Colombia launches a new National Accountability System with citizen participation
Colombia Impact | Positive Civicus Rating | Repressed On March 2, President Iván Duque signed a decree creating the National Accountability System (SNRC, in Spanish), which will seek to facilitate citizen participation in the monitoring and evaluation of the management commitments of the different State entities at the national, departmental, district and municipal levels. The […]
Congress recognizes internet access as a fundamental right
Peru Impact | Positive Probability | High Civicus Rating | Obstructed At the beginning of March, the Peruvian Congress approved in first instance a constitutional reform that recognizes the right of access to the Internet as ‘fundamental’. The new text establishes free Internet access in entities, institutions and public spaces, and emphasizes its importance for […]
Bill requires public officials to submit sworn declarations of interest but not to publish them
Panama Impact | Negative Probability | Medium Civicus Rating | Narrowed 6 months after its presentation, the Government, Justice and Constitutional Affairs Committee of the National Assembly activated and approved a bill authored by Deputy Gabriel Silva (independent) that seeks to minimize the possibility of conflicts of interests among public officials especially in high ranking […]
The ruling party will promote a bill to limit civil society access to international funding
Venezuela Impact | Negative Probability | High Civicus Rating | Repressed The publication in early March of the Legislative Plan of the National Assembly for 2021 heralded the reappearance of a long-circulating bill in the national government: the regulation and control of access to international funding by domestic civil society organizations. Already in 2006, 2010 […]
Control of the Internet and social networks, among the priorities of the National Assembly for 2021
Venezuela Impact | Negative Probability | High Civicus Rating | Repressed At the beginning of March, the new National Assembly of Venezuela approved the Legislative Plan for 2021 which includes a list of more than 30 bills to be discussed throughout the year. Within this framework, civil society figures pointed out with concern that the […]
Access to public information in Latin America: the four challenges deepened by the pandemic
Latin America Since the start of the pandemic, CSG has picked up on a steady growth in the region of regulatory practices curtailing the right of access to public information. How is this trend playing out? Here we discuss four issues helpful to understanding the challenges faced by civil society in this area. Loss of […]
Social organizations launch campaign for the amendment of a law limiting the right to protest
Uruguay Impact | Positive CIVICUS Rating | Open On December 30, opposition parties and 27 civil society organizations launched a national campaign to collect signatures in support of a referendum on 133 of the 476 articles of the Law of Urgent Consideration (LUC) sanctioned in July 2020 which campaign organizers have decried as ‘power grabbing […]
President makes effective law allowing for life imprisonment in “hate crimes” cases
Nicaragua Impact | Negative CIVICUS Rating | Repressed On January 19, the National Assembly hastily approved a constitutional reform setting a penalty of up to 30 years imprisonment for those convicted of serious crimes in “circumstances of cruel, degrading, humiliating and inhuman hatred” causing public outrage, repudiation or anger across the country. President Daniel Ortega […]
President proposes eliminating national agency for access to public information
México Impact | Negative Probability | Medium CIVICUS Rating | Repressed On January 7, President Andrés Manuel López Obrador announced that plans are afoot to eliminate a selection of decentralized and autonomous agencies regarded as inefficient and costly. Among them is the National Institute of Transparency, Access to Information and Protection of Personal Data (INAI), […]
International organizations demand Venezuelan authorities end attacks on civil society
Venezuela Impact | Negative CIVICUS Rating | Repressed In a January 14 statement signed by Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch, the Washington Office for Latin American Affairs, Conectas and the International Commission of Jurists, the government of Nicolás Maduro is singled out for promoting ‘stigmatization campaigns’ against the media. This comes after several media outlets […]