Latest news with #Inter-AmericanCommissiononHumanRights
Epoch Times
31-05-2025
- Politics
- Epoch Times
Rubio Backs Rosa María Payá's Nomination as IACHR Commissioner
Secretary of State Marco Rubio on May 29 expressed his support for Rosa María Payá Acevedo's candidacy for commissioner of the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR), the main body of the Organization of American States (OAS). Payá, a Cuban activist and daughter of Oswaldo Payá, a Cuban leader of the Christian Liberation Movement who died in 2012, was by Rubio in March to be the new head of the IACHR.
Euronews
20-05-2025
- Politics
- Euronews
Salvadoran lawyer and Bukele critic Ruth López arrested
El Salvador's authorities have arrested a lawyer from one of the country's leading human rights organisations, in a development that critics of President Nayib Bukele say is a sign of "authoritarianism" in the Central American nation. Ruth López is accused of embezzlement during a previous job working for an electoral court. The Bukele critic was detained late on Sunday, according to her organisation, the NGO Cristosal. Neither her family nor her legal team have been able to confirm her location or the conditions of her detention. López is the head of Cristosal's anti-corruption and justice unit, which has published dozens of reports and filed legal cases related to government corruption. Cristosal has been one of the most vocal critics of Bukele's ongoing state of emergency, which started more than three years ago as a supposedly temporary measure to fight the country's gangs. Under the policy, some fundamental rights have been curtailed. The right to gather is restricted, while detainees can now be held for 15 days without charges. Since Bukele launched his war against the gangs in late March 2022, some 85,000 people have been arrested, more than 1% of the country's population. Cristosal denounced on Monday what it considers to be a "flagrant violation" of López's rights, demanding that the authorities immediately reveal her location to allay concerns about her safety. The organisation also warned of the "growing risk" faced by human rights defenders in El Salvador, especially in a context where NGOs have come under direct criticism from President Bukele. The Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) also expressed its "deep concern" over López's arrest. For its part, the Attorney General's Office confirmed López's arrest in a statement, describing her as a "trusted advisor and right-hand man" of Eugenio Chicas, a former judge of the Supreme Electoral Tribunal. According to the Prosecutor's Office, López was allegedly involved in the "theft of public funds" during her collaboration with Chicas. The case has raised alarm among international organisations and activists, who believe the situation reflects the deterioration of democratic guarantees and the rule of law in the Central American country. Organisations like the Washington Office on Latin America (WOLA) and rights groups like Human Rights Watch (HRW) condemned López's detention in a joint statement on Monday that called for her immediate release. "El Salvador's state of exception has not only been used to address gang-related violence but also as a tool to silence critical voices," they said. "Authoritarianism has increased in recent years as President Nayib Bukele has undermined institutions and the rule of law, and persecuted civil society organisations and independent journalists," they added. Earlier this month, some journalists from El Faro, one of the country's leading news organisations, fled into exile over fears that the authorities would arrest them. Since US President Donald Trump returned to the White House in January, Bukele has forged a close relationship with Washington. In return for payment, the Salvadoran president agreed to confine hundreds of US deportees in a notorious prison in El Salvador.
Los Angeles Times
09-05-2025
- Politics
- Los Angeles Times
Rights groups sue to free Venezuelans deported from the U.S. and held in El Salvador
SAN SALVADOR, El Salvador — International human rights organizations on Friday filed a lawsuit with the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights asking that the commission order El Salvador's government to release Venezuelans deported from the United States and held in a maximum-security prison. In March, the U.S. government deported more than 200 Venezuelan immigrants alleged to have ties to the Tren de Aragua gang to El Salvador, paying the Salvadoran government to imprison them. Since then, they have had no access to lawyers or ability to communicate with their families. Neither the U.S. nor Salvadoran governments have said how the men could eventually regain their freedom. 'These individuals have been stripped from their families and subject to a state-sponsored enforced disappearance regime, effectively, completely against the law,' said Bella Mosselmans, director of the Global Strategic Litigation Council, which helped bring the suit. 'We're hoping that this case might help put pressure on El Salvador to put basic guardrails in place.' El Salvador has been living under a state of emergency for more than three years, which has suspended some fundamental rights and given the administration of President Nayib Bukele extraordinary powers. More than 85,000 Salvadorans have been arrested over the period for alleged ties to the country's once-powerful street gangs. The improvement in El Salvador's security has won Bukele widespread domestic support and some admirers in the region who seek to imitate his success. But the lack of due process and numerous arbitrary arrests have drawn international condemnation. Bukele has dismissed those critics as defenders of criminals. A spokesperson for Bukele's office declined to comment Friday. With the administration of President Trump taking a hard line on immigration and portraying migrants broadly as criminals, neither government has been swayed by legal maneuvers in their own country to seek the men's release or return to the U.S. A judge in Washington this week said he would order the U.S. government to provide more information about its prison deal with El Salvador as he moved closer to requiring the government to return the men to the U.S. The human rights organizations hope that the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights will accept this emergency petition. The commission is an arm of the regional Organization of American States. The groups presented the case on behalf of the families of 18 of the men sent to El Salvador, who provided sworn statements about their cases. Some of the men had pending asylum applications in the U.S., while others had been vetted and approved for refugee resettlement by the U.S. government, still others had temporary protected status allowing them to work in the U.S., according to the lawsuit. Bukele has said he has the room to hold the men and the payments from the U.S. will help cover the costs of his new prison. While both the Venezuelan government and nongovernmental organizations have filed habeas corpus petitions — essentially compelling the government to prove someone's detention was justified — in El Salvador's courts, none have advanced. The groups are asking the human rights commission to order precautionary measures, basically an emergency action to prevent irreparable harm. Among them are the ability to communicate with their families, access to legal counsel and return to the United States. The commission would seek a response from El Salvador's government before making a decision, but is expected to move quickly. The other organizations involved in the lawsuit are the Boston University School of Law International Human Rights Clinic, the Center for Gender & Refugee Studies and Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights. Alemán writes for the Associated Press. AP writer Christopher Sherman contributed to this report.
09-05-2025
- Politics
Rights groups sue to free Venezuelans deported from the US and held in El Salvador
SAN SALVADOR, El Salvador -- International human rights organizations on Friday filed a lawsuit with the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights asking that the commission order El Salvador's government to release Venezuelans deported from the United States and held in a maximum-security prison. In March, the U.S. government deported more than 200 Venezuelan immigrants alleged to have ties to the Tren de Aragua gang to El Salvador, paying the Salvadoran government to imprison them. Since then, they have had no access to lawyers or ability to communicate with their families. Neither the U.S. nor Salvadoran governments have said how the men could eventually regain their freedom. 'These individuals have been stripped from their families and subject to a state-sponsored enforced disappearance regime, effectively, completely against the law,' said Bella Mosselmans, director of the Global Strategic Litigation Council, which helped bring the suit. 'We're hoping that this case might help put pressure on El Salvador to put basic guardrails in place.' El Salvador has been living under a state of emergency for more than three years, which has suspended some fundamental rights and given the administration of President Nayib Bukele extraordinary powers. More than 85,000 Salvadorans have been arrested over the period for alleged ties to the country's once-powerful street gangs. The improvement in El Salvador's security has won Bukele widespread domestic support and some admirers in the region who seek to imitate his success. But the lack of due process and numerous arbitrary arrests have drawn international condemnation. Bukele has dismissed those critics as defenders of criminals. A spokesperson for Bukele's office declined to comment Friday. With the administration of U.S. President Donald Trump taking a hard line on immigration and portraying migrants broadly as criminals, neither government has been swayed by legal maneuvers in their own country to seek the men's release or return to the U.S. A judge in Washington this week said he would order the U.S. government to provide more information about its prison deal with El Salvador as he moved closer to requiring the government to return the men to the U.S. The human rights organizations hope that the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights will accept this emergency petition. The commission is an arm of the regional Organization of American States. The groups presented the case on behalf of the families of 18 of the men sent to El Salvador, who provided sworn statements about their cases. Some of the men had pending asylum applications in the U.S., while others had been vetted and approved for refugee resettlement by the U.S. government, still others had temporary protected status allowing them to work in the U.S., according to the lawsuit. Bukele has said he has the room to hold the men and the payments from the U.S. will help cover the costs of his new prison. While both the Venezuelan government and nongovernmental organizations have filed habeas corpus petitions — essentially compelling the government to prove someone's detention was justified — in El Salvador's courts, none have advanced. The groups are asking the human right commission to order precautionary measures, basically an emergency action to prevent irreparable harm. Among them are the ability to communicate with their families, access to legal counsel and return to the United States. The commission would seek a response from El Salvador's government before making a decision, but is expected to move quickly. The other organizations involved in the lawsuit are the Boston University School of Law International Human Rights Clinic, the Center for Gender & Refugee Studies and Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights. __
Yahoo
09-05-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Rights groups sue to free Venezuelans deported from the US and held in El Salvador
SAN SALVADOR, El Salvador (AP) — International human rights organizations on Friday filed a lawsuit with the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights asking that the commission order El Salvador's government to release Venezuelans deported from the United States and held in a maximum-security prison. In March, the U.S. government deported more than 200 Venezuelan immigrants alleged to have ties to the Tren de Aragua gang to El Salvador, paying the Salvadoran government to imprison them. Since then, they have had no access to lawyers or ability to communicate with their families. Neither the U.S. nor Salvadoran governments have said how the men could eventually regain their freedom. 'These individuals have been stripped from their families and subject to a state-sponsored enforced disappearance regime, effectively, completely against the law,' said Bella Mosselmans, director of the Global Strategic Litigation Council, which helped bring the suit. 'We're hoping that this case might help put pressure on El Salvador to put basic guardrails in place.' El Salvador has been living under a state of emergency for more than three years, which has suspended some fundamental rights and given the administration of President Nayib Bukele extraordinary powers. More than 85,000 Salvadorans have been arrested over the period for alleged ties to the country's once-powerful street gangs. The improvement in El Salvador's security has won Bukele widespread domestic support and some admirers in the region who seek to imitate his success. But the lack of due process and numerous arbitrary arrests have drawn international condemnation. Bukele has dismissed those critics as defenders of criminals. A spokesperson for Bukele's office declined to comment Friday. With the administration of U.S. President Donald Trump taking a hard line on immigration and portraying migrants broadly as criminals, neither government has been swayed by legal maneuvers in their own country to seek the men's release or return to the U.S. A judge in Washington this week said he would order the U.S. government to provide more information about its prison deal with El Salvador as he moved closer to requiring the government to return the men to the U.S. The human rights organizations hope that the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights will accept this emergency petition. The commission is an arm of the regional Organization of American States. The groups presented the case on behalf of the families of 18 of the men sent to El Salvador, who provided sworn statements about their cases. Some of the men had pending asylum applications in the U.S., while others had been vetted and approved for refugee resettlement by the U.S. government, still others had temporary protected status allowing them to work in the U.S., according to the lawsuit. Bukele has said he has the room to hold the men and the payments from the U.S. will help cover the costs of his new prison. While both the Venezuelan government and nongovernmental organizations have filed habeas corpus petitions — essentially compelling the government to prove someone's detention was justified — in El Salvador's courts, none have advanced. The groups are asking the human right commission to order precautionary measures, basically an emergency action to prevent irreparable harm. Among them are the ability to communicate with their families, access to legal counsel and return to the United States. The commission would seek a response from El Salvador's government before making a decision, but is expected to move quickly. The other organizations involved in the lawsuit are the Boston University School of Law International Human Rights Clinic, the Center for Gender & Refugee Studies and Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights. __ AP journalist Christopher Sherman contributed to this report. ____ Follow AP's coverage of Latin America and the Caribbean at Marcos Alemán, The Associated Press
