Tracking cases that protect freedom of expression, association, and assembly
Marielle Franco was a Black, bisexual, and feminist woman and a renowned human rights defender, who served as a councilwoman in Rio de Janeiro. She was assassinated in March 2018, alongside her driver Anderson Gomes. While her murderers have been sentenced to decades in prison, the intellectual authors of the crime remain unconvicted, demonstrating a…
Schirlei Alves is journalist targeted with six different lawsuits because she published a newspaper article denouncing the Brazilian justice system’s institutional violence and revictimization against Mariana Ferrer, a victim of sexual violence. The article referred to the abundance of gender stereotypes and other legal irregularities during Ferrer’s trial. After a defamation lawsuit was filed by…
Milena Quiroz is an Afro-descendant leader and human rights defender. She is a legal representative of the Comisión de Interlocución del Sur de Bolívar, Centro y Sur del Cesar (CISBCSC) (Interlocution Commission of Sure de Bolívar, Centro, and Sur del Cesar), a member of the Cooperativa Multiactiva de Arenal (Comuarenal) (Arenal Multiactive Cooperative) and the…
Indigenous journalist Norma Sancir was detained and beaten when she was covering a demonstration in September 2014. More than eight years later, the criminal procedure against the four police agents responsible for the attack is still on-going, as a result of intentional delays caused by the agents’ defense.
Virginia Laparra, former anti-corruption prosecutor, was arrested on February 23, 2022. She is currently facing two criminal proceedings, in retaliation for several administrative complaints she filed against a judge. She is currently deprived of her liberty in inhumane conditions.
Nine women journalists from Colombia filed a tutela petition, asking for measures to be taken in order to protect them from the online sexist attacks they had been suffering, as a result of their work disseminating information of public interest or related to the actions of different political parties and actors. In May 2023, the…
Journalist Miroslava Breach was murdered on March 23, 2017. Even though two men have been convicted for the crime, there are two arrest warrants still pending.
Berta Cáceres, an indigenous Lenca leader, was murdered in 2016, as a retaliation for her activism against the installation of the Agua Zarca hydroelectric project. Thanks to her family’s constant efforts, the men responsible for the crime were brought before justice. However, they are still seeking to clarify the responsibility of the family who owns…
Samira Sabou, an award-winner journalist from Niger, has been criminalized for publishing posts about issues of public interest on her official accounts on social media. Sabou has published about alleged misuses of funds by the Ministry of Defence and drug trafficking in Niger. Sabou has been charged with “defamation by a means of electronic communication”…
Anastasía Mejía Tiriquiz, an indigenous journalist, and Petrona Siy Castro, an indigenous community leader, were arrested in the context of a protest that took place on August 24, 2020 in Joyabaj, against the local mayor. After facing a criminal proceeding for the crimes of sedition, arson and aggravated assault, they were released on September 3,…