Amnesty International Report 2017/18

76

Amnesty International Report 2017/18

grass for cattle grazing, and burial sites; 19 

families had been expelled from the land and 

forced into vagrancy with diminishing access 

to food and water.

ARGENTINA

Argentine Republic

Head of state and government: Mauricio Macri

Women and girls faced obstacles in 

accessing legal abortions. Indigenous 

Peoples continued to be criminalized and 

discriminated against. Migrants’ rights 

suffered significant setbacks.

BACKGROUND

Argentina’s human rights situation was 

reviewed under the UN UPR process and by 

the UN Committee against Torture. The UN 

Working Group on Arbitrary Detention 

(WGAD), the UN Independent Expert on 

sexual orientation and gender identity and 

the Rapporteur on Argentina for the Inter-

American Commission on Human Rights 

visited Argentina during the year.

In November, Congress approved the 

national law on gender parity.

SEXUAL AND REPRODUCTIVE RIGHTS

Women and girls continued to encounter 

barriers to accessing legal abortion when the 

pregnancy posed a risk to their health, or 

when it resulted from rape. Full 

decriminalization of abortion was pending in 

parliament.

VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN

According to civil society information, at least 

254 femicides occurred between January 

and November. The National Women's 

Institute and the National Plan of Action for 

the Prevention, Assistance and Eradication of 

Violence against Women for 2017-2019 

appeared to lack the necessary resources to 

be fully implemented.

INDIGENOUS PEOPLES’ RIGHTS

The majority of Indigenous communities still 

lacked legal recognition of their land rights, 

despite the Constitution recognizing their 

right to ancestral lands and natural 

resources.

In January, local police and members of the 

Argentine National Gendarmerie (GNA) – a 

militarized federal police – closed off all 

access points to the Indigenous land 

inhabited by the Mapuche community Pu Lof 

en Resistencia in Chubut province. The 

community reported attacks by the police, 

including beatings and intimidation of 

children.

1

 At least 10 community members 

and their supporters were arrested. In August 

the GNA conducted an illegal raid in the 

same community, during which Santiago 

Maldonado – a non-Indigenous supporter of 

the Mapuche community – disappeared. In 

October his body was found in a river in the 

territory. The judicial investigation into his 

death was ongoing at the end of the year.

The Neuquén provincial government, oil 

unions and industry created an investment 

plan for the Vaca Muerta oilfield, located 

partly on the land of the Lof Campo Maripe 

Indigenous community, without the 

community’s participation.

Authorities used legal proceedings to 

intimidate Indigenous Peoples, including 

accusations of sedition, resisting authority, 

theft, attempted assaults and killings. Agustín 

Santillán, an Indigenous leader of the Wichí 

people in Formosa province, spent 190 days 

in pre-trial detention from April to October 

with more than 28 criminal proceedings 

against him.

REFUGEES’ AND MIGRANTS’ RIGHTS

Bypassing parliamentary debate, the 

government modified the 2004 Migration Act, 

limiting entry and residency rights and 

potentially hastening deportations.

The Asylum Act had not yet been fully 

implemented, 11 years after its adoption, and 

the National Committee for Refugees had no 

specific budget. The reception system for 

asylum-seekers remained slow and 

insufficient and there was no integration plan 

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Amnesty International Report 2017/18

77

in place to help asylum-seekers and refugees 

access basic rights such as education, work, 

health care and language training.  

Despite Argentina’s commitment in 2016 to 

receive 3,000 Syrian refugees, no 

resettlement programme had been created. 

Fewer than 400 Syrian refugees had 

benefited from a private sponsorship and 

humanitarian visa scheme.

IMPUNITY

Trials before ordinary civilian courts 

continued to be held for crimes against 

humanity during the 1976-1983 military 

regime. Between 2006 and May 2017, 182 

rulings were issued, bringing the total 

number of convictions to 756 and acquittals 

to 74.

In July, the Federal Court of Mendoza 

issued a historic decision under which four 

former members of the judiciary were 

sentenced to life in prison and barred from 

holding public office for contributing to the 

commission of crimes against humanity 

during the military regime.

The Supreme Court ruled in the case of Luis 

Muiña – who was found guilty of crimes 

against humanity – that one day served in 

pre-trial detention must be considered as 

two, if the person has been detained without 

sentence for more than two years. Congress 

then passed a law clarifying that the so-called 

“2x1 formula” may not be applied to crimes 

against humanity, genocide or war crimes.

2

Public hearings continued in the case of the 

cover-up of the investigation into the 1994 

attack on the Jewish Mutual Association of 

Argentina building. A government decree 

issued in April 2017 transferred classified 

documents from the Prosecution Unit to the 

Ministry of Justice, compromising the 

independence of the investigation and 

restricting complainants’ access to evidence.

FREEDOMS OF EXPRESSION AND 

ASSEMBLY

Indiscriminate detentions took place during 

an International Women’s Day demonstration 

on 8 March. Many women reported that they 

were mistreated, detained and humiliated by 

police; some said they were forced to 

undress completely.

In April, teachers were violently repressed 

while demonstrating for fair wages. 

Participants reported that police used tear 

gas and beat them while the military stood 

by. At least four teachers were arrested.

In September, 31 people were violently 

detained and held at several police stations in 

the capital, Buenos Aires, for more than 48 

hours for participating in a mass 

demonstration following the disappearance of 

Santiago Maldonado. Those detained 

reported that they were beaten and some 

women were forced to undress.

In December, many protesters took to the 

streets in Buenos Aires to express their 

disagreement with a legislative reform 

proposed by the government. The police 

used excessive force and there were reports 

of arbitrary detentions during the 

demonstrations.

3

The call by WGAD to national authorities to 

immediately release social leader and activist 

Milagro Sala was not implemented. In 

August, the Inter-American Commission on 

Human Rights requested that Argentina offer 

Milagro Sala house arrest or other alternatives 

to prison. This request was only partially 

implemented since its conditions did not 

comply with domestic and international 

standards.

1. Argentina: Violent repression of Mapuche Peoples (

AMR 

13/5477/2017

)

2. Argentina: Amnistía Internacional repudia la aplicación del 2x1 a 

delitos de lesa humanidad y estará presente en Plaza de Mayo (

News 

story

, 9 May)

3. Argentina: Autoridades deben garantizar protesta pacífica e 

investigar violaciones a derechos humanos tras represión frente al 

Congreso de la Nación (

News story

, 15 December)

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