Photo @ La Jornada

In San Cristobal de Las Casas, Chiapas, lawyers from ten countries formed the Group of Litigants against Torture in Latin America. The group consists of 16 lawyers from ten organizations in the countries of Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras, Colombia, Venezuela, Peru, Paraguay, Chile, Argentina and Mexico after analyzing patterns of torture that are replicated in various regions. It aims to “discuss common challenges, improve, strengthen and overcome obstacles in the fight against torture, an endemic practice that occurs in many ways in all nations.”

“The idea is to carry out common actions, as a single group (…) what we are doing is something unique, because we know it has never happened on the continent, which is the starting point of what will be a group of litigants or lawyers who fight against torture and impunity at a regional level in Latin America”, said Helena Sola Martin, in charge of the World Organization against Torture in Latin America (OMCT in its Spanish acronym), in an interview with La Jornada.

“The practice of torture does not only occur in one sector or in certain countries, but is general in women, migrants, indigenous and others, so it is a major challenge of work we have in the Fray Bartolome de Las Casas Human Rights Center (Frayba)”, said lawyer Gilberto Hernandez.

For more informatio in Spanish:

Abogados de 10 países conforman grupo litigante contra la tortura (La Jornada, 7 de abril de 2019)

Arman bloque legal contra tortura en AL (Zócalo, 11 de abril de 2019)

For more information from SIPAZ:

Nacional/Internacional: Alta Comisionada de la Organización de las Naciones Unidas para los Derechos Humanos visita México (10 de abril de 2019)

Chiapas: se lleva a cabo el Encuentro Encuentro “Por la Vida y la Memoria de nuestros Pueblos: Festival de la Palabra”. (29 de marzo de 2019)

Nacional/Internacional : México acepta 262 de las 264 emitidas por la ONU en el marco del Examen Periódico Universal (EPU) 2018 (18 de marzo de 2019)

Chiapas: Liberan a Diego López Méndez, preso de la organización Solidarios de la Voz del Amate (13 de marzo de 2019)