AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL REPORT 2016/17

AMERICAS
REGIONAL
OVERVIEW
Despite public discourse about democracy
and economic progress as well as hopes of
an end at last to its remaining armed conflict
in Colombia, the Americas remained one of
the world’s most violent and unequal regions.
Across the region, the year was marked by
a trend of anti-rights, racial and
discriminatory rhetoric in political campaigns
and by state officials, which was accepted
and normalized by mainstream media. In the
USA, Donald Trump was elected President in
November – following an election campaign
in which he provoked consternation through
discriminatory, misogynist and xenophobic
rhetoric, and caused serious concerns about
future US commitments to human rights
domestically and globally.
The region’s human rights crisis was
accelerated by a trend of increased obstacles
and restrictions to justice and fundamental
freedoms. Waves of repression became more
visible and violent, with states frequently
misusing their justice and security apparatus
to ruthlessly respond to and crush dissent,
and increasing public discontent.
Discrimination, insecurity, poverty and
environmental damage were rampant
throughout the region. Failure to uphold
international human rights standards was
also laid bare by a wide gulf of inequality – in
wealth, social wellbeing and access to justice
– which was underpinned by corruption and
lack of accountability.
Widespread and entrenched obstacles to
accessing justice and a weakening rule of law
were common to many countries in the
region. Impunity for human rights abuses
was high, and in some cases a lack of
independent and impartial judicial systems
further protected political and economic
interests.
This backdrop enabled the perpetuation of
human rights violations. Torture and other illtreatment,
in particular, remained prevalent,
despite the existence of anti-torture laws in
countries including Brazil, Mexico and
Venezuela.
Failures of justice systems – together with
states’ failure to implement public security
policies that protect human rights –
contributed to high levels of violence.
Countries such as Brazil, El Salvador,
Honduras, Jamaica, Mexico and Venezuela
had the highest homicide rates on the planet.
Endemic violence and insecurity were
often linked to, and compounded by, the
proliferation of illicit small arms and the
growth of organized crime, which in some
cases had taken control of whole territories,
sometimes with the complicity or
acquiescence of the police and military.
Central America’s “Northern Triangle” of El
Salvador, Guatemala and Honduras was one
of the world’s most violent places, with more
people killed there than in most conflict
zones globally. El Salvador’s homicide rate of
108 per 100,000 inhabitants was one of the
highest in the world. For many, daily life was
overshadowed by criminal gangs.
Widespread gender-based violence
remained one of the most appalling of states’
failures in the Americas. In October, the
Economic Commission for Latin America and
the Caribbean revealed that 12 women and
girls were murdered every day in the region
because of their gender (a crime classified as
“feminicide”), with most of those crimes
going unpunished. According to the US State
Department, one in five women in the USA
was sexually assaulted during her college
years, although just one in 10 incidents was
reported to the authorities.
Lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and
intersex (LBGTI) individuals across the region
faced higher rates of violence and
discrimination, and more obstacles in getting
access to justice. The shooting rampage at a
nightclub in Orlando, Florida, demonstrated
that LBGTI people were the most likely target
of hate crimes in the USA. Brazil, meanwhile,
remained the most deadly country in the
world for transgender people.
24 Amnesty International Report 2016/17