Annual Report 2023

The IACHR Annual Report is a benchmark publication showcasing the organization’s work. It summarizes the current human rights situation in the region and discusses recent challenges and progress.

It includes information on the IACHR’s progress and achievements through its different mechanisms. It also contains an overview of the human rights situation in the region, follow-up on recommendations, and a breakdown of the IACHR’s budget.

Find out more about these topics in the six chapters of the 2023 Annual Report.

Read the 2023 Annual Report

Petition and Case System

This system is a unique mechanism for protecting human rights in the region by achieving justice and reparation, continuing the fight against impunity, and implementing structural measures that help improve different areas of people’s lives.

Progress and achievements through the Petition and Case System

1

2

3

4

5 Friendly Settlements

The IACHR’s Friendly Settlement Mechanism reaches agreements between parties that establish reparation measures for the victims of human rights violations and society as a whole.

13 friendly settlement agreements

81

Agreements signed by country

measures of progress on implementing friendly settlement agreements

Argentina

hover the mouse over the shapes

Colombia

Mexic

Thematic areas in 112 reparation measures

Children and adolescents

The right to health and welfare

People deprived of their freedom

Education and training

Freedom and personal integrity

Economic, social, and cultural rights

The protection of honor and dignity

The prevention of torture

The prevention of gender-based violence

Judicial protection and guarantees

Equality

Memory, truth, and justice

Due process

LGBTI People

Precautionary measures

A precautionary measure is a protection mechanism through which the IACHR requests that a State protect one or more people who are at serious, urgent risk of suffering irreparable harm.

1113

52

Requests for precautionary measures

Precautionary measures granted

7

follow-up measures

Requests received by country

Country	Number of requests
Guayana	2
Haití	4
Honduras	11
Jamaica	3
México	145
Nicaragua	12
Panamá	19
Paraguay	8
Perú	81
República Dominicana	2
Suriname	4
Trinidad y Tobago	1

IACHR and IA Court

34

the IACHR referred 34 cases to the IA Court

The IACHR participated in 50 hearings

Brasil

7

Chile

4

Colombia

8

Ecuador

2

El Salvador

2

Guatemala

1

Honduras

3

México

7

Nicaragua

1

Paraguay

6

Perú

7

Venezuela

1

24 public hearings of ongoing cases

25 private hearings of contentious cases being monitored

1 public hearing on a request for an advisory opinion

Read Chapter 2

Progress and challenges around human rights by country

Progress

Reduction in the number of homicides in the country.
State initiative to prevent and eliminate all forms of child labor.
State electoral bodies are taking steps to guarantee the right of older people to vote.

Challenges

High levels of violence against LGBTIQ people.
Conditions of detention in His Majesty’s Prison.
Lack of a centralized complaint mechanism for human rights violations or a centralized system for compiling statistics.

Progress

Achievements regarding policies to combat gender-based violence.
Promotion of the social inclusion of historically vulnerable groups during the economic crisis that the country is experiencing.
Progress on issues relating to memory, truth, and justice, such as the inscription of the ESMA Memory Site Museum in the UNESCO World Heritage List, providing recognition and protection for its exceptional cultural value to humanity.

Challenges

Severe macroeconomic crisis that has affected the whole of Argentinian society, especially those living in poverty and extreme poverty.
An approach to the exploitation of natural resources that poses challenges to the protection of the rights of indigenous peoples.
The opening of political trials against judges has raised concerns about judicial independence and respect for due process.

Progress

Significant efforts have been made to create a framework for the protection of human rights, including the establishment of the Ombud’s Office.
Efforts have been made to improve the efficiency of the judicial system and restore confidence in access to justice for all citizens.
Measures have been implemented to address gender-based violence, including the creation of a Strategic Plan and a specialized unit for sexual crimes.

Challenges

Little progress has been made on the implementation of electoral and campaign finance reforms.
There is an ongoing policy of detention and deportation of migrants without an adequate assessment of their needs for international protection.
Despite efforts, concerns about sexual and physical violence against children and adolescents persist.
Discriminatory legislation and the climate of social prejudice against LGBTI people present significant challenges to the protection of their fundamental rights.

Progress

Passage of the Integrity in Public Life Act and legislation allowing the Chief Justice to set guidelines for criminal sentencing seeks to address the procedural backlog in the judicial system.
The Supreme Court decision declaring the criminalization of sodomy established in the Sexual Offenses Law unconstitutional on the grounds that it is discriminatory toward members of the LGBTI community.
The expansion of the definition of “domestic relationship” to include unmarried women in the Domestic Violence Act.

Challenges

The increase in crime and the backlog of pending criminal cases point to persistent challenges in citizen security and the judicial system.
Challenges persist in the protection of the rights of people deprived of their liberty, including the lack of adequate facilities and the continued use of the death penalty.
The preference for residential care centers as an alternative for children and adolescents in the juvenile justice system raises concerns about the impacts of this on their rehabilitation and social reintegration.
Belize

Progress

The State’s continued commitment to the fight against corruption is reflected in the passage of the Recovery of Civil Assets and Unexplained Wealth Act. The People’s Constitutional Commission was established to review the Constitution of Belize, promoting citizen participation in governance.
The decrease in the number of homicides shows progress on measures to counteract crime, as does the proposal to establish a Firearms and Ammunition Control Board.
Access to justice: the enactment of the Legal Aid Act improves access to legal aid.

Challenges

Violence against LGBTI women and adolescents is an ongoing source of concern.
The shortfalls in financing and personnel at the Ombud’s Office affect its ability to function effectively.
There is a lack of adequate resources and programs for the protection of the rights of people deprived of their freedom.

Progress

There has been progress in complying with the recommendations of international human rights bodies to strengthen the protection and promotion of human rights in the country.
The rights of LGBTI people were secured through the legal recognition of same-sex unions.

Challenges

Challenges persist in the justice system, including the lack of elections in the high courts and obstacles in the fight against gender-based violence. Failure to hold elections can weaken the justice system and hinder the effective implementation of measures to mitigate prison overcrowding.
Fragmentation among senior political leadership reflects a trend toward political polarization in the country. This situation may hinder government activity at different levels and present challenges for the upcoming elections.
Challenges persist in the fight against gender-based violence and femicide. There is no comprehensive program to combat sexual violence against children and adolescents, and there are obstacles to accessing health services for the termination of pregnancy.
Excessive use of pretrial detention and the high rate of overcrowding in prisons, aggravated by water and food shortages, poor medical care, and the lack of adequate spaces for receiving visitors.

Progress

Strengthening of human rights institutions to guarantee the rights of groups exposed to situations of vulnerability.
Recognition of land rights of indigenous and Quilombola peoples.
Implementation of strategies to prevent gender-based violence and guarantee sexual and reproductive rights.
Implementation of policies to combat and punish racism, as well as affirmative actions for the inclusion of people of African descent and indigenous people.
Reinstatement of the National Secretariat for the Promotion and Defense of the Rights of LGBTQIA+ People at the Ministry of Human Rights and Citizenship with an intersectional approach.

Challenges

Persistence of violence generated by police operations in favelas, which have had a differential impact on children and adolescents.
Alarming numbers of people working in conditions akin to slavery.
Overcrowding and violence in prisons.
Worrying figures of violence against older people were recorded. The country is urged to ratify the Inter-American Convention on Protecting the Human Rights of Older Persons.

Progress

Government-led action on the use of technology and artificial intelligence as tools to promote equal access to justice.
Enactment of the Forced and Child Labour in Supply Chains Act.
Canada’s possible accession to the Inter-American Convention on the Prevention, Punishment, and Eradication of Violence Against Women.

Challenges

The situation of gender violence, especially against indigenous women and girls, who are at high risk of domestic violence, disappearance, homicide, and trafficking.
Supreme Court of Canada ruling that the Safe Third Country Agreement with the United States is constitutional and that the detention of asylum seekers in adverse conditions in the United States was not fundamentally unjust.

Progress

Prevention and punishment of gender-based violence.
Implementation of policies for the protection of human rights defenders and the inclusion of people of African descent in public policies.
The creation of the National Plan for the Search for Victims of Forced Disappearance during the 1973–1990 civil-military dictatorship and the request for an advisory opinion on the climate emergency and human rights.

Challenges

Continued declaration of states of emergency in the Araucanía region, a situation that has escalated tensions between law enforcement and indigenous peoples.
The disproportionate impact that the tightening of migration policies may have on children, adolescents, and pregnant women.

Progress

State efforts in the search for peace, notably through dialogues with nonstate armed groups and initiatives to correct historical and structural inequities.
Progress on the investigations conducted by the Special Jurisdiction for Peace and the opening of macrocase 11, which will investigate gender-based violence, including sexual and reproductive violence, and crimes committed of bias.

Challenges

Violence derived from armed conflicts in the country and their particular impact on human rights defenders, social leaders, indigenous peoples, people of African descent and campesino communities, women, and children and adolescents.
Difficulties in reaching social and political agreements that make the effective implementation of State actions and changes in public policies feasible.

Progress

Adoption of various measures regarding access to justice for different population groups.
Promotion of legal initiatives for the protection of LGBTI people and the implementation of the National Policy on Aging and Old Age.

Challenges

Allegations continue to be made about practices and legal initiatives that may undermine the independence of the judiciary.
Lack of clear and objective criteria in the selection and appointment of members of the judiciary, as well as insufficient measures to promote the participation of women and a lack of mechanisms for citizen participation.
Significant increase in the south–north transit of mixed migration movements through the country.

Challenges

There has been no improvement in structural aspects such as violations of the right to personal liberty and integrity, arbitrary restrictions on the right to vote and participate in government, freedom of expression, and the dissemination of ideas.
Restrictions on the exercise of political participation resulting from the one-party system and the monopoly of power by a single political group.
Continued violations of the right to liberty and personal integrity.
Human rights defenders in Cuba continue to face harassment and arbitrary violations of their rights to freedom of movement, liberty, security, and personal integrity.
The deplorable conditions of detention in the country’s prisons entail overcrowding, inadequate food, lack of water and medicine, lack of medical attention, and poor hygiene conditions.
Acts of repression against independent journalists, activists, human rights defenders, and opponents of the government
Persistent State repression against people who participated in or supported the social demonstrations, as well as the press that has covered these events.
The human rights situation of population groups in situations of vulnerability and discrimination, such as people of African descent, women, the LGBTI community, people in situations of human mobility, older people, and people with disabilities.

Progress

Efforts by the State to reform the electoral system, such as the election of the first indigenous woman as President of Dominica and the adoption of a new Domestic Violence Act to provide greater protection for victims.

Challenges

Prolonged pretrial detention and the situation of people with psychosocial disabilities in prison who are held in the same spaces as the general prison population.

Progress

Enactment of the Law on the Right to Human Care and initiatives to guarantee access to justice for LGBTI people.
Enactment of regulatory frameworks to combat human trafficking and efforts to promote the political participation of women, older people, and people of African descent.
Work plan that includes a series of specific products to strengthen the capacity to promote, defend, and protect the rights of people deprived of their liberty.

Challenges

Citizen security challenges caused by organized crime, particularly in terms of violence against those involved in political activities or who hold public office, representing a significant threat to democracy and the rule of law.

Progress

Adoption of various legislative and institutional strengthening measures to improve the protection and guarantee of women’s rights.
Reforms of the penal code to remove the statute of limitations for the prosecution of femicide and aggravated femicide, reforms of the labor code to guarantee the reinstatement of women dismissed because they were pregnant, and the creation of a specialized labor inspectorate to deal with labor complaints.
Reduction of homicide figures in the country.
Adoption of measures for the inclusion of people of African descent and indigenous peoples.
Entry into force of the Growing Together Act, which aims to guarantee the exercise and enjoyment of the rights of children and adolescents and establishes a National System for the Comprehensive Protection of Early Childhood, Childhood, and Adolescence.

Challenges

Successive extensions of the suspension of rights and guarantees under the state of emergency since March 2022.
Reports of human rights violations related to citizen security policy, access to justice, and the situation of people deprived of their freedom, including mass, illegal, arbitrary detentions based on discriminatory criteria.
Violations of judicial guarantees and the judicial protection of detainees, and substandard conditions of detention.
The total criminalization of voluntary abortion persists, as does the prosecution of women who undergo obstetric emergencies.
Obstacles to the legal recognition of the gender identity of trans people.

Progress

Persistent patterns of racism.
Institutional and structural inequalities.
Continued use of the death penalty.
Increasing frequency of mass shootings.
Gun-related violence and excessive use of force by law enforcement.
Implementation of regressive measures that impact women’s reproductive rights.

Challenges

Landmark Supreme Court decision safeguards voting rights and prevents gerrymandering.
Creation of an office to prevent gun violence.
Department of Justice recommendations on access to counsel in pretrial detention centers and launch of a plan to improve access to justice and overcome language barriers

Progress

Initiative to standardize the provision of early childhood care services.
State efforts to promote reintegration and restorative justice measures to reduce recidivism among adolescents.
Modernization of the Supreme Court to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of judicial services and guarantee access to justice.

Challenges

Increase in homicides during the year and continued overcrowding in the country’s only penitentiary.

Progress

Launch of the Restorative Justice Centre pilot program to improve the criminal justice system.
Reactivation of the Ethnic Relations Commission to promote good relations between people from different ethnic groups.

Challenges

Concern about the increase in the number of serious crimes reported.
The failure to establish the Human Rights Commission.
The situation of domestic violence, sexual violence, and murders of women and girls in the State, especially indigenous women.

Challenges

Human rights and the rule of law in Guatemala continue to deteriorate as a result of the misuse of penal power for political and electoral purposes.
Continued failure of the State to fulfill its obligation to combat impunity.
The principle of separation of powers continues to weaken, and there is a progressive loss of the system of checks and balances, evidenced by the lack of judicial control over the interference of the Public Prosecutor’s Office in the electoral process.
Criminalization and serious accusations of the arbitrary use of deprivation of freedom against current and former judicial operators.
Significant deterioration in the guarantees for the exercise of freedom of expression and freedom of the press due to attacks, acts of violence, and the instrumentalization of criminal mechanisms as a form of intimidation and silencing of critical voices.
There is a need to restore public confidence in public institutions, the judicial system, and democratic values.

Progress

The work of the Office for the Protection of Citizenship in defending and promoting human rights.
Appointment of the members of the High Transitional Council, whose structure seeks to promote dialogue and national consensus.

Challenges

The humanitarian, political, social, and security crisis that the country has been experiencing for decades has worsened.
Sexual violence against women and girls perpetrated by armed groups.
Significant increase of internally displaced people in the Haitian capital.
Conditions of detention of people deprived of their freedom.

Progress

Openness of the State to international monitoring through the IACHR’s on-site visit.
Law for the prevention and protection of internally displaced persons. Downward trend in the country’s homicide rate.
Repeal and reform of decrees that prevented the investigation of crimes related to acts of corruption.
Executive decree authorizing the free use, sale, and marketing of emergency contraceptive pills and the creation of the Vicky Hernández Educational Scholarship for the transgender population.

Challenges

The State continued to extend the state of emergency as part of its citizen security policy.
Reinstatement of the Military Police for Public Order to manage and oversee prisons.
Increase in violence against women and human rights defenders.
Challenges for the functioning of the National System for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders, Journalists, Media Workers, and Judicial Operators.

Progress

Continued progress by the State toward constitutional reform.
Decrease in the number of homicides and proposed legislative changes to reduce crime.
Passing of a new Bail Act seeking to reform bail within the criminal justice system.
Establishment of the Office of the National Rapporteur on Trafficking in Persons.

Challenges

Rapid detention and repatriation of Haitian nationals.
State prison overcrowding, insufficient rehabilitation, and lack of progress on abolishing the death penalty.

Progress

Approval and implementation of plans, programs, guidelines, and public policies on development, combating discrimination, assistance for victims, the search for missing persons, follow-up on cases of sexual torture, and the fight against corruption.
The intensive search for missing persons continued throughout most of the country and included the work of the National Human Identification Center.
The openness of the country to receive and follow up on the recommendations of the various committees and working groups of the United Nations system for the protection of human rights, the timely submission of its Universal Periodic Review, and the follow-up and response to the various mechanisms of the inter-American system.

Challenges

2023 was a year of violence against journalists and human rights defenders, including stigmatizing speeches by high-level authorities.
Violence against women and femicides remained high, as did violence against LGBTI people.
Militarization continues to increase in Mexico, extending into other areas of civilian life beyond citizen security.
Destabilization of the National Commission for the Search for Missing Persons, whose director departed due to alleged political intervention in the list of missing persons through the verification census.
Budget cuts to bodies that guarantee transparency and access to information (INAI), political rights (INE), and access to justice (judiciary), affecting the performance of their functions.

Challenges

Persistence of a repressive phase in the country’s history that seeks to consolidate the concentration of power in the executive branch of government, based on the establishment of a police state and the effective suspension of fundamental rights and freedoms that are part of the country’s civic space.
Persistence of serious and systematic human rights violations through new patterns of repression, such as expulsion from the country and arbitrary deprivation of nationality, which maintain a climate of fear among the population.
Continuation of the police state and arbitrary detentionsin a context of massive closure of civil society organizations and the exile and banishment of leaders, journalists, and human rights defenders.
Repression against indigenous people and people of African descent as part of the repressive strategy to consolidate a regime of concentration of power in the run-up to the regional elections in the Caribbean Coast scheduled for 2024.
Imminent risk of arrest for journalists attempting to report on issues of public interest.

Progress

Creation of the Ministry of Women’s Affairs.
Adoption of a series of norms, policies, and programs aimed at guaranteeing the development of indigenous peoples, eradicating discrimination against people of African descent, protecting the integrity of children, promoting the right to culture, caring for older people, and promoting gender equality.
Actions to guarantee political rights in the next general elections and the call for a referendum to decide on the fate of the Mining Contract Law, as a result of the demands made by citizens through the exercise of the right to protest throughout the national territory.

Challenges

Obstacles and disincentives to safe and orderly migration, which cause people in movement to use dangerous migration routes such as through the Darién gap.
Reports of forced sterilizations of indigenous women and prohibition of access to voluntary abortion.
Attacks against LGBTIQ people.
Impacts on the island territory of the Guna people who need to relocate soon due to rising sea levels as a result of climate change.

Progress

Development of successful and transparent electoral processes, including initiatives to guarantee the political rights of people with disabilities and progress in the fight against human trafficking and related crimes, as well as efforts to eradicate child labor.

Challenges

Regressive initiatives that negatively impact the rights of women and LGBTI people. Challenges relating to citizen security as a result of actions by organized crime.

Progres

Significant progress in guaranteeing the rights of older people with disabilities who are in a situation of family vulnerability or at risk of social exclusion.
Approval of the law prohibiting child marriage gave greater protection to children and adolescents.

Challenges

The use of ambiguous legal figures that have weakened democracy and the rule of law.
Alarming data on gender-based violence against women and LGBTI people, who face obstacles related to the lack of full recognition of their right to form a family.

Progress

The progressive implementation of the police reform and the reduction of the judicial backlog at the Supreme Court of Justice.
Publication of the Attorney General’s Office’s instruction to improve attention to LGBTI people.
Progress in the prevention and protection of violence against women.
Launch of an online service for reporting images and videos of sexual abuse of children and adolescents.
Enactmentof the law recognizing sign language in the Dominican Republic.

Challenges

Challenges in the exercise of the right to nationality by Haitians and Dominicans of Haitian descent, and the persistence of a context of structural discrimination against them.
Expulsion from the Dominican Republic of pregnant and nursing Haitian women and their children.
Failure to include sexual orientation as a protected category against discrimination in the draft Penal Code, and upholding of the absolute criminalization of abortion.
Persistence of teenage pregnancies and early unions.
Prison overcrowding and excessive use of pretrial detention.

Progress

Approval of laws to strengthen the State’s good governance agenda.
Appointment of the first woman Governor General.
Launch of the Opportunities to Advance and Support Youth for Success project for the reintegration of adolescents.
Adoption of measures by the State to facilitate the social reintegration of people deprived of their freedom.

Challenges

Increase in the number of homicides.
Lack of progress in establishing a human rights institution in accordance with the Paris Principles.
Ongoing use of the death penalty as a punishment for murder.

Avances

The State’s accession to the Caribbean Court of Justice and ongoing efforts to improve conditions at the Bordelais Correctional Facility (BCF), the country’s only prison.
Promotion of rehabilitation and restorative justice to reduce recidivism rates and promote positive outcomes for adolescents involved in the criminal justice system.

Desafíos

The State maintains the death penalty as a punishment for homicide.

Progress

State efforts to combat corruption. Progress made in electoral reform.
Establishment of the Suicide Prevention and Psychosocial Guidance Committee, aimed at reducing adolescent suicides.
Accession of the State to the Inter-American Convention on Protecting the Human Rights of Older Persons.
The ruling of the Constitutional Court declaring the 1989 Amnesty Law unconstitutional as it perpetuated impunity and led to the impotence of the victims in matters of memory, truth, and justice.

Challenges

Constitutional Court ruling against the recognition and legalization of same-sex marriage.
The lack of progress in the legal recognition of the rights of indigenous peoples and the increase in mining concessions in their territories, contamination of water resources, and deforestation.
The conditions in State prisons.
The implementation of cost-cutting measures mandated by the International Monetary Fund, such as the gradual elimination of electricity, water, and fuel subsidies.

Progress

State initiative to establish an inclusive educational system for students with disabilities.
Meetings between public authorities and civil society to develop the country’s first national law for older people.
An initiative aimed at facilitating the social reintegration of people deprived of their freedom through education.

Challenges

Increase in the number of homicides.
Situation of violence and discrimination faced by LGBTI people due to discriminatory laws. This population suffers from physical and verbal aggression, domestic violence, homelessness, harassment at work, harassment at school, and sexual violence.

Progress

Enactment of public procurement laws to improve government accountability and transparency.
Implementation of measures to facilitate the social reintegration of people deprived of their freedom.

Challenges

Increase in homicides and violence against children and adolescents.
High Court ruling declaring that asylum seekers can be deported because they are not protected by local laws.
Reports of sexual violence against migrant women allegedly perpetrated by State agents.

Progress

Uruguay remains a country with strong democratic institutions.
Progress on gender diversity, visibility, and policies for LGBTI people.
Inauguration of a monument with a gender focus honoring the country’s female political prisoners.

Challenges

Challenges in the recognition of the rights of indigenous peoples and Afro-Uruguayans.
Challenges related to incarceration rates and the conditions of detention of people deprived of their freedom.

Progress

Dialogue initiatives between the government and the Plataforma Unitaria, a coalition of several opposition political parties.

Challenges

Lack of democratic institutions based on the separation and balance of public powers.
Absence of a system of checks and balances and the deterioration of the rule of law, which has allowed the government to implement a systematic policy of repression against individuals and organizations perceived as opponents.
The State failed to take effective measures to guarantee access to justice for victims of serious human rights violations, such as extrajudicial executions, torture, and enforced disappearances.
State institutions implemented processes of discriminatory access to public office to prevent members of the opposition from running for public office.
Continued closure of civic space through restrictions on freedom of expression, association, and peaceful assembly, limiting human rights defenders, social movements, and political parties critical of the government from participating in matters of public interest.
Limited access to economic, social, cultural and environmental rights (ESCERs), resulting in the massive displacement of people on a scale that is unprecedented in the region.

Read chapter 4A: Human Rights Situation in the Americas

Special Report

Chapter 4B

Cuba

Read

Current status of ratification of the American Convention and acceptance of the jurisdiction of the Inter-American Court of Human Rights

RA/AD	Depósito / Deposit	Ratificación / Ratification	Firma / Signed	País / Country
RA	28/12/1977	08/12/1977	22/11/1969	Ecuador
RA	23/06/1978	20/06/1978	28/12/1977	El Salvador
			01/06/1977	Estados Unidos
RA	18/07/1978	14/07/1978	14/07/1978	Granada
RA	25/05/1978	27/04/1978	22/11/1969	Guatemala
				Guyana
AD	27/09/1977	14/09/1977		Haití
RA	08/09/1977	05/09/1977	22/11/1969	Honduras
RA	07/08/1978	19/07/1978	16/09/1977	Jamaica
AD	24/03/1981	02/03/1981		México
RA	25/09/1979	25/09/1979	22/11/1969	Nicaragua
RA	22/06/1978	08/05/1978	22/11/1969	Panamá

IACHR Budget

The annual budget to finance the operating and personnel expenses needed for the IACHR to carry out its work is made up of specific funds and the regular fund.

55%

Special funds

financial resources provided by donors
(Member States, permanent observers, or permanent representatives)

44%

approved by the General Assembly of the Organization of American States (OAS) and financed through annual payments by OAS Member States.

Regular Funds

1%

ICR Fund

Read Chapter 6