Warning over democratic deterioration and rising violence in the region

The 2025 annual report points to setbacks in human rights, institutional weakening and the expansion of organized crime in Latin America.

The Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) published its 2025 annual report, in which it documented the results achieved by the body and which also serves as an instrument of institutional transparency and a reference tool for States and regional and international bodies.

The IACHR presents the publication in a context marked by weaknesses in the functioning of democratic institutions, acts of violence recorded in various national contexts, the effects of climate change, and harm to the rights of people in situations of vulnerability.

Through 19 presentations and bilateral meetings, the IACHR strengthened its relationship with the political bodies of the OAS. This joint work made it possible to place inter-American standards in decision-making processes and to maintain a sustained dialogue with States on highly relevant issues such as the human rights situation in Venezuela.

At the same time, the IACHR also continued the special follow-up mechanisms for Bolivia, Chile, Colombia, Nicaragua and Venezuela through various actions, such as visits, training sessions, requests for information and follow-up reports. It also promoted the creation of the Interdisciplinary Group of Independent Experts (GIEI) with Honduras for international technical assistance in the investigation of the murder of Berta Cáceres and related crimes.

In its report, the IACHR noted persistent tensions in democratic systems and in civil society's levels of trust in public institutions, characterized by high political polarization and by the deterioration of the principle of separation of powers and of the democratic rule of law.

The Commission warns that the main manifestations of this were documented in the judiciary, where acts of harassment and the arbitrary removal and transfer of judicial officials were observed, thereby affecting judicial independence. It also identified, in some countries, processes of concentration of power in other organs of the State, as well as the institutional weakening of human rights bodies.

Violence, deteriorating security and denialist discourse.

The Commission notes with concern that the defense of human rights remains a high-risk activity in the region. Activists have constantly suffered attacks and threats and have even been murdered. It adds that criminalization, through the misuse of criminal law, also continued to be used as a tool to intimidate, stigmatize and obstruct the work of defending human rights.

The IACHR warns that these practices, which occur in contexts of public stigmatization and delegitimizing discourse, increased risks and contributed to a hostile environment for activism and the defense of human rights in the region.

In addition, the report notes that the Commission recognizes the rise of “denialist discourse and culture wars that seek to relativize, reinterpret or rewrite the serious violations committed in the past, as well as the reduction or elimination of resources for the preservation of archives and memory sites, and attacks on them, or the dismantling of the institutions dedicated to memory, truth and justice.”

Another regional trend documented in the IACHR report is the deterioration of citizen security amid the expansion of organized crime and serious acts of violence accompanied by “iron fist” rhetoric and policies. Along these lines, the Commission describes highly lethal police operations, harsher sentences, excessive use of pretrial detention, overcrowding and deplorable detention conditions, as well as militarization and the extensive use of states of emergency.

The Commission adds that these approaches are neither effective nor sustainable because they do not ensure lasting territorial control or dismantle the economic, financial and corruption structures that sustain organized crime. They also reproduce cycles of violence, impunity and institutional weakening.

The IACHR document also states that violence directly affects vulnerable and excluded populations and territories with weak institutions or no State presence. This is related to the expansion of illegal economies such as drug trafficking, human trafficking and arms trafficking, among others, as well as disputes among organized criminal groups for control of these economies.

The Commission maintains that these dynamics have generated systematic practices of forced recruitment of children and adolescents, territorial control and exploitation, as well as various forms of violence and coercion that directly affect people's lives, integrity and freedom. In some cases, these groups have infiltrated State institutions, which is also reflected in high levels of corruption.

The IACHR warns that the co-optation of State institutions through corruption weakens not only the State's capacities to prevent, investigate and punish human rights violations but also has concrete effects on access to and protection of human rights.

Guillermo Whpei

President of Fundación para la Democracia