Human rights activists have gathered in Buenos Aires, Argentina to take part in Human Rights Defenders of Latin America seminar, Press TV reports.
The current political condition of Honduras, the situation of indigenous and peasants communities in Chile and Brazil and the violence against union workers in Colombia, are among the issues that have been discussed during the seminar.
As Bertha Oliva a Honduran human rights activist stated, persecution and assassination of human rights´ defenders in Honduras have reached alarming rates after President Manuel Zelaya was ousted in 2009.
“Reporters, lawyers, teachers and peasants have been killed as a result of the struggle against human rights violations… the government has tried to show the world that everything has returned to normal and imposed legislation that goes against international treaties,” added Oliva.
The activists have also agreed that impunity and the criminalization of social protests remain a common reality in the region.
According to Leidy San Juan, a Colombian human rights activist taking part in the seminar, “political systems [of the Latin American countries] and media condemn social protest while states fail to defend people rights.”
The experts, furthermore; have called for protection strategies, as the violation of human rights is still "widespread" in the region.
The Human Rights Defenders of Latin America seminar is organized by Argentina's Social and Legal Studies Center and is held in the Law School of the University of Buenos Aires.
The gathering opened on December 5 and runs for two days.
