Latin America
We work alongside local organizations and human rights defenders to defend civic space and combat violence, repression, and discrimination in the region. Through strategic litigation and legal advocacy before the Inter-American Human Rights system and the United Nations, we work toward protecting human rights, seeking truth, justice, and redress for victims of human rights violations. From combating gender-based violence in Central America, historic racism against Dominicans of Haitian Descent, and systematic repression against critics in Venezuela and Guatemala to protecting freedom of the press in Colombia and Brazil, our mission is to create a region where justice, dignity, and equality prevail for all.
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Kennedy Human Rights Center Submits Input to the UN Human Rights Committee to Inform General Comment No. 38 on Freedom of Association
Tags Share The Kennedy Human Rights Center’s General Comment 38 submission provides a comparative analysis of freedom of association, offering an overview of the issues facing the right to freedom of association around the globe and the state of international human rights law on the right. It focuses in particular on country experiences and human
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Latin America: The Most Dangerous Region to Defend the Planet
Tags Share For over a decade, Latin America has remained the most dangerous region to fight against extractive projects and defend the environment and land. The highest proportion of cases involving violence against environmental human rights defenders (EHRDs) documented in 2024 (82%) has taken place in Latin America, according to the latest report of Global
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La Corte Interamericana de Derechos Humanos condena al Estado mexicano por la violación sexual de parte de militares, tortura y muerte de doña Ernestina Ascencio Rosario
Tags Share La Familia de doña Ernestina Ascencio Rosario y sus representantes, celebramos la decisión de la Corte Interamericana de Derechos Humanos (Corte IDH) en la que, tras casi diecinueve años de impunidad y denegación de justicia por parte del Estado mexicano, declaró la responsabilidad internacional de este por la violación sexual, tortura y muerte
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Inter-American Court of Human Rights Condemns the State of Mexico for Sexual Violence by Members of the Mexican Army, Torture, and the Death of Ernestina Ascencio Rosario
Tags Share The family of Ernestina Ascencio Rosario and their representatives welcome the decision of the Inter-American Court of Human Rights (IACtHR), which, after nearly nineteen years of impunity and denial of justice by the State of Mexico, declared the State internationally responsible for the sexual violence, torture, and death of Ernestina Ascencio Rosario. Ernestina
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Prensa Libre: Guatemala apologizes for the forced disappearance of 4 indigenous activists in 1989
Tags Share Decades after the Guatemalan government forcibly disappeared four indigenous human rights defenders, the country has offered a public apology to the victims’ families. Speaking in a ceremony on December 12, the President of Guatemala, Bernardo Arévalo, apologized and acknowledged that the Guatemalan state failed to fulfill its obligations to investigate, prosecute, and punish
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Organizaciones internacionales condenan la muerte en custodia de líder opositor en Venezuela
Tags Share Las organizaciones internacionales firmantes condenamos la muerte de Alfredo Javier Díaz Figueroa en custodia del Estado venezolano, ocurrida en El Helicoide bajo control del Servicio Bolivariano de Inteligencia Nacional (SEBIN) el 5 de diciembre de 2025. Alfredo Díaz fue gobernador del estado Nueva Esparta y dirigente opositor, miembro del partido político Acción Democrática.
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Guatemalan government formally accepts responsibility for 1989 disappearance of four human rights defenders
Tags Share Washington, D.C., December 10, 2025 – On December 12, the government of Guatemala will formally acknowledge responsibility for the 1989 enforced disappearance of human rights defenders Agapito Pérez Lucas, Nicolás Mateo, Macario Pú Chivalán, and Luis Ruiz Luis, whose whereabouts remain unknown to this day. President Bernardo Arévalo will join the victims’ families,
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Yahoo! News: A former magistrate exiled in the US fears an “attack” if she returns to Guatemala
A former judge on Guatemala’s Constitutional Court, Gloria Porras was well-known for championing anti-corruption efforts in the country.
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RFK Human Rights solicita a la Corte Interamericana reconocer el espacio cívico habilitante como elemento esencial para la democracia y los derechos políticos
Tags Share El 17 de noviembre de 2025, Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights presentó un escrito en calidad de amicus curiae ante la Corte Interamericana de Derechos Humanos en respuesta a la solicitud de Opinión Consultiva presentada por Guatemala en materia de democracia y derechos humanos. El 6 de diciembre de 2024, Guatemala pidió a
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RFK Human Rights urges the Inter-American Court to recognize enabling civic space as essential to democracy and political rights
Tags Share On November 17, 2025, Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights submitted an amicus brief to the Inter-American Court of Human Rights in response to Guatemala’s request for an Advisory Opinion on Democracy and Human Rights. On December 6, 2024, Guatemala requested the Court to determine whether “States are obligated to guarantee and promote democracy
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Guapinol: A 2 años de las medidas cautelares de la CIDH, el Estado de Honduras sigue sin garantizar la protección de las personas defensoras
Tags Share A 2 años de que la Comisión Interamericana de Derechos Humanos (CIDH) otorgara la Medida Cautelar No. 137-23 a favor de integrantes del Comité Municipal para la Defensa de los Bienes Comunes y Públicos de Tocoa y el Bufete Justicia para los Pueblos en Honduras, el Estado de Honduras no ha cumplido con
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Guapinol: Two years after the IACHR precautionary measures, the State of Honduras continues to fail to guarantee the protection of human rights defenders
Tags Share Two years after the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) granted Precautionary Measure No. 137-23 on behalf of members of the Comité Municipal para la Defensa de los Bienes Comunes y Públicos de Tocoa (Municipal Committee for the Defense of the Common and Public Goods of Tocoa) and the Bufete Justicia para los
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