“Racist migration and asylum policies only exacerbate the harm already inflicted on people forced to endure and flee the humanitarian and human rights crises in Haiti. States across the Americas must fulfill their international human rights obligations without discrimination, assess the protection needs of Haitians seeking refuge in fair and effective asylum procedures and refrain from returning them to Haiti,” said Erika Guevara-Rosas, Americas director at Amnesty International.

“Instead of further endangering them, states must protect and uphold the dignity and rights of Haitian migrants and asylum seekers. Regional solidarity and the reformation of migration policies with an anti-racist perspective are essential to addressing the grave dangers and injustices they face.”

The Americas region is experiencing one of the world’s most severe crises of people in need of international protection. According to the UNHCR’s recent report, Global Trends: Forced Displacement in 2022, six  of the top ten source countries of asylum applications globally in 2022 were in Latin America and the Caribbean. Asylum seekers from Venezuela, Cuba, Nicaragua, Colombia, Honduras, and Haiti have substantially increased from 2021. This transnational crisis is the result of multiple human rights and humanitarian crises across the region. In Haiti, the deteriorating human rights situation has forced thousands of people to flee to save their lives and those of their loved ones. Yet instead of receiving solidarity from other countries in the Americas, Haitians have suffered acts of racism, xenophobia, and systematic violence in their search for protection.

Racist migration and asylum policies only exacerbate the harm already inflicted on people forced to endure and flee the humanitarian and human rights crises in Haiti.

Erika Guevara-Rosas, Americas director at Amnesty International

Amnesty International has documented and received information on cases of assaults, arbitrary detentions, torture and other ill-treatment, mass deportations, and discriminatory practices that undermine Haitian asylum seekers’ human rights and their access to international protection in Peru, Chile, the Dominican Republic, the United States, Mexico, and other countries in the Caribbean and Central and South America.

Haitians transiting through the Americas have also suffered a constant lack of access to basic services and legal protection. These precarious conditions have been exacerbated by the systemic racism and negative stereotypes they face, hindering their integration and perpetuating their marginalization. Haitian women, girls and LGBTI people face even greater levels of discrimination, because in addition to all the dangers and ill-treatment they suffer as Black migrants and asylum-seekers, they are also exposed to the threat of gender-based violence.

Amnesty International has documented the many human rights concerns inherent in the US government’s recent decision to make the use of the mobile application mandatory in order to request asylum at the nation’s southern border. This requirement places Haitian individuals at a greater disadvantage, as they may face a higher risk of experiencing racial discrimination and violence in northern Mexico, where they are systematically excluded from shelters, forcing them to live in camps with cruel conditions and exposing them to greater danger. They have also experienced difficulties using the CBP One app’s facial recognition technology that struggles with recognizing Black faces and raises serious privacy, discrimination, and surveillance concerns.

Amnesty International has also condemned the US and Canadian governments’ agreement to expand, rather than rescind, the Safe Third Country Agreement in response to border crossings at Roxham Road. The organization is disappointed that Canada’s Supreme Court has failed to decisively rule that the agreement violates refugees’ rights, exposing refugees – including those from Haiti – to further harm while awaiting a further legal challenge against the agreement.

Governments in the region must end mass expulsions and deportations as well as other racially discriminatory practices against people in need of international protection, including Haitians. Instead, they must provide them with access to protection without discrimination, including fair and individualized assessments for refugee status, and other pathways to regularize their status, in accordance with both the UN Convention on the Status of Refugees and the Cartagena Declaration.

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Analysis by Amnesty International’s Security Lab confirmed that a mobile device belonging to Nuria Piera was targeted and infected with Pegasus, which enables full and unrestricted access to a device, three times between 2020 and 2021. Piera is an investigative journalist who has focused on issues of corruption and impunity in the Dominican Republic throughout her decades-long career.

The latest discovery means there are now at least 18 countries, where it has been confirmed with forensics that journalists were targeted with spyware, though the actual scale of this abuse of surveillance technology is likely to be much higher. The Dominican Republic is the third country in the Americas, after Mexico and El Salvador, where Amnesty International has confirmed the use of Pegasus to target journalists and human rights defenders.

“The Dominican Republic is the latest country where spyware is being weaponized to silence and intimidate courageous journalists. Having already uncovered multiple cases in Mexico and El Salvador, we will continue to investigate any evidence that arises of the possible further use of Pegasus in the Dominican Republic. We call on states to urgently adopt a global moratorium on spyware,” said Erika Guevara-Rosas, Americas director at Amnesty International.

Spyware exposed

Amnesty International’s investigation found evidence of Nuria Piera’s device first being compromised with Pegasus on or around 20 July 2020. Similar signs were also discovered on or around 8 September 2021 and 1 October 2021. Amnesty International also shared forensic data with The Citizen Lab for peer-review, who confirmed the conclusions using their independent methodology.

Nuria Piera told Amnesty International she was working on sensitive, high-profile investigations around the time her device was infected with Pegasus. She was looking into reports of corruption related to high-ranking government officials and relatives of the nation’s former president; months later, criminal judicial proceedings were brought against them for alleged bribery and other criminal charges.

Having already uncovered multiple cases in Mexico and El Salvador, we will continue to investigate any evidence that arises of the possible further use of Pegasus in the Dominican Republic.

Erika Guevara-Rosas, Americas director at Amnesty International

Piera first received confirmation that she had been targeted by Pegasus when notified by Amnesty International’s Security Lab. In November 2021, she received the Apple notification that was sent to users whose devices were reportedly attacked by exploits used by Pegasus and Quadream’s spyware, which has been linked to Pegasus. Piera stated that she had never received a judicial order or any other formal notifications from the Dominican authorities that she was under surveillance, nor told any of the reasons behind it.

These invasive tactics can be particularly harmful to women journalists, who often face gender-based attacks, including accusations of having violated traditional social, sexual or moral norms.

“You have to work hard to not become neurotic, because you’re always suspicious that someone may have information about you. It’s like being in quicksand. It really affects your sense of freedom, how free you feel to speak up. Sometimes you don’t even know how they want to hurt you, through you or through your loved ones. You then feel responsible, which is even more serious” Nuria Piera said.

Amnesty International urges the authorities to promptly conduct an independent, impartial, and transparent investigation into the unlawful targeted surveillance of journalists in the country, including the targeted attack with Pegasus on Nuria Piera.

“In a country where journalists and human rights defenders have long alleged that surveillance is prevalent, finding Pegasus should be taken as a concerning threat. Since surveillance poses enormous risks to the physical safety and mental well-being of journalists, and may place their sources, colleagues, friends, and family in harm’s way, the Dominican authorities must immediately investigate this case and provide effective safeguards to protect journalists and prevent this from happening again,” said Elina Castillo Jiménez, Digital Surveillance Researcher at Amnesty International.

Surveillance and journalism in the Dominican Republic

As part of an ongoing investigation, Amnesty International spoke to dozens of journalists and human rights defenders in the Dominican Republic, nearly all of whom suspected they had been targeted for surveillance because of their work. Most suspected that intelligence officers were targeting them using traditional forms of surveillance, such as wiretapping.

The lack of transparency around the use of surveillance and spyware, however, makes it difficult for victims to obtain information or to seek accountability. In the Dominican Republic, there are no clear avenues for adequate remedies in the event of unlawful targeted surveillance. Habeas data, a constitutional avenue for data and privacy protection available in the country, and the criminal remedy available under Law 53-07 on Crimes of High Technology (Ley 53-07 sobre Crímenes y Delitos de Alta Tecnología), can only be used when you know who is surveilling you, which is not always possible without being granted access to information or without the necessary technical skills. It is often virtually impossible for targets to even prove the existence of surveillance, either because of technical hurdles or the covert nature of its use. These factors limit access to remedy and further expand the chilling effect of surveillance.

In a country where journalists and human rights defenders have long alleged that surveillance is prevalent, finding Pegasus should be taken as a concerning threat.

Elina Castillo Jiménez, Digital Surveillance Researcher at Amnesty International

In the Dominican Republic, journalists known for investigating corruption may also risk becoming the target of smear campaigns. Edith Febles, another prominent woman journalist who uncovered irregularities during the tenure of the former attorney general, told Amnesty International that she was regularly the target of waves of what appeared to be orchestrated attacks on social media because of her work.

“Something of this nature deeply harms the rule of law and harms the professional practice [of journalism]. No journalist should be subjected to acts of this nature, which basically seek to undermine their word, to undermine the possibility of people finding out what is going on, because the problem is not even you. When it comes to undermining credibility, what they are trying to do is to put an obstacle between you and the communication you have with people,” said Edith Febles.

Amnesty International asked the Dominican authorities for information or comment on the use of Pegasus. At the time of publication, the office of the Attorney General and the Ministry of Interior and Police responded that neither institution had bought or used Pegasus during the tenure of the current officeholders, which started in August 2020, and stated their willingness to investigate. Other authorities did not respond to the request. Amnesty International also asked NSO Group for comment, who did not provide a response.

As the country begins a legal reform of the National Intelligence System, Amnesty International urges the Dominican Republic to embrace this as an opportunity to implement a rights-respecting regulatory framework. Until such a framework is implemented, a global moratorium on the purchase, sale, transfer, and use of spyware must be enforced.

Background

Unlawful targeted surveillance violates the right to privacy and can lead to violations of numerous other human rights, including the rights to freedom of expression, association, and peaceful assembly. Inter-American and international law and standards require that any state interference of the right to privacy should be lawful, necessary, proportionate, and serve a legitimate aim. Targeting journalists or other human rights defenders because of their work is never in accordance with international human rights law. Using spyware to target journalists and human rights defenders — in the absence of adequate transparency and other safeguards — also instils fear and has a chilling effect on their ability to work without undue interference.

Unlawful targeted surveillance can also have significant effects on mental health. It can lead those who suspect they are under surveillance to distrust and limit their interactions with others, shrink their intimate circles, avoid certain places, and even change their families’ schools or housing, for fear of attacks against their loved ones in retaliation for their work or activism. As surveillance of one person can also expose the personal information of people in their network, it can also lead to concerns over the well-being of their colleagues, friends, relatives, and even their sources. In this sense, unlawful surveillance can also have an impact on the right to health of those targeted and those around them.

In 2022, Amnesty International’s Security Lab began to independently analyse technical data from a sample of individuals identified as potential Pegasus targets in the Dominican Republic, including journalists and human rights defenders, as part of a broader, ongoing investigation into unlawful surveillance.

In 2021, Amnesty International provided the technical support for the Pegasus Project, which identified at least 25 Mexican journalists who were selected for targeting over a two-year period. Amnesty International’s Security Lab also peer-reviewed a joint investigation that Citizen Lab and Access published in January 2022 and independently verified forensic evidence confirming the use of Pegasus against journalists and members of civil society organizations in El Salvador on a massive scale.

NSO Group claims to only sell its products to government agencies, stating on its website: “NSO products are used exclusively by government intelligence and law enforcement agencies to fight crime and terror”. This claim is clearly contradicted by these new revelations regarding the use of Pegasus to yet again target a journalist.

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“The development of autonomy in weapons is accelerating, and the growing application of new Artificial Intelligence and machine learning technologies is a deeply worrying development. These machines risk automating killing, treating it as a technical undertaking which raises human rights risks as well as humanitarian, legal and ethical concerns. Autonomous machines will make life and death decisions without empathy or compassion.

The development of autonomy in weapons is accelerating, and the growing application of new Artificial Intelligence and machine learning technologies is a deeply worrying development.

Agnès Callamard, Secretary General, Amnesty International

“Autonomous weapon systems lack the ability to analyse the intentions behind people’s actions. They cannot make complex decisions about distinction and proportionality, determine the necessity of an attack, refuse an illegal order, or potentially recognize an attempt to surrender, which are vital for compliance with international human rights law and international humanitarian law.

“These new weapons technologies are at risk of further endangering civilians and civilian infrastructure in conflict. Amnesty International remains concerned about the potential human rights risks that increasing autonomy in policing and security equipment poses too, such as systems which use data and algorithms to predict crime.

“It has never been more urgent to draw legal red lines around the production and use of autonomous weapons systems to ensure we maintain meaningful human control over the use of force.

“Amnesty International supports the call made by governments from Latin American and Caribbean countries today for binding international legal controls on these weapons and welcomes the decision to work in alternative forums, beyond the Convention on Certain Conventional Weapons (CCW) where talks have stalled, to advance this new law.”

Background

The Regional Conference on the Social and Humanitarian Impact of Autonomous Weapons in San José, Costa Rica is the first of its kind and involved regional and observer governments, representatives of the United Nations, the International Committee of the Red Cross and civil society. Amnesty International is a founding member of Stop Killer Robots, a global coalition of more than 160 organizations working to address autonomy in weapons systems.

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With this vote, the majority of deputies in the Dominican Republic have demonstrated that the life and health of women and girls in the country are not part of their legislative priorities. We express our solidarity with the women and girls who continue to demand loudly that their lives and health be taken seriously by the authorities. The fight for their rights will not stop

Erika Guevara-Rosas, Americas Director at Amnesty International

“With this vote, the majority of deputies in the Dominican Republic have demonstrated that the life and health of women and girls in the country are not part of their legislative priorities. We express our solidarity with the women and girls who continue to demand loudly that their lives and health be taken seriously by the authorities. The fight for their rights will not stop.”  

“Extensive scientific evidence shows that a total ban does not reduce abortion, but rather increases the risk that millions of women and girls in the Dominican Republic will die from illegal and unsafe abortions. We hope that the Senate and President Luis Abinader will exercise their leadership in the next phase and be able to settle this historic debt by approving the decriminalization of abortion on three grounds.”

Today, the Dominican Republic’s Chamber of Deputies voted against the decriminalization of abortion on three grounds in the Penal Code: when the pregnancy poses a risk to the life of the pregnant woman or girl, when the fetus cannot survive outside the uterus, and when the pregnancy is the result of rape or incest. Thus, the Dominican Republic remains one of the few countries in the region that condemns with criminal penalties any woman or girl who seeks to terminate a pregnancy.

In the Dominican Republic, the current total ban on abortion continues to cause the deaths of women and girls for preventable reasons. One such death was that of Rosaura Almonte, known to the media as “Esperancita”, who died in 2012 because she did not receive the chemotherapy that could have saved her life from the leukemia she was suffering from because she was seven weeks pregnant at the time and the treatment she needed would have affected the fetus.

The comprehensive reform of the Penal Code in the Dominican Republic has been underway for several years. With this vote, the Penal Code bill is now being debated in the Senate.

For more information or to arrange an interview, please contact Amnesty International press office: +44 (0) 20 7413 5566, press@amnesty.org

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“The commencement of vaccination against COVID-19 has brought hope to a region that was already experiencing multiple human rights crises, many of which have since been exacerbated by the pandemic. A year on from the beginning of lockdowns in Latin America and the Caribbean, governments must use vaccination as an opportunity to bridge inequalities, not widen them,” said Erika Guevara-Rosas, Americas director at Amnesty International.

With several countries in the region holding presidential or midterm elections in 2021, the report warns that political pressures and corruption could impact access to vaccines and the universal right to health. It also calls on governments to consult widely when designing their vaccine plans and ensure that at-risk groups, including health workers and older people, as well as marginalized groups such as Indigenous peoples, migrants, refugees, Afro-descendant people and people deprived of their liberty, among other discriminated groups, are not left behind in receiving vaccines.

The commencement of vaccination against COVID-19 has brought hope to a region that was already experiencing multiple human rights crises, many of which have since been exacerbated by the pandemic. A year on from the beginning of lockdowns in Latin America and the Caribbean, governments must use vaccination as an opportunity to bridge inequalities, not widen them

Erika Guevara-Rosas, Americas director at Amnesty International

“As ten countries undergo elections this year in a region where corruption in the health sector is commonplace, there is a real risk of governments using vaccination drives for political gain. Politicians must not use vaccines to reward supporters or put pressure on sectors of society that are critical of them. Health is a human right that must never be undermined by politics,” said Erika Guevara-Rosas.

Amnesty International is calling on states to ensure access to information and transparency, as they are essential for adequate vaccination plans. Pharmaceutical companies, while supplying life-saving vaccines, have also undermined transparency in negotiations with countries in the region, potentially affecting universal access to vaccines. As well as conducting more than two-dozen interviews, the organization submitted information requests to 17 countries asking for specific details of the negotiations and the contracts that governments signed with pharmaceutical companies. While seven governments replied to these requests, not one of them provided full responses.

“In the context of a global shortage in vaccine supplies, transparency and accountability around how vaccines are developed, produced, purchased and distributed is paramount. Pharmaceutical companies have a responsibility to respect human rights under international law which requires private actors to proactively take measures to avoid infringing on human rights, to share their knowledge and technology to maximize the number of doses of vaccines available, and work together to ensure that those most at-risk of COVID-19 in all countries can access life-saving vaccines immediately. They need to be part of a human-rights based solution,” said Erika Guevara-Rosas.

At the time of writing, 13 countries in the region had made public their national vaccination plans. Very few of those had consulted with experts, communities, or civil society during their design phase, with some of them overlooking at-risk populations. While all 13 countries’ plans prioritize frontline health workers for vaccination, Amnesty International has received reports from Mexico, Peru and Brazil that administrative or directive staff of hospitals could be receiving vaccines ahead of those on the frontlines treating COVID-19 patients. Only six countries had reasonably updated registers, disaggregated by gender, profession, location, and other data, on the number of health workers affected by COVID-19 during the pandemic. Several countries have severe shortages in terms of healthcare personnel, with numbers of doctors and nurses per capita far below the threshold that the WHO considers necessary for delivering basic health services in the world’s poorest countries.

“The shocking gaps in the staffing, registry and protection of the healthcare sector in Latin America goes to show once again how economic growth in many countries has not translated into stronger social rights nor more robust healthcare systems. A strong vaccination effort cannot exist without well protected health workers and health systems,” said Erika Guevara-Rosas.

While several countries have included Indigenous peoples as priority groups during vaccine rollout, Chile, the Dominican Republic, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras and Mexico have made no mention of protocols for Indigenous peoples in their plans. Indigenous peoples, who comprise a high proportion of the population in several of those countries, have been systematically marginalized and excluded from public policies for centuries.

Furthermore, Chile, Colombia, Mexico, the Dominican Republic, Guatemala, El Salvador and Costa Rica have either placed significant barriers for migrants and refugees to access vaccines, or overtly blocked their access, despite the United Nations High Commissioner on Refugees having affirmed that including these groups in vaccine rollout is key to ending the pandemic.  

As ten countries undergo elections this year in a region where corruption in the health sector is commonplace, there is a real risk of governments using vaccination drives for political gain. Politicians must not use vaccines to reward supporters or put pressure on sectors of society that are critical of them. Health is a human right that must never be undermined by politics

Erika Guevara-Rosas, Americas director at Amnesty International

While many governments have publicly promised that COVID-19 vaccines will be free for all, only nine of the 17 countries in the report have officially confirmed this in their official plans or passed regulation to this effect. Meanwhile, members of the private sector in several countries have made attempts to buy up vaccines directly from developers, possibly creating parallel vaccine rollout processes that could undermine fairness for all.

“States must live up to their obligations to ensure that vaccines remain free at the point of care.  Governments should prohibit direct private purchases by law and consider sanctioning individuals or private organizations that circumvent the national vaccination plan or otherwise unduly impede the state’s measures to ensure fair access to the vaccines. The vaccine is needed first by those populations who are most at-risk,” concluded Erika Guevara-Rosas.

For more information or to arrange an interview, please contact Amnesty International press office:  press@amnesty.org

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Now we face a new global threat: a pandemic that does not respect borders, gender or social class and that disproportionately affects vulnerable groups. Governments can of course take exceptional measures to combat the biggest public health crisis of our time, but they must respect, guarantee and recognise the indivisibility of human rights. Moreover, in its resolution “The OAS Response to the COVID19 Pandemic”, the organization instructed member states to ensure full respect for human rights as they respond to the crisis.

The COVID-19 pandemic brings us face to face with our region’s longstanding problems. Most of our public health systems are underfunded. Weak labour protections, a high percentage of people working in the informal sector and poverty combine to intensify inequality and discrimination across the Americas. And as if this were not enough, governments have used the need to combat the pandemic as a pretext for introducing repressive measures.

In El Salvador and the Dominican Republic, for example, the authorities have detained thousands of people as a first rather than a last resort when enforcing lockdowns. In the Caribbean country, the authorities have detained approximately 85,000 people, many of whom presumably left their homes to buy food or items they need for everyday life. Similarly, Amnesty International has verified that many of the thousands of people kept in “containment centres” in El Salvador were detained only because they left their homes to buy food or medicine.

The COVID-19 pandemic brings us face to face with our region’s longstanding problems. Most of our public health systems are underfunded. Weak labour protections, a high percentage of people working in the informal sector and poverty combine to intensify inequality and discrimination across the Americas

Certain aspects of government quarantine measures are deeply concerning. In El Salvador,Venezuela and Paraguay, people have been deprived of their freedom for long periods of time in centres that are unsuited for social distancing or do not have adequate provisions for shelter, water and sanitation. In some cases, detainees do not have rapid access to COVID-19 testing and run a high risk of contracting the virus while being deprived of their freedom.

The lack of safeguards for migrants returning to their countries is especially worrying. Amnesty International has verified that migrants returning to El Salvador were confined in an enclosure exposed to the weather while a storm battered the country. Although Paraguay and El Salvador have seen a significant reduction in the numbers being held in government quarantine centres, the authorities in Venezuela continue to detain thousands of refugees and migrants whose only option has been to return from countries like Peru and Colombia.

Ill-treatment is also among measures used under the pretext of combating COVID-19. We have verified videos in which the police in Venezuela, Paraguay and the Dominican Republic subjected people who broke lockdown to humiliating and degrading punishments.

We have also witnessed the illegitimate use of force. Venezuelan authorities have used excessive and unnecessary force to repress demonstrations calling for access to basic services and food. In El Salvador, the National Civil Police are reported to have beaten and shot at people who left their homes to buy food and workers responsible for maintaining essential services and who therefore had the right to free transit.

All these repressive responses to the pandemic have one thing in common: silence from the highest multilateral regional authority. Amnesty International is very concerned about the inaction of the OAS. In the past, we have witnessed robust discussions in this forum about grave human rights violations in Venezuela and Nicaragua, while also noting a dismal silence in the human rights violation of Bolivia, Chile, Haiti and Honduras, last year.

All these repressive responses to the pandemic have one thing in common: silence from the highest multilateral regional authority

The OAS must serve everyone who lives on this continent without discrimination. As COVID-19 spreads throughout this hemisphere, the OAS has no option but to play a leading role and activate its mechanisms to avoid a repeat of these repressive measures. Its Permanent Council can call a meeting to take action if requested by any of its Member States or its Secretary General. Standing up for human rights is a simple task.

All those working in the field of human rights hope these issues are not on the agenda at OAS’s fiftieth General Assembly in October. We hope that by then the OAS will have made a timely and emphatic response to these repressive measures so that they are no longer used in our continent.

Belissa Guerrero Rivas is Americas Advocacy Coordinator at Amnesty International

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“Cisgender and transgender women who engage in sex work are systematically marginalized, stigmatized and face multiple barriers when exercising their rights. There is concern that the COVID-19 pandemic is aggravating this inequality. States in the Americas have an obligation to protect all women, regardless of their occupation, from the violence and insecurity caused by gender-based discrimination,” said Erika Guevara-Rosas, Americas director at Amnesty International.

“No woman should be left behind in the process of building a more equitable region during and after the response to the pandemic.”

Cisgender and transgender women who engage in sex work are systematically marginalized, stigmatized and face multiple barriers when exercising their rights. There is concern that the COVID-19 pandemic is aggravating this inequality

Erika Guevara-Rosas, Americas director at Amnesty International

In the Americas, where the response to COVID-19 has required quarantines and curfews, many people who work in the informal economy are fearful about their livelihoods, jobs and wages because they cannot work. As a result, sex workers may find it more difficult to protect themselves from exposure to COVID-19 if they do not have access to preventive health services or health care supplies, such as disinfectants, the loss of work leads to eviction from their homes because of rent or mortgage arrears.

“98% of women sex workers in Latin America and the Caribbean are the main wage earners in their homes and during the quarantine, we cannot work. The COVID-19 pandemic has exposed the deep inequalities that we experience in our society. We mark this day in the midst of a global crisis, which we are facing alone and among ourselves in the face of the silence of governments in the region. Now more than ever the urgency of recognizing sex work is being exposed,” said Elena Reynaga, executive secretary of RedTraSex.

Amnesty International and RedTraSex reiterate their call on the governments of the region to ensure that this situation prompts efforts to address structural challenges, including expanding access to social security and  protections, and that it does so immediately in order to mitigate the economic impact that the emergency measures have had on thousands of women in the region living hand to mouth, such as sex workers, and who cannot work from home during the quarantine.

98% of women sex workers in Latin America and the Caribbean are the main wage earners in their homes and during the quarantine, we cannot work. The COVID-19 pandemic has exposed the deep inequalities that we experience in our society

Elena Reynaga, executive secretary of RedTraSex

Both the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights and the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights have highlighted states’ obligation to implement policies that reduce the disproportionate impact that this pandemic may have on women and to address their specific needs, particularly those who work in the informal economic sector and are at high risk of experiencing gender-based violence, such as women who engage in sex work.

For more information or to arrange an interview, please contact Amnesty International press office: press@amnesty.org

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The cost of curing: Health workers’ rights in the Americas during COVID-19 and beyond documents how those on the frontlines of the pandemic are often working in unsafe conditions with insufficient protective equipment and risk reprisals from authorities or employers if they speak out, while some have even suffered death threats and physical attacks. The report also calls on governments to ensure safe working conditions for cleaners and other support staff who are at risk due to their work in healthcare facilities and nursing homes.

“In these difficult times we owe a great debt of gratitude to the hospital and nursing home cleaners, doctors, nurses, nursing assistants, hospital janitors and epidemiologists for their tireless work to keep us safe. But saying thank you is not enough. Governments must take action to ensure their basic rights and safety are never put at such horrendous risk again,” said Erika Guevara-Rosas, Americas director at Amnesty International.

“The Americas is home to about half the people in the world who have tested positive for COVID-19, with more than 2 million confirmed cases. As Latin America suffers its deadliest weeks yet, it is vital that all countries come together to ensure health financing is not undermined at this crucial time. This pandemic has no borders and the United States must support a global solution by joining other countries in funding the World Health Organization to ensure its technical and expert capacity is deployed where most needed.”

Out of 21 in-depth interviews conducted by Amnesty International with health workers in United States, Mexico, Honduras, Nicaragua, Guatemala, Dominican Republic, Colombia and Paraguay, only two told Amnesty International that they felt they had adequate or almost adequate Personal Protective Equipment (PPE). The rest raised concerns about the lack of adequate PPE. They also raised concerns regarding sick leave, rest breaks and inadequate mental health support at work.

In these difficult times we owe a great debt of gratitude to the hospital and nursing home cleaners, doctors, nurses, nursing assistants, hospital janitors and epidemiologists for their tireless work to keep us safe

Erika Guevara-Rosas, Americas director at Amnesty International

WHO guidelines on rationing PPE outline that cleaners and housekeepers should have more PPE than many other hospital staff members, including doctors and nurses who may not have direct contact with COVID-19 patients. Yet Amnesty International found that cleaners were often poorly paid with precarious social security benefits and some worked for companies who did not ensure they have adequate PPE. One doctor from Honduras told Amnesty International he saw cleaners in his hospital using their bare hands to clean areas that had been exposed to patients with COVID-19.  

A 70-year-old cleaner who earned just over $5USD a day working for a private company at a state hospital in Mexico City told Amnesty International that, when he asked if he could stop cleaning areas that house dozens of COVID-19 patients, since he did not have any PPE and was at particular risk because of his age, his employer agreed but docked his pay by 16%.

Multiple health workers expressed their fear of reprisals for denouncing unsafe working conditions, and some of those that Amnesty International spoke with had been fired from their jobs for speaking up as whistle blowers or had faced disciplinary proceedings at work. Tainika Somerville, a certified nursing assistant at a nursing home owned by a private company in Chicago, was fired after she filmed a Facebook live stream denouncing lack of PPE at her workplace. Workers at nursing homes are at particular risk, with media in the United States and Canada reporting that they are epicentres of COVID-19-related deaths.

Workers in Nicaragua are at particular risk because the government has repeatedly understated the scale of the COVID-19 pandemic in the country. The Civilian Observatory on COVID-19 in Nicaragua  told Amnesty International that health workers have not only been fired for using PPE at work, but at times have had their protection equipment violently stripped from them. Although Nicaragua’s vice president announced on 28 April that PPE could be used and social distancing would begin, the government of Daniel Ortega continues to downplay the pandemic, despite an increase in cases. The Pan American Health Organization has warned of inadequate health measures in Nicaragua, while the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights has raised concerns regarding unfair dismissals of health workers who have spoken out in the country.   

The Americas is home to about half the people in the world who have tested positive for COVID-19, with more than 2 million confirmed cases. As Latin America suffers its deadliest weeks yet, it is vital that all countries come together to ensure health financing is not undermined at this crucial time

Erika Guevara-Rosas, Americas director at Amnesty International

Restrictions of freedom of expression have also impacted the right to health and people’s access to health-related information. In Venezuela, where authorities have jailed journalists for publishing information about the pandemic, official data at the time of writing reports only 455 people infected with COVID-19 and only 10 deaths, which seems to have been under reported.

“It’s impossible to protect the health of over one billion people living in the Americas if governments insist on silencing the whistle-blowers, journalists and health workers who courageously raise their voices to denounce unsafe working conditions and rightly demand an adequate and accountable response to the pandemic,” said Erika Guevara-Rosas.

Health workers have also suffered stigmatization, physical attacks, death threats and denial of use of public transport in countries such as Colombia and Mexico, and even public stoning in Bolivia. While some governments have responded to such attacks with prompt statements and awareness-raising actions to publicly support the role of health workers, other leaders have taken actions to undermine them.

In mid-April, El Salvador’s president, Nayib Bukele, vetoed two decrees that would have strengthened the safety of health workers at work, just days after he accused human rights organizations of working “to make sure more people die.” The president’s statement disregarded the fact that the WHO specifically indicates that “violations or lack of attention to human rights can have serious health consequences.”

For more information or to arrange an interview, please contact Amnesty International press office: press@amnesty.org

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“The footage we have verified from across the Americas since late March provides worrying indications that governments are reverting to the kinds of repression we documented in 2019 and earlier, but this time to enforce pandemic-related public health measures,” said Erika Guevara-Rosas, Americas director at Amnesty International.

Amnesty International’s researchers and its Crisis Evidence Lab have verified videos that show the use of detention as a first rather than last resort; excessive and unnecessary use of force in the enforcement of COVID-19 lockdowns; and the imposition of mandatory quarantines in inhumane conditions. The videos suggest that people living in poverty, people who are homeless, and migrants and refugees are more likely to be impacted by these punitive measures.

“While COVID-19 affects us all, it does not affect us all in the same way. Many of those who face repression in the Americas are marginalized people who need access to food, healthcare and other necessities, not criminalization and ill-treatment. Governments are mistaken if they think repressive measures will protect people from the disease,” said Erika Guevara-Rosas.

Detention used as a first resort to policing lockdowns

Since early April, many countries in the Americas have declared states of emergency and implemented quarantines and/or curfews with the aim of halting the spread of COVID-19. While restrictions have varied, some countries are resorting to coercive approaches to enforce the restrictions, including the use of detention and other penalties as a first rather than last resort in policing these measures.

For example, authorities in the Dominican Republic, have imposed a state of emergency and curfew since March. According to reports from the National Police, law enforcement made an estimated 27,000 detentions between 8 April to 7 May, allegedly for non-compliance with the evening curfew implemented. Amnesty International is concerned about the authorities’ decision to detain people solely for breaching restrictions imposed in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic, especially when there is little public and accessible information regarding the conditions in which they are being detained. It is also unclear whether those detained have access to a lawyer and other due process guarantees. We wrote to the authorities requesting further information.

The videos verified suggest that Dominican police have been routinely rounding up people and detaining them without physical distancing for failing to wear masks. Authorities often use unnecessary force during detentions, a trend Amnesty International documented while investigating the repeated arbitrary arrest of women sex workers and young people in previous reports on the country.

Similarly, authorities in El Salvador have detained thousands of people for alleged home quarantine violations in government “containment centres” since March. Amnesty International has reviewed legal documents that challenge such detentions and state that some people were detained after leaving their homes simply to buy food or medicine.

Amnesty International has verified further videos from Puerto Rico, Mexico and the Dominican Republic in which police appear to stop or detain individuals on their way to get food and other basic items.

Even during times of emergency, states have an obligation to prohibit arbitrary detentions. Penalties for non-compliance with restrictions imposed in response to COVID-19 must be the last resort and need to be proportionate to protect public health. Instead of simply relying on punitive measures to enforce the restrictions, governments should prioritize measures that empower and support people to comply with restrictions, including policies to guarantee that everyone can access food and other necessities. This is especially important as many people in these countries live day-to-day and have no alternative than to breach the restrictions. Evidence from previous public health emergencies has shown that coercive enforcement approaches, including criminalization, can be counterproductive, and have a disproportionate impact on marginalized groups.

Ill-treatment as punishment for breaking lockdowns

Other videos that Amnesty International verified show police making frequent use of humiliating and degrading punishment against people for breaking lockdowns.

This example from Venezuela shows a trend repeated in multiple countries including Paraguay and the Dominican Republic.

In Argentina, Amnesty International verified a video in which the police beat a homeless person supposedly for being in the street during the lockdown. In the context of COVID-19, governments must provide facilities for people who are homeless to self-isolate if needed and ensure that no one is left vulnerable to catching the disease.

In late April, authorities in El Salvador published videos on social media of the inhumane and degrading treatment of detainees reportedly belonging to criminal organizations. The authorities implemented punitive measures in places of detention, including 24-hour-a-day confinement, solitary confinement of some alleged leaders of criminal organizations, and the suspension of their communication with the outside world. According to the UN, such measures risk exacerbating the spread of COVID-19.

Indications of unlawful use of force against people protesting lack of food, water and medicine

In April, the World Food Program warned of possible famines of “biblical proportions” due to the economic impact of COVID-19, and named ten countries, including Haiti and Venezuela, as most at risk. Amnesty International has seen people protesting their lack of access to food, water and sanitation in several countries during the pandemic.

In Venezuela, where a humanitarian emergency has led to almost 5 million people fleeing the country, despite the quarantine, according to the Venezuelan Observatory for Social Conflict, during April there were 150 protests related to demands for food, and 464 calling for access to basic services including electricity, water and gas.

In some instances, like in this video from Venezuela, there have been indications of excessive and unnecessary use of force to disperse the protests, consistent with a widespread policy of repression used to silence dissent since at least 2017.

In Honduras, the NGO ACI Participadocumented 106 peaceful demonstrations of people demanding food, medicine and water from local and national authorities in April. According to their reports, security forces repressed many of the protests including through the use of tear gas and firearms against peaceful protesters. 

Mandatory quarantines in inhumane conditions

Some governments have implemented mandatory quarantines, either for people who break home quarantines, as is the case in El Salvador, or for migrants, refugees and those who have returned to their country of origin, as is the case in Venezuela, Honduras, Guatemala, El Salvador, and Paraguay.

While authorities may legitimately impose mandatory quarantines in response to COVID-19, governments must ensure humane and non-discriminatory conditions for people subjected to those measures, enact an effective monitoring and review system that safeguards against ill-treatment, and grant those affected access to independent medical advice and legal assistance.

Instead, in multiple videos that Amnesty International has reviewed, people placed in mandatory quarantines describe being held in centers not equipped for physical distancing, or with necessities such as shelter, water and sanitation. Some report having not been tested or not having received the results of their COVID-19 test, meaning people who have not contracted the virus may be being deprived of their liberty arbitrarily in a place where they carry a greater risk of infection.

As of mid-April, in the context of COVID-19, some 6,000 Venezuelan refugees faced with informal jobs and no social security, returned from neighbouring host countries such as Colombia, Peru, and Ecuador to Venezuela, where they have been placed in approximately 97 centers to carry out forced quarantine and to face inadequate conditions and stigmatization. According to various reports, as many as 33,000 Venezuelans could have returned to the country in response to COVID-19 at the time of writing.

One video shows Venezuelans recently returned from Colombia protesting such a quarantine in the inside of an indoor stadium in Pueblo Nuevo, Tachira.

Additional material from 27 April shows that the stadium has since been cleared.

Amnesty International has raised similar concerns with authorities in Paraguay, where it has received complaints that Paraguayans returning from working in informal jobs in Brazil and other neighbouring countries have been subjected to mandatory quarantine in inadequate conditions. They alleged that they had not been tested for COVID-19, had insufficient masks and sanitary conditions, and were unable to take preventive measures, including physical distancing. Amnesty International also has concerns about a new protocol adopted on 9 May regarding mandatory quarantines and whether it lacks sufficient safeguards against human rights violations.

Another video from El Salvador, where thousands have been confined in centres with inadequate conditions, shows returned migrants battling a thunderstorm in an almost open-air shelter.

On 30 April, Amnesty International and other human rights organizations wrote to El Salvador’s president to express concern over his apparent disregard for a ruling of the Constitutional Court, which said that authorities could not deprive people of their liberty for failing to comply with the home quarantine order, and that forced confinement without evidence of symptoms or exposure to COVID-19 is unconstitutional.

For more information or to arrange an interview, contact Amnesty International press office: press@amnesty.org

COVID-19 AND HUMAN RIGHTS

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BOLIVIAAfter Evo Morales’ resignation amidst a social-political crisis in November, interim president Jeanine Áñez issued a decree granting impunity to Armed Forces, under which security forces repressed protests, causing deaths, dozens of injuries and allegations of excessive use of force. At least 35 people died violently in the context of the protests. 

BRAZILPresident Bolsonaro’s government put his openly anti-human rights rhetoric into practice through administrative and legislative measures. The year also saw an increase in the number of killings by police on active duty; severe environmental crises in the Amazon disproportionately affecting Indigenous peoples, Quilombolas and other local traditional communities; attempts to curtail the activities of civil society organizations; and threats against and killings of human rights defenders.  

CHILEChile ended 2019 with the worst human rights crisis since the regime of General Augusto Pinochet, with mass demonstrations against high levels of inequality. At least 31 people died violently in the context of the protests, which were met with strong repression by state forces. 

COLOMBIAViolence from the ongoing internal armed conflict and disputes over territorial control following the signing of the 2016 Peace Agreement raged on. The main victims continued to be Indigenous Peoples, Afro-descendant and campesino (peasant farmer) communities. Colombia was the world’s most lethal country for human rights defenders, with 106 killings.  

CUBAA year after President Díaz-Canel took office, the Cuban authorities continued to arbitrarily detain and imprison independent artists and journalists, and members of the political opposition. Amnesty International named six people prisoners of conscience, representing only a fraction of those likely to be detained solely because of the peaceful expression of their opinions or beliefs. The island remained mostly closed to independent human rights monitors. 

DOMINICAN REPUBLICThe police routinely raped, beat and humiliated women engaged in sex work in acts that may amount to gender-based torture or other ill-treatment. Abortion remained criminalized in all circumstances.  

ECUADOR 
Authorities failed to protect human rights defenders in situations of risk, especially those who defend the environment, as well as making xenophobic statements and hardening entry requirements for Venezuelan asylum-seekers. Security forces used excessive force to repress protestsover austerity measures that may affect people’s rights. Eight people died in the context of the protests in October and hundreds were injured and detained.  

EL SALVADORHigh levels of violence continued to provoke internal displacement and forced migration. Local organizations reported concerns over the new government’s plan against organized crime, such as the lack of transparency, the use of the military in public security operations, and the plan’s impact on prison conditions. A draconian total ban on abortion continued in place. 

GUATEMALAThe government shut down the International Commission Against Impunity in Guatemala, and Congress discussed regressive bills promoting impunity and restrictions to the work of human rights defenders. Attacks against human rights defenders persisted, including smear campaigns, criminalization and killings. Under a new “Safe Third Country” agreement, US authorities sent Honduran and Salvadoran asylum seekers to pursue their asylum claims in Guatemala instead of in the United States. 

HAITIAt least 83 people were killed and over 100 injured in the context of protests during in February and September-October. Security forces were responsible for an estimated 19 of those deaths. Amnesty International verified instances in which police armed with semi-automatic rifles fired live ammunition during protests, in violation of international policing and human rights standards. A number of journalists were injured and killed. 

HONDURASSix people died in the context of protests that were brutally repressed by security forces between April and June. Human rights defenders continued to be subjected to attacks, including killings and the misuse of criminal proceedings against them. Despite thousands of people fleeing the country seeking refuge in the United States and Mexico due to violence, impunity and poverty, the governments of Honduras and the United States signed a “Safe Third Country” agreement. 

MEXICOThe first year under a new administration brought concerning decisions around security, including the creation of a civil National Guard formed mostly by military elements. The number of reported disappearances increased to over 61,637. Violence against women persisted, with 1,006 investigations opened into femicides. Harassment and killings of human rights defenders and journalists continued. Mexico adopted a security-based approach to migration issues, using the National Guard to apprehend migrants. 

NICARAGUAThe crisis in Nicaragua continued, with arbitrary detentions, targeted killings, limits to freedom of expression and demonstrations and attacks against NGOs, journalists and human rights defenders. Thousands were forced to flee the country and the authorities blocked the entrance of international bodies. 

PERUAuthorities made xenophobic statements and imposed stricter entry requirements on Venezuelan asylum-seekers. The government also failed to address the exposure of Indigenous communities to toxic metals and the lack of effective regulations affected Indigenous Peoples’ rights. 

PUERTO RICORicardo Rosselló resigned as governor in July, following two weeks of protests in which 20 people were injured and 17 arrested. Governor Wanda Vázquez Garced declared a State of National Alert due to high levels of gender-based violence. Two years after hurricane Maria, tens of thousands of people continued to live under blue tarpaulin sheets. 

USAUS authorities detained, ill-treated and turned away tens of thousands of asylum-seekers at the US-Mexico border, in violation of national and international laws. As a result, unaccompanied children, families, LGBTI people and others faced abuses once stranded in northern Mexico, as well as in US immigration detention centers. The Trump administration increasingly misused the criminal justice system to threaten and harass human rights defenders. 

VENEZUELA The Maduro government continued its use of extrajudicial executions, arbitrary detentions, excessive use of force and torture as part of a policy of repression to silence dissent. At least 47 people were killed in the context of protests, including 21 who died in January at the hands of security forces and armed civilians acting with their acquiescence, in what may constitute crimes against humanity. Lack of food, medical care, and basic services have forced more than 4.8 million people to flee the country. 

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“2019 brought a renewed assault on human rights across much of the Americas, with intolerant and increasingly authoritarian leaders turning to ever-more violent tactics to stop people from protesting or seeking safety in another country. But we also saw young people stand up and demand change all over the region, triggering broader demonstrations on a massive scale. Their bravery in the face of vicious state repression gives us hope and shows that future generations will not be bullied,” said Erika Guevara-Rosas, Americas director at Amnesty International.

“With yet more social unrest, political instability and environmental destruction looming over the region in 2020, the fight for human rights is as urgent as ever. And make no mistake, the political leaders who preach hate and division in a bid to demonize and undermine the rights of others will find themselves on the wrong side of history.”

Protesters and human rights defenders faced rampant violence and state repression

Protest movements, often led by young people, rose up to demand accountability and respect for human rights in countries like Venezuela, Honduras, Puerto Rico, Ecuador, Bolivia, Haiti, Chile and Colombia last year, but authorities typically responded with repressive and often increasingly militarized tactics instead of establishing mechanisms to promote dialogue and address the protesters’ concerns.

The repression in Venezuela was particularly severe, with the Nicolás Maduro government’s security forces committing crimes under international law and grave human rights violations, including extrajudicial executions, arbitrary detentions and excessive use of force, that could amount to crimes against humanity. In Chile, the army and police also set out to deliberately injure protesters to discourage dissent, killing at least four people and seriously wounding thousands more.

With yet more social unrest, political instability and environmental destruction looming over the region in 2020, the fight for human rights is as urgent as ever. And make no mistake, the political leaders who preach hate and division in a bid to demonize and undermine the rights of others will find themselves on the wrong side of history

Erika Guevara-Rosas, Americas director at Amnesty International

In total, at least 210 people died violently in the context of protests across the Americas: 83 in Haiti, 47 in Venezuela, 35 in Bolivia, 31 in Chile, eight in Ecuador and six in Honduras.

Latin America is once again the world’s most dangerous region for human rights defenders, with those dedicated to protecting rights to land, territory and the environment particularly vulnerable to targeted killings, criminalization, forced displacement, and harassment. Colombia remained the most lethal country for human rights defenders, suffering at least 106 killings, mostly of Indigenous, Afro-descendant and campesino leaders, as its internal armed conflict continued to rage.

Mexico was one of the world’s deadliest countries for journalists, with at least 10 killings in 2019. It also suffered a record number of homicides but persisted with the failed security strategies of the past by creating a militarized National Guard and passing an alarming law on the use of force.

Gun violence remains one of the biggest human rights concerns in the United States, with too many guns and insufficient laws to keep track of them and keep them out of the hands of people who intend harm. A new rule announced by the Donald Trump administration in January 2020 has made it far easier to export assault rifles, 3-D printed guns, ammunition and other weapons abroad to spread rampant gun violence beyond US borders, particularly to other countries in the Americas. Similarly, in Brazil president Jair Bolsonaro signed a series of decrees and executive orders that, among other concerning outcomes, relax regulation on the possession and carrying of firearms.

Governments took aggressive stances against migrants, refugees and asylum seekers

The number of men, women and children to have fled Venezuela’s human rights crisis in recent years rose to almost 4.8 million – an unprecedented figure in the Americas – but Peru, Ecuador and Chile responded by imposing restrictive new entry requirements and unlawfully turning away Venezuelans in need of international protection.

Further north, the US government misused the justice system to harass migrants’ rights defenders, unlawfully detained children fleeing situations of violence and implemented new measures and policies to attack and massively restrict access to asylum, in violation of its obligations under international law.

Following the Trump administration’s threats to impose new trade tariffs, the Mexican government not only agreed to receive and host forcibly returned asylum seekers under MPP, but also deployed troops to stop Central Americans from making their way to the US-Mexico border.

Impunity, the environment and gender-based violence remain major concerns

Impunity remains the norm across the region. The Guatemalan government undermined victims’ access to justice for grave human rights violations by shutting down the International Commission against Impunity in Guatemala (CICIG) last year, before the government in neighboring Honduras announced the end of the Mission to Support the Fight against Corruption and Impunity in Honduras (MACCIH) in January 2020.

Environmental concerns continued to rise across the Americas, with the Trump administration formally announcing its intention to withdraw from the Paris agreement, while severe environmental crises in the Amazon affected Indigenous Peoples in Brazil, Bolivia, Peru and Ecuador. Brazil was hit particularly badly, with president Bolsonaro’s antienvironmental policies fueling devastating wildfires in the Amazon and failing to protect Indigenous Peoples from the illegal logging and cattle farming behind land seizures.

Having taken office at the start of 2019, president Bolsonaro swiftly put his wider anti-human rights rhetoric into practice through a number of administrative and legislative measures that threaten the rights of everyone in the country. Meanwhile, the emblematic 2018 killing of the human rights defender Marielle Franco remains unsolved.

As we enter a new decade, we cannot afford for the governments of the Americas to keep repeating the mistakes of the past. Instead of restricting people’s hard-fought rights, they must build upon them and work towards creating a region where everyone can live in freedom and safety

Erika Guevara-Rosas, Americas director at Amnesty International

Despite some progress and the growth of diverse women’s rights movements in the Americas, gender-based violence remained widespread. In the Dominican Republic police routinely raped, beat and humiliated women engaged in sex work in acts that may amount to torture. Little progress has been made in terms of women’s sexual and reproductive rights across the region. Authorities in El Salvador continued to criminalize women and girls – especially those from disadvantaged backgrounds – who suffer obstetric emergencies under the nation’s draconian total ban on abortion, while a girl under 15 gave birth every three hours in Argentina, the majority after undergoing forced pregnancies that resulted from sexual violence.

Human rights victories and reasons for optimism in 2020

The last year has also brought some positive news. By the end of 2019, 22 countries had signed the Escazú Agreement, a ground-breaking regional treaty on environmental rights. Ecuador became the eighth country to ratify the agreement in February, meaning just three more need to do so for it to enter into force. 

In the United States, a court in Arizona acquitted the humanitarian volunteer Scott Warren of “harbouring” two migrants in November after he provided them with food, water and a place to sleep, and a federal judge reversed the conviction of four other humanitarian volunteers on similar charges in February.

The acquittal of Evelyn Hernández, who was charged with aggravated homicide after suffering an obstetric emergency in El Salvador, was another victory for human rights, although prosecutors have since appealed the verdict. Young women and girls also emerged at the forefront of the largely youth-led movements standing up for human rights that brought optimism for 2020, as evidenced by powerful feminist demonstrations in places like Argentina, Mexico and Chile.

“The ‘green wave’ of women and girls demanding sexual and reproductive rights and an end to gender-based violence showed unstoppable momentum across the Americas. From Santiago, Chile, to Washington, DC, their awe-inspiring performances of the feminist anthem ‘A Rapist in Your Path’ gave us the soundtrack to solidarity in 2019 and renewed optimism for what we can achieve this year,” said Erika Guevara-Rosas.

“As we enter a new decade, we cannot afford for the governments of the Americas to keep repeating the mistakes of the past. Instead of restricting people’s hard-fought rights, they must build upon them and work towards creating a region where everyone can live in freedom and safety.”

For more information or to arrange an interview, contact Amnesty International press office: press@amnesty.org

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Nairovi Castillo is executive director of the Community of Dominican Trans and Transvestite Sex Workers (COTRAVETD), an organization she co-founded in 2004.

Mehlab Jameel, 26, is a researcher and community educator who helped draft Pakistan’s landmark 2018 Transgender Persons Act — one of the most progressive laws of its kind in the world.

The discussion between them is a mark of how solidarity can bring immense comfort and strength in challenging circumstances.

Amnesty: Tell us about your upbringing.

Nairovi: I had a terrible childhood. I realized that I was a woman when I was still young, but my family never accepted it. When I was 13, they threw me out because of my sexual orientation. I started sleeping rough on the streets of Santo Domingo and taking psychoactive substances. The transitioning process to become a trans woman was very hard for me.

Mehlab: I was born in a small town in the Punjab province, and spent most of my life there until life became impossible and I moved to a metropolis to pursue higher education. Today, I work for a community-led organization HOPE (Have Only Positive Expectations) that advocates for the rights of gender and sexual minorities in Pakistan. A typical day for me involves thwarting the gender binary, defying patriarchy, plotting to overthrow capitalism and drinking lots of chai. You know, the usual things – nothing extraordinary.

What has been your greatest challenge so far?

Nairovi Castillo: The most difficult thing was gaining social acceptance. People called me a “faggot” for dressing as a woman. Many trans people have no choice but to engage in sex work to support ourselves. There are no job opportunities for us in the formal sector. I started working on my own, without a pimp, but, like all of us, I faced a lot of danger. I was stopped by the police almost every day. They beat me, they took my money and forced me to have oral sex with them. When I take off my clothes, I uncover all the scars of the ill treatment I’ve suffered. I can tell you the exact time and date I got each scar.

We must keep fighting to end exclusion, stigmatization and discrimination, because social exclusion leads to the violations of our human rights.

Nairovi Castillo, executive director, Community of Dominican Trans and Transvestite Sex Workers (COTRAVETD)

Mehlab Jameel: Trans people, especially from the part of the world where I am from, are always cast as hapless victims. People are so interested in learning about all the ways that we are oppressed, but not interested in challenging the systems that are oppressing us. It’s not that we do not face this violence every single day; it’s that we never get to speak about it on our own terms even within the narratives that are about us.

Tell us about the moment you chose to defy the status quo.

Nairovi: I was 29 when I became an activist. I saw how an organization called the Movement of United Women here in the Dominican Republic were supporting women sex workers who suffered from situations of violence, arrests, or HIV and I thought, ‘We need to do something like this.’ At that time, there was no organization that looked out for trans people here. We saw that we needed to organize ourselves as a group of sex workers because we have a lot of needs that are denied. So, in 2004, we founded COTRAVETD.

Mehlab: I think I have several of those moments within the span of a single day. It is only alongside others that one can fight for change. Our organizing work is not centered around an alienating and individualistic framework of rights, but instead focuses on demanding justice for the people – for us. As Angela Davis says, “It is in collectivities that we find reservoirs of hope and optimism.”

What is your greatest achievement?

Nairovi: Leading COTRAVETD. We carry out educational work so that the girls know their rights, and we hold workshops to raise awareness and train the military and police to stop abusing us. For me, going from being a trans sex worker who used to take drugs, to becoming the director of this organization and overcoming substance abuse — that’s a big achievement.

I dream of a queer future. It’s important to build a strong political culture in our movements that addresses the systemic roots of oppression affecting the people – not just trans people.

Mehlab Jameel, researcher and community educator

Mehlab: More than success, I find myself being curious about all the ways that I fail: failure to live happily in a patriarchal family, failure to make my trans-ness and its agendas comprehensible for a right-wing government. I am interested in my failure to find comfort in a society that constantly dehumanizes me and my very existence. My failures teach me something new every day about the violent nature of the society that I try to survive in, and the structures upholding that violence that I resist against.

Nairovi: In the Dominican Republic we need a gender identity law, so that we can have official documents that reflect our names and gender identities. We also urgently need an anti-discrimination law to ensure that the authorities protect us. So, Mehlab, how did you achieve this beautiful objective?

Mehlab: It was a collective effort. The Transgender Persons Act, among other things, allows people the right of self-determination of their gender identity and expression, and protection from discrimination. Our team consisted of lawyers, activists and researchers who worked tirelessly to ensure that the Bill before Parliament represented the demands of the community, especially those who are most economically marginalized and vulnerable to violence. It was difficult to break down barriers and gain access because the legislative process in Pakistan, as you can imagine, is a very exclusionary and elitist affair. The Act owes its victory to the brave trans warriors who fought against police brutality and gang violence all their lives.

Do you have a message for other trans people around the world?

Nairovi: We must keep fighting to end exclusion, stigmatization and discrimination, because social exclusion leads to the violations of our human rights. We can raise our voices and influence decision makers and force them to listen to us. We must empower ourselves and make people call us by our chosen names.

Mehlab: We carry society’s shame in every curve and crevice of our body, we are punished for being born into our beautiful bodies and demanding to make our own decisions about them. Our mere existence is marked with violence, erasure and hatred. There’s enough pain in our lives already, so don’t do it yourself. Be kind to yourself and those around you. Build a culture of care. And organize collectively for change.

What is your greatest dream for the future?

Nairovi: My dream for the future is to pass a gender identity law in my country and to establish a trans care home for elderly trans people, those who have no place to go, and those who live with HIV and have been rejected by their families. I want trans people to have other employment opportunities so that they don’t just have to be sex workers. This is my dream.

Mehlab: I dream of a queer future. It’s important to build a strong political culture in our movements that addresses the systemic roots of oppression affecting the people – not just trans people. It means so much to hear from a trans sister fighting a similar battle in a different part of the world. I would love to talk more about building transnational solidarity that can allow us to learn more from each other’s struggles. Such radical sisterhood beyond borders is what gives me hope for the future. I am incredibly inspired and touched to hear about the work you are doing. You are brilliant and a ray of hope for your community and I give you all my prayers and best wishes for your endeavors. More power to you!

This piece was originally published by TIME

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