This month, several nonprofit organizations, including Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights, the Southern Center for Human Rights, and the University of Dayton Human Rights Center, filed a petition with the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR), requesting an investigation into the police killing of Manuel Terán, an activist known as “Tortuguita.” 

According to Truthout, Over a year after the incident, conflicting accounts remain—police claim Tortuguita shot first, while an independent autopsy suggests Tortuguita was likely unarmed with hands up when shot. Discrepancies in police reports and the lack of a DOJ investigation have prompted the petition, which argues that Tortuguita’s death and the DOJ’s inaction violate international human rights standards and the rights to free speech and association.

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