By Chris Dalby
A damning report (click here) stating that federal agents systematically tortured prisoners in Brazil’s northern state of Pará have found little attention from President Jair Bolsonaro, who dismissed questions about the scandal as nonsense.
In early October, federal prosecutors in Pará issued a report, stating that members of a security task force, intended to stop violence within prisons, had been torturing prisoners in vicious ways, including “beatings with brooms, daily attacks with rubber bullets and pepper spray, impalement of the anus, and the piercing of feet with nails, among other atrocities,” reported El País.
When asked to comment on the report on October 8, Bolsonaro told journalists to stop “asking bullshit.”...
October 8, 2019
By Colin Brineman
A recent report (click here) on Venezuela by the United Nations Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) is a grim portrayal of a country in a severe crisis. Yet, given the extensive media coverage given to this report, it is important to contextualize what is going on in Venezuela in light of the situation in other countries in the region.
Comparing the rates of violent abuses of state security agents in Venezuela with those of state actors like Brazil, Colombia, El Salvador, Honduras, or Mexico, it becomes clear that Venezuela is far from being an outlier, but rather part of a disturbing pattern of abusive, tough-on-crime, “mano dura” (“iron fist”) security policies in Latin America.
What is an outlier, however, is the disproportionate media attention directed at Venezuela’s human rights situation, in comparison to other Latin American nations.
Another outlier is the US approach to Venezuela, which is clearly driven by the political aims of President Donald Trump — not by any particular concern for human rights. To get a sense of Trump’s double standard when it comes to human rights, one need look no further than how his administration treats Venezuela’s neighbor, Brazil....
Venezuela must be removed from the United Nations Human Rights Council. Maduro is an illegitimate government.
By Michael R. Pompeo
...Its membership includes authoritarian governments (click here) with unambiguous and abhorrent human rights records, such as China, Cuba, and Venezuela. These are among the reasons why the United States withdrew from the Human Rights Council in 2018 (cilck here).
The United States strongly supports multilateral organizations that sincerely and effectively work to protect human rights. The election to the Human Rights Council of Maduro’s representative is a farce that further undermines the Council’s already frail credibility. We desire to work with our allies and partners in support of Venezuelan interim President Guaidó’s efforts to restore human rights and democracy in Venezuela, a critical objective that reflects the United States’ commitment to human rights and freedom.....
October 17, 2019
By Rachelle Krygier
Caracas - The government of President Nicolás Maduro (click here) won a seat Thursday on the U.N. Human Rights Council, a controversial victory for a regime accused of using intimidation, torture and murder to cling to power.
The Maduro government, no longer recognized as legitimate by the United States and around 50 other countries, had sought a return to the 47-member panel to counter an image of international isolation — and thwart investigations into its own alleged abuses.
Venezuela and regional rival Brazil beat out Costa Rica for the two Latin American seats up for election. Costa Rica had declared its candidacy only this month in an effort to deny Venezuela a three-year term, but the support of China, Russia, Cuba and other allies gave the socialist state the win.
“We celebrate, once again, the Bolivarian diplomacy of peace at the U.N.,” Venezuelan Foreign Minister Jorge Arreaza said after the vote. “This victory is historic, since we faced a ferocious campaign.”...
By Jorge L. Ortiz
A firefighter (click here) gives water to a tropical bird rescued from a wildfire in the Santa Cruz Province of Bolivia, August 22, 2019.
The proliferation of fires in the Amazon rainforest (click here) drew international attention in August, especially when French President Emmanuel Macron called for urgent action.
Since then, the eyes of the world have shifted elsewhere as House Democrats launched an impeachment inquiry against President Donald Trump, Hurricane Dorian leveled large swaths of the Bahamas, a Brexit deal was left for dead and revived, and U.S. troops pulled out of northern Syria
A man works in a burning tract of Amazon jungle as it is being cleared by loggers and farmers in Iranduba, Amazonas state, Brazil, August 20, 2019.
Satellite photos of the Amazon from July 2019 showed an area the size of a soccer field was being cleared every minute, BBC News reported.
Meanwhile, the Amazon continued to burn.
The number of fires decreased by 35% in September, but experts say this is merely a slowdown in a crisis with global repercussions.
There were still 19,925 fire outbreaks in September on the Brazilian part of the rainforest, which accounts for nearly 65% of the Amazon basin. Moreover, through the first nine months of the year, the number of fires soared by 41% compared to the same period in 2018, Brazil’s National Institute for Space Research (INPE) reported....
