012 the government of Raúl Castro continued to enforce political conformity using short-term detentions, beatings, public acts of repudiation, travel restrictions, and forced exile. During its first UPR review, Cuba rejected all recommendations addressing the arbitrary detentions of political prisoners, the lack of protection of human rights defenders, and restrictions on freedom of expression. Since then, Human Rights Watch has continued documenting cases of serious abuses of these rights.
  • Venezuela: Respect Free Speech and Assembly
    Apr 17, 2013

    The government of Venezuela should not limit citizens’ rights to freely express their views and assemble peacefully in response to the disputed presidential election, Human Rights Watch said today. It should respect freedom of the press and all violent incidents should be subject to prompt, thorough, and impartial investigations, Human Rights Watch said.

  • Peru: Reject ‘Terrorism Denial’ Law
    Apr 9, 2013
    The Peruvian Congress should reject a legislative proposal that includes overly broad language to criminalize the denial of terrorist crimes, Human Rights Watch said today.
  • Is justice gaining a foothold?
    Apr 8, 2013
    Former Guatemalan strongman Efraín Ríos Montt went on trial in Guatemala City late last month on charges of genocide relating to the massacres of indigenous Mayan people during his rule.
  • Uruguay: Marriage Equality Approved
    Apr 2, 2013
    The Uruguay Senate, in approving a bill on April 2, 2013, to legalize same-sex marriage, has moved to guarantee marriage equality and diminish discrimination. The vote was 23 to 8. Uruguay would be the 12th country to approve same-sex marriage nationwide.
  • What Are the BRICS Building?
    Mar 30, 2013
    The Chinese call it jin zhuan, or golden brick. The Russians have suggested calling it briuki, an acronym meaning trousers in Russian. And what about the ambiguous S? It originally was just a plural for the emerging economies of Brazil, Russia, India, and China, places where a Goldman Sachs analyst was urging greater investment. Now it stands for South Africa, which joined in 2010 despite having an economy roughly on the order of China’s sixth-largest province.
  • Russia wants BRICS partners to ignore its transgressions
    Mar 26, 2013

    Official communiqués on the BRICS summit in Durban are promising new initiatives on trade, economic development and technical co-operation. But Russia wants more from its partners than just trade. With concern rising in Europe over the worst crackdown on Russian democracy since the Soviet Union collapsed more than 20 years ago, Vladimir Putin is coming to Africa to find supporters of its world view.

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