In Mexico, people with mental or physical disabilities are viewed as incapable of making their own decisions. Forced treatment and institutionalization are frequent results of this perception.
Under the Donald Trump presidency, recent years have seen a substantial rise in the attention and emotion invested in the United States’ immigration debate. However, continuous criticisms of the country’s immigration system from both ends of the political spectrum fail to recognize the other countries that are being affected by the same migration patterns. Although all countries in Central America have been affected in some way by the recent waves of migration, Mexico is in the center—geographically and politically—of the movement, and is arguably more the subject of a ‘crisis’ of immigration than the United States.
In terms of drug policy, harm reduction is broadly defined as a range of pragmatic and evidence-based policies, which primarily attempt to reduce the negative consequences associated with drug use. Harm reduction strategies target a variety of risks associated with drug use and misuse, including adverse health, social, and economic consequences. Harm reduction’s defining features include a focus on preventing harm, rather than preventing drug use, and a commitment to respecting users’ human rights.
On March 14th, 2018, one of Brazil’s strongest voices in the fight for equal rights was assassinated in her car along with her driver on the way home from an event to empower young black women in Rio de Janeiro. Marielle Franco had just been elected the city councilor of Rio de Janeiro 18 months prior to her death. At 38 years old, Franco was the only black female representative on the 51-member council, and one of seven women (The New York Times, 2018).
Democracies across the Americas have seen the proliferation and expansion of democratic institutions for decades. Along with anti-corruption offices and new courts, at least sixteen states across the Americas have adopted Human Rights Ombudsman agencies since 1985. While they go by a variety of names (e.g.
Upon meeting Maurice Tomlinson, one would never guess all that he has been through in his life. His smiling face lights up the room and his laughter is immediately contagious. Nothing about the LGBTI rights advocate’s demeanor reveals that he was forced out of his home country of Jamaica after threats to his life.
On Wednesday in response to a UN vote denouncing the embargo placed on Cuba by Congress the US abstained for the first time in 25 years. While this is a small nod by the US in recognition of the futility of the embargo, Congress is still opposed to lifting trade constraints until Cuba does more to improve human rights (Borger 2016).
On Tuesday, January 7th, officials from the Haiti and the Dominican Republic met in Ouanaminthe, a Haitian town close to the border shared by Hispaniola’s only inhabitants.
The camera follows a man’s feet as he walks across a prison courtyard. His surroundings cannot be seen, nor can the faces of those present at the scene. The viewer sees only feet and small pools of water on a cement floor, until a pool of blood emerges at the top of the frame.
Against claims that hundreds of thousands of mostly poor and indigenous women were sterilized without their consent, the Peruvian government has decided to clear former president Alberto Fujimori of related charges. The Fujimori government always claimed that the operations performed were voluntary on behalf of its participants.
