CHAPTER IV.A HUMAN RIGHTS DEVELOPMENTS IN THE REGION A. Overview of the human rights situation by country METHODOLOGY 1. The Commission approved making Chapter IV.A of its 2019 Annual Report an overview of the human rights situation in the States of the region, with a special emphasis on the rights and issues prioritized by the IACHR, as well as on the following cross-cutting themes established by the Commission in its Strategic Plan 2017-2021: democratic institutionality, institutionality of human rights, access to justice and citizen security; as well as the issues prioritized in that Plan. With respect to freedom of expression and economic, social, and cultural rights, the Special Rapporteurships for each of those areas produce their own annual reports, which are attached to this Report. 2. To prepare this section, the IACHR took into account the information received on the human rights situation in the 32 countries in the region during 2019, in the exercise of its monitoring function. The IACHR validated the information received during country and work visits and ex officio investigations, as well as with inputs from the different mechanisms through which the IACHR has followed up on the situation in a country (such as public hearings, requests for information under Article 41 of the American Convention, thematic visits, and precautionary measures), as well as journalism news items, and decisions and recommendations from specialized international bodies, among other methods. 3. Also, pursuant to its authorities established in Article 41 of the American Convention and Article 18 of the American Declaration on the Rights and Duties of Man, in August 2019, the Commission asked for information from the 35 Member States on the rights, issues, and crosscutting themes prioritized in the Strategic Plan, as described above. 4. The IACHR received responses from the following 15 Member States: Argentina, Bahamas, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, El Salvador, Guyana, Honduras, Jamaica, Mexico, Nicaragua1, Paraguay and Peru. The IACHR appreciates and values the information sent, which was included in this chapter as pertinent. 5. Likewise, the IACHR appreciates the information provided by institutions and civil society organizations throughout the year via the various monitoring mechanisms, which was included in this section as pertinent. TRENDS 6. Hereunder, the IACHR provides an overview of the human rights situation in the region based on monitoring conducted over the course of 2019. The IACHR reviewed the information and identified a number of trends as human rights challenges, many of which have carried over from the preceding year. The Commission highlights broad political engagement of citizens through social protest. By the same token, it views with concern repression of social protest in some countries of the region through disproportionate use of force, as well as acts of violence and vandalism taking place in these contexts. Furthermore, the IACHR has noticed in 2019 that acts of violence and discrimination have continued to be perpetrated against groups living in special situations of exclusion, such as women and children, LGBTI persons, indigenous peoples, human rights defenders, social 1 The information provided by the State of Nicaragua was used to prepare Chapter IV.B of this Report. leaders and journalists. Likewise, the grave situation of forced migration and persons deprived of liberty is worrisome. 7. In 2019, the Commission took note of acts of repression in the region taking place in contexts of protests and demonstrations in some countries through excessive use of force, leading to violations of individuals’ right to life and physical integrity. In such contexts, detentions of demonstrators were also observed. The Commission notes that firearms must not be used to control social protests. The use of this type of weapon is an extreme measure and is only permissible when law enforcement is unable to overpower or stop those who threaten the lives and safety of others by less lethal means. Likewise, States must take the necessary measures to investigate acts of violence with due diligence establishing who is physically responsible and the masterminds of such acts and punish them accordingly. The IACHR also condemns acts of violence and vandalism that are perpetrated in the context of demonstrations, inasmuch as such conduct is incompatible with the right to protest. In this regard, the Commission calls on anyone who takes part in demonstrations to not resort to acts of violence and emphasizes that the fact that some groups or individuals engage in violence at a demonstration does not mean, in itself, that the entire protest is violent. The IACHR renews its call for States to step up their efforts to promote dialogue, ensure the right to protest, protect the right to peaceful demonstration and adopt public policies that prioritize respect and guarantee of the right to life, physical integrity and other fundamental human rights. 8. The IACHR further recalls that, pursuant to Inter-American standards, maintaining public order and citizen security is quintessentially the province of civilian police forces. In any case, according to Inter- American legal precedent, armed forces may only take part in citizen security-related tasks in special circumstances. Any intervention of the armed forces must be properly justified, exceptional and temporary in nature, and confined to what is strictly necessary in the particular circumstances of the case. In such instances, armed forces’ involvement must be subordinated and a complement to civilian police forces, as well as regulated by law and under supervision. 9. With respect to human rights defenders, the Commission has noticed high numbers of murdered defenders and social leaders in the region; as well as attacks, threats, harassment, acts of intimidation, judicial proceedings to criminalize them, smear campaigns and delegitimization of their professional pursuits. It is worrisome to the IACHR that some of the attacks in 2019 were perpetrated against human rights defenders, who are beneficiaries of IACHR-granted precautionary measures. The IACHR underscores again the heightened risk faced by human rights defenders and indigenous leaders, land, environmental and women’s rights defenders, as well as the high degree of impunity in these cases. An additional cause for concern is that patterns of violence against journalists and the media continue to unfold, as does the climate of impunity surrounding crimes and violence against journalists reported in previous years. It is also troubling to observe that journalists, media outlets and activists continue to be stigmatized by senior government officials in several countries of the region. The IACHR calls upon the States of the region to take concrete, adequate and effective measures in terms of protection, prevention, investigation and access to justice, in order to create a safe climate that is conducive to people who defend human rights in the region. States must also ensure that human rights defenders, journalists and media outlets are able to do their important job freely and safely. 10. The Commission further notes that there continue to be in the countries of the region irregularities and omissions with regard to prior, free and informed consultations, in advance of granting concessions, licenses and permits for the exploration and exploitation of natural resources, which encroach upon the ancestral territories of indigenous or Afro-descendant peoples. On this issue, the Inter-American Court has repeatedly held that the right to consultation includes, as an essential element, the right of indigenous peoples to be consulted about, and participate in, the development of the process of consultation to which they are entitled. The IACHR recalls that prior consultation is not a tool to mitigate social conflict, but a procedure to realize the right to free determination, in relation to the activities that are carried out on their ancestral lands and territories, or that have an impact on the natural resources that are located therein. 11. The Commission continues to be concerned about the high levels of gender-based violence against women and girls in the region, including restrictions on the exercise of their reproductive rights. It has 288 also noticed widespread acts of violence, including hate crimes against LGBTI persons, motivated by their sexual orientation, expression and/or gender identity or their sexual traits. 12. Over 2019, the IACHR has repeatedly voiced its concern about the rights of migrants in the region. In particular, about the situation of forced migration of Venezuelan nationals, whose total number now surpasses 4,600,00 people and who have been compelled to leave their country as a consequence of mass human rights violations, as well as the grave food and health crisis that the country has been experiencing. The IACHR has viewed with concern the measures adopted by some States to restrict movement and intake of the Venezuelan population by establishing administrative requirements or stricter police and migratory controls along their borders and entry points, as well as collective rejections and expulsions. This situation has a particular impact on people’s ability to seek asylum and on reunification of Venezuelan families. 13. In addition, there continued to be forced migration of people from the Northern Triangle of Central American. In particular, the caravans toward Mexico and the United States