Amnesty International Report 2017/18

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Amnesty International Report 2017/18

PROTESTS

Protests were met with unnecessary and excessive use of force by the authorities in countries 

including Colombia, Paraguay and Puerto Rico.

In Paraguay, protests erupted after a secret attempt by senators to amend the Constitution to 

allow presidential re-elections was exposed. The Congress building was set on fire by some 

protesters, and opposition activist Rodrigo Quintana was killed by police. Dozens of people 

were injured, more than 200 were detained, and local organizations reported torture and other 

ill-treatment by security forces.

In Nicaragua, police officers prevented rural communities and Indigenous Peoples from 

participating in peaceful demonstrations against the construction of the Grand Interoceanic 

Canal.

In Argentina, more than 30 people were arbitrarily detained by police in the capital, Buenos 

Aires, for taking part in a demonstration following the death of activist Santiago Maldonado. In 

December, excessive force was used against protesters in Buenos Aires taking part in massive 

demonstrations against governmental reforms.

ACCESS TO JUSTICE AND THE FIGHT TO END IMPUNITY

Impunity remained pervasive and a key driver of human rights violations and abuses in many 

countries.

Ongoing impunity and corruption in Guatemala eroded public trust in the authorities and 

hampered access to justice. There were large protests in August and September and the 

country faced a political crisis when members of the government resigned in response to 

President Jimmy Morales’ attempt to expel the head of the International Commission against 

Impunity in Guatemala, an independent body established by the government and the UN in 

2006 to strengthen the rule of law post-conflict.

Impunity for past and present human rights violations remained a concern in Chile. The 

closure by the authorities of an investigation into the alleged abduction and torture reported by 

Mapuche leader Víctor Queipul Hueiquil sent a chilling message to human rights defenders 

across the country, while it appeared that no comprehensive and impartial investigation was 

carried out. Indigenous leader Machi Francisca Linconao and 10 other Mapuche people were 

acquitted of terrorism charges, due to a lack of evidence to implicate them in the deaths of two 

people in January 2013. However, in December the Court of Appeals declared the judgment 

null. A new trial was due to start in 2018.

CONFRONTING PAST HUMAN RIGHTS VIOLATIONS

Efforts to address unresolved human rights violations often remained slow and sluggish, 

hampered by a lack of political will.

In Peru, President Pedro Pablo Kuczynski granted a medical pardon and grace to former 

president Alberto Fujimori, who had been sentenced in 2009 to 25 years’ imprisonment for his 

responsibility for crimes against humanity committed by his subordinates, and was still facing 

other charges for his alleged responsibility for other human rights violations that could 

constitute crimes against humanity. Thousands took to the streets to protest against the 

decision.

In Uruguay, human rights defenders investigating human rights violations that took place 

during the military regime (1973-1985) reported receiving death threats, the sources of which 

were not investigated. In November the Supreme Court found that crimes committed during 

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the regime did not amount to crimes against humanity and were, therefore, subject to statutes 

of limitations.

Yet there was some progress. In Argentina, 29 people were sentenced to life imprisonment 

for crimes against humanity committed during the 1976-1983 military regime, and a federal 

court issued a historic decision under which four former members of the judiciary were 

sentenced to life in prison for contributing to the commission of crimes against humanity 

during those years.

In Bolivia a Truth Commission was established to investigate serious human rights violations 

committed under military governments from 1964 to 1982.

There was progress in prosecuting some crimes against humanity committed during 

Guatemala’s internal armed conflict (1960-1996), with five former members of the military 

sent to trial on charges of crimes against humanity, rape and enforced disappearance. After 

several failed attempts since 2015, the trials of former military head of state José Efraín Ríos 

Montt and former intelligence chief José Rodríguez Sánchez finally resumed in October.

REFUGEES, MIGRANTS AND STATELESS PEOPLE

DENIAL OF PROTECTION BY THE USA

Amid a global refugee crisis in which more than 21 million people have been forced to flee 

their homes due to war and persecution, the USA took extreme steps to deny protection to 

people in need. In the first few weeks of his administration, President Trump issued executive 

orders to suspend the country’s refugee resettlement programme for 120 days, impose an 

indefinite ban on the resettlement of refugees from Syria, and reduce the annual refugee 

admission cap to 50,000.

President Trump also signed an executive order vowing to build a wall along the USA-Mexico 

border. His order, which pledged to put in place 5,000 additional border patrol agents, carried 

the risk that more migrants – including many in need of international protection – would be 

unlawfully pushed back at the border or deported to places where their lives are at risk. The 

injustice of President Trump’s actions was emphasized by Central America’s ongoing refugee 

crisis, and by the appalling situation in Venezuela, which led to an increase in the number of 

Venezuelans seeking asylum abroad. As conditions for refugees and migrants in the USA 

deteriorated, there was a significant increase in numbers of asylum-seekers irregularly 

crossing the border from the USA into Canada.

REFUGEE CRISIS

According to UNHCR, the UN refugee agency, more than 57,000 people from Honduras, 

Guatemala and El Salvador sought asylum in other countries. Many were forced back home, 

where a lack of an effective system to protect them meant they faced the same dangers and 

conditions from which they had fled. Thousands of families and unaccompanied children from 

those countries migrated to the USA through Mexico and were apprehended at the US border.

Mexico received a record number of asylum applications, mostly from nationals of El 

Salvador, Honduras, Guatemala and Venezuela, but repeatedly failed to provide protection to 

those who needed it – instead pushing people back to highly dangerous and even life-

threatening situations.

Argentina’s reception system for asylum-seekers remained slow and insufficient, and there 

was no integration plan in place to help asylum-seekers and refugees access basic rights such 

as education, work and health care.

Cubans continued to leave the country in large numbers, pushed by low wages and undue 

restrictions on freedom of expression.

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