Voting in UNHRC: Sri Lanka

This week we look at how countries voted in the UNHRC regarding Sri Lanka. The government of then-Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa was accused of engaging in genocide against the civilian Tamil population in its military campaign to end the civil war with the terrorist Tamil Tigers.

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Crime and Violence: The importance of good stats

When journalists are intimidated into self-censorship and governments distort or hide data on violence, the real victim is a responsible debate on security and crime. Sadly, that’s what’s happening in El Salvador and Honduras.

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The press freedom crisis in Brazil

Despite Brazil’s image as a regional leader, South America’s largest democracy has become one of the most dangerous places in the world for journalists. According to research by the Committee to Protect Journalists, at least fourteen journalists have been killed since January 2011. Will President Dilma Rousseff improve conditions in the lead up to next year’s Olympics?

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Ecuador, Argentina and the at-risk inter-American system

Three years ago, Ecuador, Argentina, Bolivia and Venezuela led a failed effort to gut the inter-American system of human rights by limiting the functions and independence of the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights. In June, two of those governments’ candidates—Ecuador and Argentina—were elected to the Inter-American Court on Human Rights. Should we be worried?

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Tensiones entre el gobierno argentino y la justicia

El malestar del gobierno argentino con el poder judicial no es novedad. Desde 2013, cuando impulsó un paquete de leyes con el supuesto objetivo de “democratizar la justicia”, la relación entre el poder ejecutivo y los jueces se ha tensado de manera incesante.

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Should I stay or should I go? Latin America’s familiar story

Beyond the economics of the 30 million Latin Americans living abroad, out-migraton from the region has also created a looming a political problem. Countries and societies are losing political and civic talent and leadership, precisely at a time when Latin America confronts complex, technical policy and economic reforms.

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How Venezuela’s opposition can unite and win elections

Now that President Nicolás Maduro has fixed the date of the legislative elections, the Venezuelan opposition has a real opportunity to capitalize on the country’s severe economic problems and the government’s low disapproval ratings. The successes of opposition parties in Chile offer a lesson for Venezuelan opposition leaders. Here’s a three-step plan.

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The deportation of Haitian-Dominicans

In defending the 2013 Constitutional Court decision that denied citizenship to undocumented Haitian immigrants and their children and now its documentation and deportation program, the government of the Dominican Republic has thumbed its nose at the international community, the regional human rights system and transnational activists. But now’s not the time to let up.

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Experimenting with marijuana policy in Uruguay

In 2013, Uruguay became the first country in the world to legalize the possession, cultivation and distribution of marijuana. The bold move unlocked the discussion on drug policy reform in the Americas. But is it working in its purported objectives in reducing violence, illegality and health risks?

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Violence, self censorship and culture

This past May, El Salvador suffered its highest murder rate since the end of the country’s civil war 23 years ago. But this grisly flash of news—what journalists in the region call the nota roja—doesn’t give the wider context. There’s another story to be told here beyond the numbers: how Latin American journalists are affected by the violence they cover and how, in turn, their coverage is creating a cultural acceptance of violence.

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