Center for Legal and Social Studies

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[newsletter][September 2015]

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[newsletter]September 2015CONTENTS:: STRATEGIC LITIGATION

Mariano Ferreyra crime: appeals court upholds convictions Housing deficit in the city of Buenos Aires: CELS submits amicus curiae Chumbivilcas: amicus curiae for crimes of sexual violence in Peru Police repression of Nam Qom community in Formosa: presentation before IACHR Court hearing: workers’ right to strike A protocol for good practices in habeas corpus proceedings

:: CAMPAIGNS AND ADVOCACY EFFORTS Antagonism toward Mental Health Review Body On the criminal case against Antena Negra Historic UN recommendations on the right to housing Selection process for Torture-Prevention Mechanism National Committee Use of weapons by off-duty police officers

:: MEETINGS, SEMINARS AND CONFERENCES Territory and Human Rights. Experiences and challenges to rural and indigenous communities’

access to justice | Sept. 17 - 18 | Faculty of Law (UBA) Drugs: a call for debate| Sept. 22 | UMET Fracking Tour | Sept. 7 - 11 | United States Visit by the Vietnamese National Legal Assistance Agency | Sept. 22 | CELS Documentation Guide for NGOs | Sept. 8 - 9 | Costa Rica VIII International Seminar on Policies of Memory | Sept. 24 - 25 | CCM Haroldo Conti The right to health and the aims of medicine | Sept. 28 | Faculty of Medicine (UBA) Knowing and doing: Intersections between research and management of institutional violence

| Sept. 28 | UNSAM

:: REGIONAL AND GLOBAL AGENDA 30th Session of the United Nations Human Rights Council Challenges for the Inter-American Human Rights System: New times, old challenges Actions on behalf of 43 missing Ayotzinapa students Regional gathering on migration: Coordination for transformation | Oct. 31-Sept. 2 | Mexico Human rights violations on the Colombia-Venezuela border Memory, Truth, Justice and Reparation Presentation of regional report on drugs Grupo Mujeres , drug policy and incarceration Colombia: advising on drug policy and human rights Contributions to IACHR Annual Report on use of force

:: INSTITUTIONAL Donation to our Institutional Archives Anniversary of Mariano Witis and Darío Riquelme murders

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[newsletter]September 2015

:: STRATEGIC LITIGATION

Mariano Ferreyra crime: appeals court upholds convictionsThe 3rd Federal Criminal Court of Appeals ratified the sentences of José Pedraza and Juan Carlos Fernández as well as the rest of those convicted over the Mariano Ferreyra homicide that occurred on October 20, 2010. The decision also extended the sentences of Luis Mansilla and Jorge Ferreyra, two former authorities of the Argentine Federal Police (PFA), by eight months. The ruling is a significant step forward in the effective judicial response to a case involving the murder of Mariano Ferreyra while he was exercising the right to protest, at the hands of armed third parties and with the participation of state agents.

Press release What the trial brought to light

Press clippings:Caso Mariano Ferreyra: el sindicalista José Pedraza seguirá preso, La Nación. Casación confirmó la condena a 15 años de cárcel contra Pedraza por el crimen de Mariano Ferreyra, Télam.Confirmaron la pena de 15 años de prisión a Pedraza por el crimen de Mariano Ferreyra, Infobae.

Housing deficit in the city of Buenos Aires: CELS submits amicus curiaeOn September 1, CELS submitted an amicus curiae brief to the Buenos Aires Contentious-Administrative and Tax Court. This tribunal must rule on the injunction filed by the organization Poder Ciudadano and the Buenos Aires Office of Public Defense for Minors, demanding that the city government guarantee decent habitat for the residents of the Zavaleta neighborhood in Barracas.

On Facebook

Press clippings:Las muertes de las no-viviendas de la Ciudad, opinion column by Eduardo Reese, Agencia Paco Urondo.

Chumbivilcas: amicus curiae for crimes of sexual violence in Peru The International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH) and some of its member organizations – CELS, CODEPU (Chile), CALDH (Guatemala), CAJ (Argentina) – appeared as amicus curiae in the “Chumbivilcas” trial before the National Criminal Court in Lima, Peru. This is the first judicial proceeding on the rape of indigenous women by Army members during Peru’s armed internal conflict from the 1980s through 2000. CELS’ contribution focused on prosecuting sexual violence

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[newsletter]September 2015as a crime against humanity and trying not only the direct perpetrators of the crimes, but also the authorities who gave the orders.

FIDH press release

Police repression of Nam Qom community in Formosa: presentation before IACHROn September 30, the Formosa police used lead and rubber bullets to repress a protest by members of the Nam Qom indigenous community. Several people were injured, including children. In the days that followed, community members, their attorney Roxana Silva, and the organizations that support them – including CELS – were verbally assaulted by the Ombudsman for the province.

CELS, in representation of the Nam Qom community, informed the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) of the events. Press release

Court hearing: workers’ right to strike CELS appeared as amicus curiae in a public hearing convened by the Argentine Supreme Court regarding entitlement to the right to strike. The Court must rule in the trial “Orellano, Francisco Daniel vs. Correo Oficial de la República Argentina”. Orellano and 45 other workers were fired after leading a non-union-organized strike. Our presentation supported the plaintiff’s position, sustaining that the right to strike belongs to the workers, regardless of whether it is endorsed or not by union representation. Press release

A protocol for good practices in habeas corpus proceedings CELS submitted a report to members of the Prison Oversight System on the errors committed by judges in habeas corpus proceedings and proposed the creation of a document of good practices. After several working meetings, the document drawn up is the fifth set of recommendations issued by the System and the first to address the role of judges in protecting the rights of persons deprived of their liberty. Representatives of the National Office of Public Defense, the National Prison Ombudsman’s Office, the National Attorney General’s Office and the National Criminal Court of Appeals participated in the process.

Press clippings:El Sistema de Control de Cárceles realizó una recomendación sobre hábeas corpus, CIJ.

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[newsletter]September 2015

:: CAMPAIGNS AND ADVOCACY EFFORTS

Antagonism toward Mental Health Review BodyThe mayor’s office in the city of Buenos Aires sought a precautionary measure to prevent the Mental Health Review Body – created under National Mental Health Law 26,657 with the objective of safeguarding patients’ human rights – from performing its functions in that district. The organizations belonging to the Red Nacional de Salud Mental y Derechos Humanos, of which CELS is a member, voiced our concern over the

antagonism toward the body and the law itself.

Pronouncement by the Red Nacional de Salud Mental y Derechos Humanos

Press clippings:La Ciudad se niega al control de su política de salud mental, InfoNews.

On the criminal case against Antena Negra In early September, the offices of the non-profit television station Antena Negra were raided and their transmission equipment seized. The operation was carried out after a criminal case was opened over a complaint filed by the National Communications Commission. The complaint was based on evidence presented by the Argentine Federal Police and the private security company, Prosegur. CELS warned that the use of criminal law and the criminalization of members of the media and other communicators are excessive measures that jeopardize freedom of speech and should be avoided. The channel used by Antena Negra falls under the Audiovisual Communication Services Law (No. 26,522), which establishes a democratic paradigm for the media system and specifies administrative mechanisms for channeling this type of conflict. On October 27, the federal justice system finally dismissed charges against the directors of Antena Negra. Press release

Historic UN recommendations on the right to housingThe UN Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (CESCR) published recommendations addressed to the Spanish state in response to a complaint regarding the violation of the right to housing. In doing so, it took into consideration an intervention presented by the International Network for Economic, Social and Cultural rights (ESCR-Net), of which CELS is a member. CELS participated from the very beginning of the discussion process to arrive at an Optional Protocol to

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[newsletter]September 2015the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (OP-ICESCR) and campaigned for its entry into effect.ESCR-Net press release

Selection process for Torture-Prevention Mechanism National Committee Various organizations and human rights defenders sent a joint letter to the Bicameral Commission of the National Ombudsman’s Office in view of a meeting in which decisions would be adopted to commence the process of designating members of the Torture-Prevention Mechanism National Committee. Implementation of this mechanism will contribute to the prevention of torture in prisons, police stations, reformatory institutions for minors and other places of detention. In our letter, we indicated guidelines for the process and offered the Commission our participation in the selection process. The meeting was held on September 15, 2015 in the Argentine Senate, where it was resolved to move forward on drafting regulations for the selection process. Letter submitted

Use of weapons by off-duty police officersCELS prepared and shared a report showing that the use of lethal force by off-duty police officers is a very problematic aspect of police violence, in both the Federal and the Metropolitan Police, as well as the Buenos Aires provincial forces.In the city of Buenos Aires and the surrounding metropolitan area, 80 civilians have died as a result of action by police forces so far in 2015. Among those, 55 people died at the hands of off-duty police, a total of 68%. At the same time, 23 law enforcement officers died during the same period in acts of violence. Seventy percent of those deaths happened when they were off duty.Report

:: MEETINGS, SEMINARS AND CONFERENCES

Territory and Human Rights. Experiences and challenges to rural and indigenous communities’ access to justice | Sept. 17 - 18 | Faculty of Law (UBA)

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[newsletter]September 2015

Participants in the seminar – members of human rights and grassroots organizations, lawyers and specialists – analyzed the obstacles faced by indigenous and rural communities when it comes to access to justice in the context of environmental conflicts and land ownership. Participating organizations included the Asamblea Campesina Indígena del Norte Argentino (ACINA), Asociación de Comunidades Aborígenes Lhaka Honhat, Mesa de Tierras de Choya, Coordinadora de Latinoamericana de Organizaciones del Campo (CLOC -VC) and Federación Pilagá, all of whom contributed by sharing their experiences.The seminar was organized by the Red Agroforestal Chaco Argentina (REDAF), CELS and the Human Rights Center at the Universidad de Buenos Aires Faculty of Law.ProgramSummary of seminar

Press clippings:Debaten el acceso a la Justicia de campesinos e indígenas en el conflicto por la tierra, Télam. "Los pueblos originarios queremos una mayor participación en la justicia", Infojus Noticias.

Drugs: a call for debate| Sept. 22 | UMETCELS attended a presentation of the document, “Drugs: a call for debate,” at the Universidad Metropolitana para la Educación y el Trabajo (UMET). The event was also attended by people of varied political stances and professional backgrounds related to the drug problem, such as Juan Tokatlian, director of the Department of Political Sciences and International Studies of the Universidad Torcuato Di Tella and member of CELS’ board of directors. The purpose of the document is to encourage public discussion on the subject and offer guidelines on how to approach and work responsibly to address the problem.The proposals can be read in the document.

Fracking Tour | Sept. 7 - 11 | United StatesCELS took part in the “Fracking Tour” organized by the Böll Foundation in six US cities. Luna Miguens, coordinator of CELS’ ESCR area, went on the tour aimed at disseminating information about the impact of, and resistance to, fracking, an experimental technique used to extract natural gas and oil.Fracking is beginning to be developed in the Vaca Muerta field and is already having some significant environmental effects in the Neuquén and Río Negro provinces, as well as demands on infrastructure, increased land and rental prices and reconversion of productive lands, among other consequences.

FrackTour2015

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[newsletter]September 2015

Visit by the Vietnamese National Legal Assistance Agency | Sept. 22 | CELSThe visit by Vietnamese officials to CELS was part of an initiative coordinated by the National Office of Public Defense to share how the public defense system works in Argentina. Vietnam is beginning a process of judicial reform and looks to our country as a point of reference for different areas of the justice system. The visitors were interested to learn about the role played by CELS in matters of access to justice. During the meeting, Eva Asprella, coordinator of our Criminal Policy and Prison Violence team, and Federico Efron, coordinator of the Litigation area, gave a presentation on CELS’ work history and exchanged experiences with the Vietnamese officials.

Documentation Guide for NGOs | Sept. 8 - 9 | Costa RicaCELS participated in the workshop “Documentation Guide for NGOs” organized by Open Society Foundations in Costa Rica. The meeting focused on exchanging experiences and proposals related to how different means of proof are handled, their use in justice proceedings in each country and the impact of the International Criminal Court in the region. The presentation by CELS’ Memory, Truth and Justice team-member Sebastián Blanchard focused on our litigation experience in cases involving crimes against humanity in Argentina and regional advocacy efforts.

VIII International Seminar on Policies of Memory | Sept. 24 - 25 | CCM Haroldo ContiCELS participated in and organized various activities during the latest edition of the International Seminar on Policies of Memory. CELS’ board president Horacio Verbitsky was on the general panel “Trials for crimes against humanity: Taking stock and looking to the future,” along with Estela de Carlotto (president of the Asociación Abuelas de Plaza de Mayo), Daniel Rafecas (federal judge), Martín Fresneda (national human rights secretary) and Eduardo Jozami (director of the Centro Cultural de la Memoria Haroldo Conti).

We also organized two thematic panels in which several presentations were made. The one on “Past and present in the struggle against impunity in Latin America: progress, challenges and shared experiences” was coordinated by Gabriela Kletzel, director of the International Team, and Luz Palmás Zaldua, coordinator of our Memory, Truth and Justice team. The panel on “Thinking about human rights today” was coordinated by Marcela Perelman, director of our Research area, along with Verónica Torras, coordinator for the Memoria en Movimiento program of the Argentine Secretariat of Public Communication.

Invitation to discussion panelsProgramVideo of panel

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[newsletter]September 2015

Press clippings:“No van a poder dar marcha atrás”, Página 12.

The right to health and the aims of medicine | Sept. 28 | Faculty of Medicine (UBA)The event “The right to health and the aims of medicine” offered various panels. Opening presentations were given by Bioethics program director Juan Carlos Tealdi for the Hospital de Clínicas, CELS’ board president Horacio Verbitsky, and Argentine Health Minister Daniel Gollán. In addition, leaders in the field of bioethics and human rights presented the “Salud con dignidad” (Health with Dignity) movement, against the commercialization of medicine. This joint initiative of the bioethics program and ethics committee at the Hospital de Clínicas (which is part of the Universidad de Buenos Aires (UBA) system) along with CELS, seeks to promote health ethics based on respect and the guarantee of patients’ dignity. Press release by the Argentine President’s Office

Press clippings:La salud es un derecho, Página 12.

Knowing and doing: Intersections between research and management of institutional violence | Sept. 28 | UNSAMThis event was organized by the Network for the Coordination and Strengthening of Human Rights Research in Argentina, convened by the Human Rights Secretariat and the National Scientific and Technical Research Council (CONICET). Guadalupe Basualdo, coordinator of CELS’ Research area, took part in the exchange workshops, and Marcela Perelman, director of that area, gave a presentation on the panel “Intersections between research and management of institutional violence,” along with specialists Enrique Font, Marcelo Sain, Leonardo Rebolino and Gabriela Salvini.Program

:: REGIONAL AND GLOBAL AGENDA

30th Session of the United Nations Human Rights CouncilThrough a number of actions, CELS participated in the 30th Session of the Human Rights Council: we organized a side event with the ACLU and WOLA, issued pronouncements jointly with other organizations and took part in expert panels.

Pronouncement in the Interactive Dialogue with the Special Rapporteur on the promotion of truth, justice, reparation and guarantees of non-recurrence | Pronouncement

Debates on CIA torture|Press release | Invitation to side event Debates on drugs and human rights |Press release

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[newsletter]September 2015 Pronouncement on the UN declaration on peasants’ human rights | Pronouncement by

CELS and CLOC-Vía Campesina

The UN General Assembly also made valuable progress on the regulation of sovereign debt-restructuring based on human rights. | Press release

Challenges for the Inter-American Human Rights System: New times, old challenges On September 8-9, CELS and Dejusticia, the Due Process of Law Foundation (DPLF), Fundar - Centro de Análisis e Investigación, Conectas Direitos Humanos and the Instituto de Defensa Legal (IDL) organized a discussion group in Mexico City on the Inter-American Human Rights System. The meeting was attended by various members of the Inter-American Commission and Court of Human Rights, as well as the executive secretaries and team members of both institutions. Participants also included the four commissioners who will join the IACHR in January 2016, and representatives of social organizations from Mexico and other countries in the region. During the event, the organizations presented a book on the Inter-American Human Rights System that analyzes the working process aimed at safeguarding the Commission’s fundamental powers and various debate scenarios, offering constructive proposals for strengthening the Inter-American System.

Book Video on the book Press release

Actions on behalf of 43 missing Ayotzinapa students

Sometime between the night of September 26, 2014 and the morning of the 27th, 43 students from Ayotzinapa, in the state of Iguala, Mexico, disappeared. On the first anniversary of the enforced disappearance of the teaching students, CELS participated in acts of solidarity alongside the families in their search for justice.

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[newsletter]September 2015

On September 11, CELS participated in the forum “Transnational justice and combating impunity in cases of serious human rights violations: the experiences of Argentina, Brazil and Peru,” convened by Mexican Senator Angélica de la Peña Gómez, president of the Human Rights Commission, and the Mexican Commission for the Defense and Promotion of Human Rights (CMDPDH). CELS’ executive director, Gastón Chillier, gave a presentation on the Argentine experience and, in that context, highlighted the extreme severity of the current situation in Mexico regarding enforced disappearances.On September 13, we took part in a campaign by the organization Visual Action on the grounds of the Ayotzinapa Rural Teacher-Training School. Fifty-two images from 16 countries provided a testament to international solidarity with the families of the missing students. This initiative was led by Marcelo Brodsky, director of Visual Action and CELS member, who was there for the inauguration along with Gastón Chillier, the director of Conectas Direitos Humanos Jessica Morris, and Abel Barrera Hernández, from the Montaña Tlachinollan Human Rights Center.Finally, we and 70 human rights organizations from around the continent requested that the Mexican government comply with the recommendations of the Interdisciplinary Group of Independent Experts (GIEI) of the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights for the investigation of missing persons and to guarantee their families’ right to the truth.Pronouncement Report by the Interdisciplinary Group of Independent Experts Video of Forum on Transitional Justice

Press clippings:Inauguran muestra fotográfica en solidaridad con desaparecidos, La Jornada. Ayotzinapa mueve al mundo, Excélsior.

Regional gathering on migration: Coordination for transformation | Aug. 31-Sept. 2 | MexicoThe objective of this gathering was to identify issues, visions and advocacy actions aimed at protecting human rights in the context of migration and asylum. The outcome was positive: we were able to broaden the analysis of the regional scenario and reach agreements to incorporate strategies on issues such as access to migratory regularization, the causes of migration and specific matters related to gender and childhood. Camila Maia, Pablo Asa and Diego Morales, director of our Litigation area, were there in representation of CELS.The gathering was jointly organized by CELS, the Migration and Development network (MADE), the Migration and Asylum program of the Center for Justice, the Centro de Derechos Humanos Fray Matías de Córdova, the Universidad Nacional de Lanús (CJDH-UNLA) and the Comisión Argentina para los Refugiados y Migrantes (CAREF). More than 50 civil society organizations from 17 countries in the region attended.

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[newsletter]September 2015Human rights violations on the Colombia-Venezuela border CELS, along with 32 other human rights organizations from the Americas, expressed its objections to the border closing in various municipalities of the state of Táchira in the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela and the deportation of at least 1,097 people of Colombian origin, including 220 children and adolescents. During the deportations, there was stigmatizing conduct toward the migrants and violent intervention by police forces. Recognition of the human rights of the people affected requires a review of the measures behind the border closing, setting up the institutional or judicial mechanisms needed to oversee the decisions that were adopted, and ensuring peoples’ rights to due process, to judicial protection and respect for the right to family life. Press release Memory, Truth, Justice and ReparationCELS was at the 2nd Forum for Social Participation organized by the MERCOSUR’s Institute for Public Policy in Human Rights (IPPDH) in Brasilia, Brazil. The meeting’s objective was to contribute to the drafting of agendas for the Meeting of Senior Officials on Human Rights (RAADH) and the IPPDH to formulate regional policies. CELS proposed that the IPPDH devise a regional communications strategy about the Argentine trial of Operation Cóndor, on which a verdict will be made in the coming months, with the objective of consolidating regional support for the Argentine proceedings and stimulating discussion on justice policies among MERCOSUR member countries.

Presentation of regional report on drugs CELS, in conjunction with the Mexican Commission for the Defense and Promotion of Human Rights (CMDPDH), Conectas Direitos Humanos and Dejusticia, presented the regional publicationThe Impact of Drug Policy on Human Rights: The Experience in the Americas. Gastón Chillier, Jessica Morris and José Guevara, the CMDPDH’s executive director, made the presentation on September 10 before various members of the Mexican Senate. Publication

Grupo Mujeres, drug policy and incarcerationThis group is currently developing a guide of alternatives to incarceration for women arrested for minor drug-related crimes in Latin America. From September 22-25, they held their second working meeting in Bogotá. CELS advised on different technical aspects, including the development of the scope of indicators and information production. It will also produce the photo-histories of women in prison in collaboration with the National Prison Ombudsman’s Office, which will be added to the existing photo-histories from Colombia and Costa Rica.

Colombia: advising on drug policy and human rights The Colombian Justice Ministry invited CELS to provide technical advice on its proposal to introduce a Cross-cutting Human Rights Agenda for the OAS Hemispheric Plan of Action on Drugs 2016-2020. The working meeting was held in Bogotá and attended by Luciana Pol (CELS) and

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Rodrigo Uprimny (Dejusticia), who analyzed and suggested modifications to the proposal. In addition to the ministry, participants included representatives from the Attorney General’s Office, the Foreign Ministry and Parliament, and delegates to the Inter-American Drug Abuse Control Commission (CICAD) of Guatemala. Colombia will take the Cross-cutting Human Rights proposal to the next CICAD meeting, where the 2016-20 Drug Action Plan will be discussed.

Contributions to IACHR Annual Report on use of force CELS made a contribution to the “Questionnaire for states and civil society to assist in the preparation of the annual overview of the human rights situation in the hemisphere” by providing information for the section on the “use of force” in the IACHR’s Annual Report for 2015. CELS has been working to make the matter of the use of force a priority issue on the IACHR agenda. Including the topic in the annual report is a clear sign of progress in this area.

:: INSTITUTIONAL

Donation to our Institutional Archives CELS received a donation to its institutional archives of material related to the investigation done by journalists María Seoane and Vicente Muleiro for their book El Dictador. Biografía de Jorge Rafael Videla (Sudamericana, 2001). The book is a compilation of some 30 interviews done between 1997-1999 with officials and sub-officials of the Argentine Army, as well as related material (notes and transcripts), the complete file on Videla in the Argentine Army, and a broad collection of media documentation. The material is available for consultation in CELS’ Institutional Archives.

Anniversary of Mariano Witis and Darío Riquelme murdersOn September 21, CELS accompanied Raquel and Jorge Witis, both of whom are CELS members, in commemorating the anniversary of the murder of their son Mariano, a case that has become emblematic in the struggle against institutional and police violence. Fifteen years ago, Buenos Aires police officer Rubén Emir Champonois shot and killed Mariano

Witis and Darío Riquelme. Jorge and Raquel Witis joined the complaint filed by the Riquelme family, represented by CELS. After a robbery, Darío fled the scene and took Mariano as a human shield. In 2014, the Argentine Supreme Court handed down final sentencing to Champonois of 15 years in prison for the murders.

Press clippings:

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[newsletter]September 2015Quince años sin Mariano Witis y una lucha incansable contra la violencia institucional, El Argentino.

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