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They reject our request for intervention as third parties interested in the case of Potrerillo de Larreta

Together with the social group Todos por Nuestro Arroyos (TxNA) we express our disagreement with the decision of the Civil, Commercial and Family Court of 2nd Nomination of Alta Gracia. Said resolution, notified hours before the start of the judicial fair, denied participation as interested third parties that we requested together with neighbors of the city, in the trial that Potrerillo de Larreta S.A. It started against the province of Córdoba for the removal of the wires, which illegally prevented the passage in the Los Paredones stream.

“Below, we offer a google translate version of the original article in Spanish. This translation may not be accurate but serves as a general presentation of the article. For more accurate information, please switch to the Spanish version of the website. In addition, feel free to directly contact in English the person mentioned at the bottom of this article with regards to this topic”

“It is regrettable that our participation has been considered irrelevant, and among the arguments the idea has been taken that we have no reason to feel legitimated to participate in the trial. This case mobilized all of Alta Gracia, who understood that there cannot be more wires in the spaces that belong to all of us, “said Fabiana Marbián, a member of TxNA and a resident of the city.

“It gets worse when the Judiciary took more than two years to respond to neighbors who, with no interest other than protecting the resources that belong to all Altagracians, ask for participation in a trial that involves all of us,” he emphasized. Marbián, while adding: “It is not to believe, but the years continue to pass and from the private neighborhood they continue to achieve their objective, which is to wire a public watercourse.”

From Fundeps we will appeal to the judicial decision, because the rejection seriously affects fundamental rights of citizenship. One of the most affected rights is the denial of the participation of neighbors in a controversy in which access to a stream (subject to the public domain) and the enjoyment of its environmental services are at stake, which goes against the guarantee of access to justice, the right to enjoy effective judicial protection, as well as the enjoyment of the right to the environment.

This rejection not only affects the participation of the institution in this specific case, but also sets a regressive judicial precedent for the entire province in terms of access to justice by civil society. The participation of civil society in this type of process is key to improving judicial activity in matters of public interest and to democratizing judicial debate.

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Legal abortion must be fully enforced throughout the country

Civil society organizations demand, after the precautionary measure decided by a Chaco fair judge, that access to the voluntary interruption of pregnancy be guaranteed in that province. It is a right won in a democratic process, after a long debate in Congress.

“Below, we offer a google translate version of the original article in Spanish. This translation may not be accurate but serves as a general presentation of the article. For more accurate information, please switch to the Spanish version of the website. In addition, feel free to directly contact in English the person mentioned at the bottom of this article with regards to this topic”

Law 27610, which regulates access to voluntary interruption of pregnancy and post-abortion care, must be fully applied throughout Argentina. After the precautionary measure resolved by the fair judge, Marta Beatriz Aucar de Trotti, in charge of the Civil and Commercial Court No. 19 of the city of Resistencia, which suspended the application of the law in the territory of Chaco, we demand that no Zones of discrimination are created for the rights to health and autonomy of women and other people with the ability to gestate based on the domicile set in one or another province.

The action was filed by six people, who argued an alleged contradiction between the Provincial Constitution and national law and asked that the law be suspended throughout the territory. The judge omits to rule on the inadmissibility of such requests in our legal system and is unaware that no judge can suspend the validity of a law with general effects. In addition, she does not warn that the fact that the Chaco Constitution protects life from conception is not an obstacle to the application of the law, neither in Chaco nor in any of the other provinces that provide that type of protection. This evaluation of the constitutionality of the abortion legislation was already carried out by the Supreme Court of Justice of the Nation in the “FAL” ruling in 2012.

Amnesty International, CELS, the Latin American Justice and Gender Team (ELA), Mujeres x Mujeres and Fundeps emphasize the importance of both the provinces and the national State upholding the law and questioning judicial decisions that put the right to abortion in crisis , particularly when they do so in violation of the principle of constitutional supremacy, the division of powers and distort the democratic debate.

The Supreme Court of the Nation has already said, within the framework of a precautionary measure that suspended throughout the country the application of the audiovisual communication services law, that a precautionary measure that suspends the validity of an entire law with general effects for the entire population, is incompatible with the concrete control of constitutionality of the laws, the division of powers and reasonableness.

Beyond the differences with this case, when issuing a precautionary measure, judges must take into account the credibility of the rights affected and the danger of delaying a decision on the case. To do so, it must analyze the consequences of the issuance of its measure in a broad way, taking into account the interest of society as a whole and the impact on the rights enshrined.

In the precautionary measure issued, the existence of an infringed right to the plaintiffs, nor the danger of delay, are not proven. And what is very serious, the measure puts at risk at the local level the right to health of women, girls and people with childbearing capacity.

Decisions of this type only undermine the use of legal tools, so important for the guarantee of rights such as precautionary measures, and the legislative process carried out with a wide debate in December, supported by strong social support and with the transversal accompaniment of the main political forces.

It is important that the users of these services and with the right to access the voluntary interruption of pregnancy as established by Law 27,610 know that the national State and the provinces must guarantee their access throughout the country. Until the Chaco justice reverses this precautionary measure, we must emphasize that the right to legal abortions in force in Argentina for a hundred years (that is, if the pregnancy was the result of rape, if the pregnancy affects the health of the person or if it puts your life at risk) is in force in Chaco as in the entire national territory, and health personnel must provide those services.

Faced with attacks of this type on existing rights, we insist that the provinces and the national State question the judicial decisions that deprive women, girls and people with the capacity to gestate in the exercise of their sexual and reproductive rights, including the right to abortion. We must continue to take care of everyone’s health.

Amnistía Internacional Argentina

CELS

ELA

Fundeps

Mujeres x Mujeres

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Argentina presented its 4th National Open Government Action Plan to the Alliance for Open Government

Following the option given by the Open Government Alliance (OGP) to postpone the execution of the current Open Government National Action Plan (PANGA) (2019 – 2022) for one year due to the Covid-19 pandemic – Resolution of Coronavirus OGP – and the possibility of reviewing the Plan in the first year of implementation after the political transition, the government of Argentina sent in December 2020 its Fourth National Open Government Action Plan, adapted.

“Below, we offer a google translate version of the original article in Spanish. This translation may not be accurate but serves as a general presentation of the article. For more accurate information, please switch to the Spanish version of the website. In addition, feel free to directly contact in English the person mentioned at the bottom of this article with regards to this topic”

Argentina joined the Open Government Alliance in 2012. Being part of this global Alliance implies committing to open government policies co-created with civil society, which are materialized through national action plans, to be executed in two years. Since its incorporation to date, Argentina has presented four Open Government National Action Plans.

In September 2019, Argentina presented the 4th National Open Government Action Plan (2019 – 2021) as stipulated by the deadlines given by OGP. OGP provisions allow, in any case, to make amendments to the Plan in the first year of implementation of the Plan (2020, for Argentina), especially in the event that political transitions operate in the environment, as was the case in our country. With the irruption of the pandemic due to Covid-19 that changed all the priorities of the public agenda in 2020, the Criteria and Standards Subcommittee issued the OGP Coronavirus Resolution in March 2020 through which it gave the possibility to the Alliance countries to postpone the presentation or implementation of their Plans for one year, depending on when each country is. Argentina, as it had already presented its Plan, could make use of this option, postponing its execution for one year, that is, it ends in August 2022 instead of August 2021.

After reaching a consensus on this decision in the National Open Government Roundtable, and through this with the group that makes up the Network of Civil Society Organizations for an Open State in Argentina, it was decided to take this option, setting in turn which one would be the methodology for making changes within the Plan. In this sense, the possibility of making two types of changes was envisaged: specific modifications related to deadlines, parts of milestones of the commitments or deliverables or more substantial modifications that would change the scope of the commitment. In all cases, the option to make changes to the Plan was in the hands of the Agency responsible for its compliance, and instances of validation or co-construction of the commitment were established – depending on the case – with the Civil Society Organizations that were part of the commitment. initial.}

From all this process it resulted that Argentina sends in December 2020 its National Open Government Action Plan (2019 – 2022).

How far is the current Plan from the one presented in 2019?

The 4th Action Plan presented in December 2020 consists of 18 commitments, that is, to the initial 15, three were added:

  • One related to Comprehensive Sexual Education (ESI), by virtue of which it is arranged to create a Federal Observatory for the Implementation of the ESI, which will meet bimonthly with civil society and government actors, as well as the publication of open data on the implementation of the ESI. The body responsible for compliance being the Undersecretariat of Social Education and Culture of the Ministry of Education of the Nation. And two on the Open Congress Action Plan.
  • In other words, the annex to the 2019 Plan on the Open Congress Action Plan was divided into two commitments, one for each Chamber of the National Congress. In this case, each House of Congress made its own adjustment of terms and must present its own Open Congress Action Plan.

In relation to the initial commitments, only one – on Access to Justice – changed its content, passing the Ministry of Justice and Human Rights of the Nation to commit to create Provincial Observatories of Access to Justice, as well as local territorial operations in in rural areas, indigenous peoples, popular neighborhoods and underserved areas, among other milestones (see previous version page 83 – current version of the commitment). In that case, other civil society organizations such as XUMEK, CELS, INECIP and ANDHES also joined. The other commitments only had simple adjustments, fundamentally regarding compliance deadlines, given the one-year extension of total compliance with the Plan.

In some commitments, other NGOs were added that were not initially planned, as was the case of the commitment on Access to Justice, ESI where Amnesty International and Fundeps joined, in the commitment of Women in the World of Work the Ministry of Women joined , Gender and Diversity as another actor of collaboration and monitoring of the same, and in Sexuality and Rights the organization FUSA joined.

Finally, an annex document prepared by the Ministry of Women, Gender and Diversity called Incorporation of the Gender and Diversity Perspective was added to the 4th National Open Government Action Plan, which constitutes a contribution from this Ministry to promote the mainstreaming of the perspective gender and diversity in the field of open government policies generated in the 4th Action Plan.

From Fundeps, we are part of the National Open Government Roundtable (2020-2022) and of the collective that makes up the Network of Civil Society Organizations for an Open State in Argentina.

Once the instances of co-creation (2019) and revision (2020) of the Plan have been completed, it is time to collaborate from citizens and civil society in monitoring the commitments made in the Plan, in order to contribute to its effective compliance the objective of continuing to consolidate open government policies throughout the country, both at the national and federal levels, and in all the areas in which open government policies were making their way.

Contact

Nina Sibilla, ninasibilla@fundeps.org 

More information

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What has been the impact of COVID-19 on the Sustainable Development Goals?

We present a document analyzing the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the Sustainable Development Goals of the United Nations.

“Below, we offer a google translate version of the original article in Spanish. This translation may not be accurate but serves as a general presentation of the article. For more accurate information, please switch to the Spanish version of the website. In addition, feel free to directly contact in English the person mentioned at the bottom of this article with regards to this topic”.

The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) were adopted in 2015 by the UN Member States, with the purpose of ending poverty, protecting the planet and guaranteeing peace and prosperity for all people by the year 2030. The SDGs There are 17 integrated objectives in which the actions or impacts on one will affect another / s.

The situation generated by the pandemic is not at all encouraging, since pre-existing unfavorable issues such as increasing poverty and hunger, increasing inequalities, rising unemployment, the health and sanitation crisis, the economic recession, restricted access to education, the setback regarding gender equality, among other aspects.

Thus, the document “Impact of COVID-19 on the Sustainable Development Goals“, prepared in a collaborative way, analyzes and reflects on the impact of COVID-19 on the SDGs, the positive and negative consequences of the global pandemic on each of the 17 objectives.

The current context has posed challenges for States and international organizations in decision-making, and in the establishment of truly effective actions to prevent this type of situation from recurring. In this way, the current context made us have to rethink whether the current system is effective or whether we should build another model for the future, one that is more equitable, inclusive, fair and sustainable. Therefore, the situation that the world is going through may mean an opportunity to rethink what future we want to build from now on.

More information

Contact

Gonzalo Roza, gon.roza@fundeps.org

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We conquer the right to decide: the Voluntary Interruption of Pregnancy is law

After almost 12 hours of session, with 38 votes in favor, 29 votes against, 1 abstentions and 4 absent senators, the Senate approved the Law of Voluntary Termination of Pregnancy. The Campaign for Legal, Safe and Free Abortion, after 15 years of struggle, celebrated the historic day at the end of the vigil at the gates of Congress and in public spaces throughout the country.

“Below, we offer a google translate version of the original article in Spanish. This translation may not be accurate but serves as a general presentation of the article. For more accurate information, please switch to the Spanish version of the website. In addition, feel free to directly contact in English the person mentioned at the bottom of this article with regards to this topic”.

In the early hours of the morning, this Wednesday, December 30, the presentations by senators and senators ended and the Voluntary Termination of Pregnancy law was called to vote. The bill already had the half-approval of the Chamber of Deputies, who approved it with 131 votes, against 117 negative votes and 6 abstentions.

A law to decide what lives we want to live

The law establishes the right of women and people with other gender identities with the capacity to gestate to decide the interruption of pregnancy, request and access abortion care, and receive post-abortion care in the health system services.

Free access is foreseen until week 14 of gestation. Outside this period, access can only be made in the event of rape or if the life or integral health of the pregnant person is in danger (that is, the causes that are already recognized in our legal system through Art. 86 of the Penal Code , with the interpretation made by the Supreme Court in the FAL ruling).

15 years of a huge federal struggle

With a presence in more than 120 cities and towns throughout the country, simultaneously, the National Campaign for the Right to Legal, Safe and Free Abortion participated in this historic day. By raising their green handkerchiefs high, symbol of the struggle for the right to decide throughout the world, they were finally able to celebrate having conquered the law, which is the product of the struggle of thousands and thousands for more than 15 years.

This triumph will inspire us to continue expanding rights in each space we inhabit. And not to give up. We know that the conquest of the law is only the first step. We will continue working for its effective application and the guarantee that all pregnant people can decide which lives to live.

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Media and symbolic violence: under the magnifying glass of a new Public Defender’s Office

We received a response from the Public Defender’s Office regarding the claims of symbolic and media violence carried out on the Los Angeles de la Mañana program on Channel 13 and the journalist Fabiana Dal Prá on the central noon newscast on Channel 12 in Córdoba.

“Below, we offer a google translate version of the original article in Spanish. This translation may not be accurate but serves as a general presentation of the article. For more accurate information, please switch to the Spanish version of the website. In addition, feel free to directly contact in English the person mentioned at the bottom of this article with regards to this topic”.

Chimentos format and forced exposure

In the program Los Ángeles de la Mañana on Channel 13 on July 23, journalist Yanina Latorre told on the air that Karina Jelinek “does not whitewash her partner”, and that “she lives as a couple, with a very pretty girl” “They live together and are cuddly”, to which he added many other expressions referring to his private life. Later, a female worker claimed that Karina did not want to talk about her relationships and that she had declared that she was alone.

This type of “gossip” and content are very frequent on television, where the high exposure of famous women always leads to their private life and sexuality being exposed. However, an analysis of the case was requested by the Public Defender’s Office since it concerns the sexual orientation of a person who did not want to be exposed.

Faced with this claim, the Ombudsman’s Office responded by justifying and endorsing the dynamics that occurred in the program, through the argument that the reading and interpretation framework in which news related to the private life of public persons are presented responds to the magazine genre of shows. In the programs of this format, according to the Ombudsman’s Office, color “chimentos” are presented, firsts of the public and private life of entertainment figures, alluding, many times, to the fact that the media do not want data about them to be mediated . That is to say, the negative position of the figures works as the trigger for a chain of situations that transcend the broadcast, expanding on the rest of the television programs related to the genre: someone announces a scoop, the famous referrer gets angry in that or another program and interviews are carried out, among other variants provided by the format.

In this framework, the Directorate understands that the information offered by the panelist [Yanina Latorre] as a scoop, integrates the expected repertoire of possibilities that the program format enables ”.

Following this, the agency affirms that the program does not identify comments of a burlesque or discriminatory tone regarding Jelinek’s sexual orientation, but quite the opposite: “Likewise, it is observed that the comments and evaluations expressed are inserted in a framework of respectful communication of gender and sexual diversity and this approach is fostered throughout the development of the topic and by the host and all the panelists. Similarly, the dissemination of positive expressions and evaluations on the subject abounds, which contributes to questioning and de-constructing binary and stereotyped conceptions about affective relationships and a respectful visibility of diversity. “

Based on these arguments, the Ombudsman’s Office considers that the situation described does not enable an intervention in terms of violation of rights.

However, we understand that the institution must advance in deeper analyzes regarding the consent that is taken for granted about the exposure of the lives of public figures, as well as the objectification and fetishization of feminities and their sexual orientations.

The gossip format, like humor, seems to be a gray space where certain speeches are enabled that can be offensive and even violent, particularly towards the lives of LGTBIQA + people.

Without ignoring the importance of protecting the privacy of all people, it is necessary to recognize that it is not the same to speak and expose the sex-affective bonds between people who adhere to the heteronorm than those who do not, precisely because of the implications they have for their lives that pass in a heterocispatriarchal world.

In turn, the comments of the panelists involve the objectification of two women and their sexual orientation, which is evident in the comments of the panelist Yanina Latorre: “I love it”, “they tell me that it is a couple . It’s great. All good ”,“ well, we are glad ”,“ not bad. It gives me divine joy. They are both beautiful ”,“ you know I was looking at her to see what it would be like to be with her, I tell you she has divine tits ”.

Finally, why assume the supposed consent of public and media people to be exposed in all areas of their life? We are concerned about the interpretive framework used by the Ombudsman’s Office since it legitimizes the logic of these magazines, which imply a denial of the consent of public figures, which ignores what Jelinek said about not wanting to talk about his private life and which may have particularly violent implications when refer to your sexual orientation.

The Ombudsman’s Office in the media approach to cases of physical and sexual violence

Let us remember the interview conducted by the journalist Fabiana Dal Prá with a rape victim. “Do you blame yourself for something?” Dal Prá asks after Dahyana, the young woman from Cordoba who was sexually attacked in Barrio Ampliación Las Palmas, recounted her painful experience.

The claim presented to the Ombudsman’s Office was responded favorably by the agency: “This approach proposes a risky interpretative framework for the facts, since by insinuating the possible guilt of the victim (even under a discursive modality of interrogation and not of explicit affirmation) it promotes the legitimation and naturalization of the acts of violence suffered ”. At the same time, it highlights the need and responsibility of those who communicate, to dismantle and eradicate violent coverage that reproduces “the guilty and naturalizing senses that those who exercise violence often express as reasons for the causality of the facts. It is important that those who communicate emphasize that all the reasons and the responsibility lies with the person who carries out the violence ”.

At the same time, the analysis of the institution revealed inconveniences at the time of safeguarding the identity of the person in a situation of violence and the absence of a badge with the 144 telephone line for assistance to victims of gender violence.

In this case, the Ombudsman’s Office recognizes that the situation presented corresponds to a case of symbolic and media violence, for which it proceeded to communicate the claim to Channel 12 and made itself available to dialogue with the channel in order to “enrich, from a rights perspective, future approaches of the station. “

The importance of the Public Defender’s Office for the eradication of gender violence

In May of this year, Miriam Lewin was appointed as Public Defender of Audiovisual Communication Services, after years of weakness and institutional weakness. This appointment has meant the strengthening not only of the Public Defender’s Office, but also an advance in the recognition of the rights of audiences as well as a renewed impetus in the fight against media and symbolic violence.

The responses received by the Ombudsman’s Office to the claims presented, in which the procedure for receiving, analyzing and returning them is clarified and made visible, indicates an important activation of the institution in pursuit of the defense of our rights.

Based on these claims, we celebrate the responses and actions of the Public Defender’s Office and, in turn, we require that progress be made in deeper and more enlightening interpretations of cases of symbolic and media violence.

More information

Contact

Cecilia Bustos Moreschi, cecilia.bustos.moreschi@fundeps.org

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We present new complaints for electronic cigarette advertising on social networks

After the lack of response to the claims made in 2019, we once again filed complaints with the Ministry of Health of the Nation, ANMAT and Defense of Consumers due to the illicit advertising of electronic cigarettes, carried out by the company Mig Vapor LLC in videos of musical artists broadcast through Youtube Argentina.

“Below, we offer a google translate version of the original article in Spanish. This translation may not be accurate but serves as a general presentation of the article. For more accurate information, please switch to the Spanish version of the website. In addition, feel free to directly contact in English the person mentioned at the bottom of this article with regards to this topic”.

On November 30, we filed a new claim with the Ministry of Health of the Nation for the illicit advertising deployed by the company Mig Vapor LLC in music video clips broadcast by the YouTube Argentina platform. The advertising contained in said videos consists of repeatedly showing artists consuming electronic cigarettes, constantly displaying the brand’s name in easily visible places, as well as providing a link in the description of the song that redirects to the brand’s website, where its products can be purchased without any type of control or impediment.

Since the Ministry of Health is the authority in charge of ensuring effective compliance with National Law No. 26,687 on Tobacco Control, we ask you to order YouTube, based on its status as an intermediary, to eliminate said audiovisual content produced in National territory. In addition, we ask that the links found in the description of the reported videos be removed and that redirect to the Mig Vapor LLC website. This claim consisted of a reiteration of the complaint made on October 2, 2019, due to the total lack of response from said body.

Likewise, on September 17, we presented an early dispatch to the National Administration of Medicines, Food and Medical Technology (ANMAT), because this entity has expressly prohibited the advertising of electronic cigarettes in Argentina. However, we still do not get a timely response.

Finally, and in order to exhaust the various possibilities of claim granted by the Argentine legal system, we file a complaint with the Defense of Consumers. The action deployed by Mig Vapor LLC is part of a case of covert advertising, which due to its characteristics violates the rights of consumers, including to receive adequate and truthful information, to be treated with dignity and to adequately protect their Health. To this end, innumerable bureaucratic obstacles had to be overcome that reveal the serious difficulties in access to justice, not only for Civil Society Organizations, but also for Argentine citizens.

Through our complaint, we demand that the Defense of Consumers be the one who reliably notify Youtube Argentina to arbitrate the necessary means to control that the content that is reproduced through its platform, respects the tweet rules of the people consumers, the rights of children and adolescents, as well as the entire existing Argentine regulatory framework on tobacco control.

Currently, the tobacco industry continues to deploy its marketing strategy and, together with influencers, social networks are the showcase they use to circumvent the legal regulations of our country, and thus achieve their main objective, which is to promote and advertise their products, mainly, in children and adolescents. That is why we consider it necessary that both the State and the social network companies take measures that, in an effective way, allow to protect the rights of the youngest, as well as to put a stop to the predatory practices of commercialization of the tobacco industry.

We request intervention of the Ombudsmen of the People and of children and adolescents of the Province

Due to the fires that occurred throughout the territory of the Province of Córdoba during this year, we asked the Provincial Ombudsman’s Office and the Ombudsman’s Office for Girls, Boys and Adolescents to intervene in order to urge compliance with the duties that weigh at the head of the provincial authorities.

“Below, we offer a google translate version of the original article in Spanish. This translation may not be accurate but serves as a general presentation of the article. For more accurate information, please switch to the Spanish version of the website. In addition, feel free to directly contact in English the person mentioned at the bottom of this article with regards to this topic”.

The catastrophic fires that occurred in Córdoba during this year involved serious damage to local forest ecosystems, affecting an area of ​​350,000 hectares. These consequences not only had a full impact on the meager area of ​​remaining native forest in the provincial territory, but also seriously affected fundamental rights. In particular, of those people or groups who are in a marked situation of vulnerability or who maintain a close relationship with native forests for one reason or another. In addition, they affected a serious mitigation component to the climate change phenomenon, the native forest.

The scope and magnitude of the fire undoubtedly revealed certain deficiencies in the fire management system by the authorities. The ordinance foresees specific duties in matters of prevention, budgeting, mitigation and restoration, which seek to avoid or at least mitigate these types of phenomena in the magnitude and manner in which they occurred, even more so if it is considered that the territory presented a high risk of fires due to severe drought and weather conditions.

Although the arrival of the summer rains alleviated the fire, the truth is that the future situation is still critical. The province currently has a tiny percentage of native forest, with a high risk of fire due to factors such as drought and other phenomena (intentional fires). For this reason, unfulfilled duties must be taken “seriously” and completed in order to avoid catastrophes such as those experienced. On the other hand, it is essential to comply with the duty to investigate, punish and restore the affected areas in a responsible way, guaranteeing citizen participation in plans and access to information for proper management.

Likewise, it is a priority that the citizenship and the State carry out inspection and control tasks of the affected areas, to avoid authorizations in the changes of land use or of protected categories, as ordered by Laws 26,815 of Management of Fire and 26,331 of Native Forests.

To guarantee compliance with these duties, we ask the Córdoba Ombudsman’s Office and the Office of the Ombudsman for Girls, Boys and Adolescents, to intervene within the scope of their respective competencies. We believe that both institutions play a fundamental role in guaranteeing and demanding respect for the fundamental rights of those who inhabit the soil of Cordoba.

Contact

Juan Bautista López, juanbautistalopez@fundeps.org

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La Pampa passed a new legislation on agrochemicals

On November 30, the Legislature of the Province of La Pampa approved by majority the so-called “Comprehensive Pesticide Management Law” No. 3288, at the proposal of the Provincial Executive Power. This initiative is part of the attention through public policies of situations of social conflict, such as the application of agrochemicals so present in our province.

“Below, we offer a google translate version of the original article in Spanish. This translation may not be accurate but serves as a general presentation of the article. For more accurate information, please switch to the Spanish version of the website. In addition, feel free to directly contact in English the person mentioned at the bottom of this article with regards to this topic”.

The regulations, applicable to the entire provincial territory, establishes protection zones, setting distances for agrochemical applications (pesticides according to the law) of 500 meters for land applications (environmental protection zone) and 3,000 meters for applications areas. Likewise, it provides for the prohibition of application on any establishment located in rural areas.

It should be noted that the new regulation establishes one of the greatest protective distances for aerial application, doubling that in force in the province of Córdoba. These are consistent with jurisprudential trends based mainly on the application of the so-called precautionary principle.

It should be noted that the new regulation establishes one of the greatest protective distances for aerial application, doubling that in force in the province of Córdoba. The rules of the Pampean law are consistent with jurisprudential trends based mainly on the application of the so-called precautionary principle.

Likewise, the Law provides for a complete comprehensive management regime for agrochemicals, since it implements a unique traceability system. This allows the “tracing” of the product in the production, marketing, use and application phases, including the differentiated management of the resulting empty containers.

The objectives that guide the system are based mainly on the preservation of human health, on guaranteeing food quality, preventing environmental impacts, as well as contributing to the responsible and sustainable development of agricultural activity.

A relevant point of the law consists in the creation of an interdisciplinary Council, made up of the portfolio of environment, health, university and research institutions, as well as specific technical institutions and councils.

The application of agrochemicals constitutes one of the main causes of social conflict, which calls for adequate regulation that guarantees the fundamental rights of those who, for one reason or another, are affected on a daily basis. We celebrate that the provinces advance, through their regulatory systems and public management, in the fulfillment of the constitutional mandate to guarantee fundamental rights such as the environment and health of the population.

Contacto

Juan Bautista Lopez, juanbautistalopez@fundeps.org

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CSOs point out the weaknesses of the new IDB Invest’s Environmental and Social Sustainability Policy

On December 15, the new IDB Invest Environmental and Social Sustainability Policy will take effect. Civil Society Organizations in the region issued a Public Declaration warning about the weaknesses that the new Policy presents.

“Below, we offer a google translate version of the original article in Spanish. This translation may not be accurate but serves as a general presentation of the article. For more accurate information, please switch to the Spanish version of the website. In addition, feel free to directly contact in English the person mentioned at the bottom of this article with regards to this topic”.

On April 10, IDB Invest approved the new Environmental and Social Sustainability Policy that takes effect tomorrow, December 15. After the process of face-to-face and virtual public consultations that the Bank carried out last year in which civil society organizations, peasant communities, indigenous peoples, and Afro-descendant peoples participated, at the end of May the new policy of the private arm of the IDB Group was presented.

Despite the participation, through the sending of comments, of interested parties in the period of face-to-face and virtual public consultations, in the new Policy there is little or even no incorporation of issues considered relevant. For this reason, and in the face of the weaknesses and limitations that the new Environmental and Social Sustainability Policy presents, the CSOs of the region issued a Public Declaration warning about the precariousness of the policy, the consequences that it would bring to the countries of the region and the setback it means compared to the previous Policy.

Among the main points that we highlight in the Declaration on the limitations of the new Policy are, firstly, the direct adoption of the Environmental and Social Performance Standards of the International Finance Corporation -CFI- dating from 2012, not including changes or adaptations to new realities, making them obsolete in the current context of environmental and social challenges faced by Latin America and the Caribbean.

Another important limitation is the absence of subsidiary and joint liability on the part of IDB Invest regarding the actions of the actors over whom it has influence, that is, it is detached from institutional responsibility in the face of the possible negative impacts that the activities it finances may cause where the responsibility will fall solely on the client. This means the weakening of environmental and social protections created in order to avoid the adverse impacts caused by the projects. Along these lines, IDB Invest omits its duty to “enforce”, which means that it reserves the right to decide in which cases it will apply corrective measures and in which not.

In addition, the Public Declaration highlights the vagueness and ambiguity of the language used in the new Policy since it favors the Bank to act according to what it deems pertinent as well as increases the risk of non-compliance by customers.

Finally, one of the most alarming points are the gaps in the commitments regarding the environment and the social. Regarding the environment, the commitment to mitigation is fragile since there are no express restrictions on greenhouse gas emissions -GEI-, just to mention one case. With regard to social matters, although the policy makes clear its commitment to promote good international practices, in matters such as Human Rights, Retaliation, Gender Risk Management and Equality, as well as Participation of Interested Parties and Disclosure of Information , a superficial and weak commitment is evident when addressing them. For example, in relation to human rights, essential rights such as economic, social and cultural rights or the right to a pollution-free environment are not mentioned.

Then, regarding stakeholder participation, no commitment is made to ensure timely, meaningful and culturally appropriate participation. The Policy undertakes to establish a system for receiving and monitoring complaints of retaliation, it does not detail a procedure to resolve them, nor does it follow the recommendations of the specialized guide prepared by the MICI for the management of retaliation and protection of environmental defenders and activists.

Finally, in gender risk management and equality, the Policy does incorporate the promotion of good practices but excludes the IDB Group’s Operational Policy on Gender Equality in Development, a significant setback that will increase inequality and risks for women. women and LGBTQ + people.

Among many other issues that are addressed in the Public Statement, it is extremely necessary for IDB Invest to be relentless in demanding compliance with environmental, social and transparency standards from its clients if it is truly to promote sustainable growth, reduce poverty. and the inequality of the region. With the current pandemic context and looking at the post-pandemic situation, IDB Invest cannot be flexible in the procedures of social and environmental evaluation and due diligence in the approvals of financing operations since this is the only way to achieve sustainable development and reduce the environmental and social crisis in which Latin America and the Caribbean finds itself.

More information

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One more step: after the half-sanction, the IVE law goes to the Senate

Después de 20 horas de sesión, con 131 votos a favor, 117 votos en contra y 6 abstenciones, la Cámara de Diputados dio media sanción a la ley de Interrupción Voluntaria del Embarazo. Esta semana inicia el tratamiento el Senado, con reuniones de comisiones y un nuevo dictamen que será votado el 29 de diciembre.

“Below, we offer a google translate version of the original article in Spanish. This translation may not be accurate but serves as a general presentation of the article. For more accurate information, please switch to the Spanish version of the website. In addition, feel free to directly contact in English the person mentioned at the bottom of this article with regards to this topic”.

On Friday morning, after long hours of presentations by deputies and deputies, the vote on the IVE law was held, resulting in its half-sanction. While thousands of activists accompanied the discussion, from their homes or in public spaces in the vigils organized by the National Campaign for Legal, Safe and Free Abortion, the venue was once again filled with speeches for and against. Much of what we heard had already been said in the legislative treatment of 2018. It is that the scenario has not changed: the clandestinity of the practice poses a danger to life for pregnant people, and the possibilities of accessing it in conditions of legality and security are a matter of public health, social justice and human rights.

Deputy Gabriela Cerruti was in charge of making the closing speech of the majority opinion. Her words explain in a very simple way the sexual division of labor, and how women have historically been burdened with the responsibilities associated with reproduction and care. “It is not news that this world is unfair. […] We women know it perfectly, because for centuries they forced us to give birth to send our children to war. For centuries they forced us to give birth to exploit our kids in factories. […]. What we have come to ask you today is: stop making women’s bodies the territory of dispute of what the economy and politics cannot solve. The world is indeed unfair, but the answer is not in our womb. On the contrary: the world is unfair because it was built 500 years ago on a system based on the exploitation of women and nature. And we are the first to put ourselves in front of the battles that have to be fought to change that worldview of the world and so that the world is effectively for everyone, and so that we can live in a world in harmony, in a world better, in a world where we can all exercise our desire and our decision. “

At the end of the speech, he gave rise to an interpellation about the next discussions that should take place in our society: the distribution of care. “Care policies have to be part of State policies and they have to be part of our discussions because we have been the cheap labor that sustained this system in the last century. They would not have built their businesses, their fortunes, or their factories if we had not been in the houses taking care of the children, the parents and the husbands. We did it for centuries and we don’t want to do it anymore, or we want to do it when we decide to. Because choosing is not only choosing whether to be pregnant or not, choosing is choosing the life project, it is choosing at all times what we want to do ”.

How did the deputies vote according to their gender?

Voting results can be analyzed from several perspectives: by province, by party or political alliance, and by gender.

We are interested in specifying the latter. Of the total of 109 female deputies, 62 voted in favor, 45 against and 2 abstained. Of the total of 147 deputies, 72 voted against, 69 in favor, 4 abstained and 2 were absent. In other words, in proportion to the integration of the Chamber, it was the female vote that marked the trend in favor.

Este dato es importante para reforzar la importancia de la paridad de género en el Congreso. Las elecciones del 2019 fueron de estreno para la ley 27412 de paridad de género en ámbitos de representación política, y dieron como resultado un 10,3% de aumento en la proporción de mujeres que integran la Cámara. Y si comparamos el voto femenino de la votación de la ley de IVE de 2018 con el de 2020, el incremento es de casi un 20%.

All these data can be read in this report published by the Undersecretariat for Parliamentary Affairs of the Head of the Cabinet of Ministers of the Nation.

How is the opinion that was approved?

The approved bill is based on the one presented by the Executive Power, with the modifications introduced by the plenary of the committees prior to voting.

It is a law that establishes the right of women and people with other gender identities with the ability to gestate to decide to terminate pregnancy, request and access abortion care, and receive post-abortion care in the services of the health system.

Free access is planned until week 14 of gestation. Outside this period, access will only be possible in the event of rape or if the life or integral health of the pregnant person is in danger (that is, the causes that are already recognized in our legal system through article 86 of the Penal Code , with the interpretation made by the Supreme Court in the FAL ruling).

The term for access to the practice is 10 calendar days from its request, and the informed consent of the pregnant person expressed in writing is requested.

In cases of minors and people with disabilities or restricted capacity, referrals to the Civil and Commercial Code are provided to resolve whether they have the capacity to give consent and under what conditions they can do so.

Regarding conscientious objection, individual-type objection is allowed, and it is also indicated that those private health centers or social security centers that do not have professionals to carry out an abortion due to conscientious objection must foresee and order the Referral to a place, with similar characteristics, where the provision is actually made. On these points of the project we develop more in this note.

However, health personnel may not refuse to carry out the practice in the event that the life or health of the pregnant person is in danger and requires immediate and urgent care. Nor can conscientious objection be alleged to refuse to provide postabortion health care.

In addition, it strengthens the State’s responsibility to implement the Comprehensive Sexual Education law, and to establish active policies for the promotion and strengthening of sexual and reproductive health for the entire population.

What are the next steps in the Senate?

This Monday it is expected that the treatment of the project will begin in the Senate, with the presentation of members of the Executive Power before the plenary of the Justice, Health and Women’s Banking commissions. Tuesday and Wednesday will be dedicated to receiving specialists nominated by senators and senators. On Thursday, it is expected that there will be a discussion between members of the commissions to pass the opinion to signature, with the expectation of taking it to the site on December 29.

In this second instance of legislative discussion we reinforce our request for a respectful debate with arguments, and we hope that the voluntary interruption of pregnancy will be law before the end of the year.

Contacto

Mayca Balaguer, maycabalaguer@fundeps.org

With agreement on the opinion, the discussion begins in the Chamber of Deputies

After the plenary meeting of the General Legislation, Criminal Legislation, Social Action and Public Health, and Women and Diversity commissions, an agreement was finally reached on the bill for the Voluntary Interruption of Pregnancy that will be voted on tomorrow at the venue. of the Chamber of Deputies. What modifications does it have with respect to the project that the Executive Power had presented in November? What can we expect from today’s session? We tell you here.

“Below, we offer a google translate version of the original article in Spanish. This translation may not be accurate but serves as a general presentation of the article. For more accurate information, please switch to the Spanish version of the website. In addition, feel free to directly contact in English the person mentioned at the bottom of this article with regards to this topic”.

As planned in the legislative agenda, this Wednesday, December 9, the committee meeting was held to rule on the IVE bill. With 77 votes in favor, 30 rejection and 4 abstentions, an agreement was reached on the text of the project. The same thing had happened hours before in the plenary session of the Budget and Social Action and Public Health committees, which had discussed the First 1000 Days bill. Both projects will be discussed at the venue this Thursday, December 10.

What is the agenda for the day?

The call for the session was set at 11 in the morning, and the order of treatment of the projects will be first that of IVE and then that of Attention and comprehensive health care during pregnancy and early childhood, known as the program of the First 1000 days.

Throughout the day, the Campaign for Legal, Safe and Free Abortion called to accompany the vote in public spaces throughout the country. In Buenos Aires, the vigil will begin at 10 am in the vicinity of Congress, with activities throughout the day and until the law is voted. In Córdoba, the call is in the former Plaza Vélez Sarsfield from 6:00 p.m. As the right to abortion is a matter of public health, and taking care of ourselves as well, we reinforce the recommendations to participate in the vigil:

  • We wear a nose mask at all times.
  • We wash our hands with alcohol gel.
  • We keep the distance of 2 meters.
  • We take care of the sun with sunscreen, light clothing and a hat.
  • We bring fresh water to stay hydrated.
  • We do not respond to anti-rights provocations and we try to always be accompanied and attentive.

As the two bills will be discussed, the session is expected to last several hours. On IVE, a total of 170 deputies would speak, so the vote on the law would be in the early morning hours.

What does the opinion say? What modifications do you propose?
A few weeks ago we published this analysis with a systematization of the bills that would serve as the basis for this debate: the one presented by the Executive Power in November and the one presented by the Campaign in 2019, contrasting with the opinion approved by the Chamber of Deputies in 2018.

Yesterday a new opinion was approved, which foresees some modifications in the project presented by the Executive Power. What are they about?

In Art. 8, which regulates cases where the person requiring the practice is a minor, now a reference is made directly to art. 26 of the CCyC. Before the amendment, it was specified that those between 13 and 16 years of age have sufficient aptitude and maturity to decide on the practice and give due consent, unless a procedure that involves a serious risk to their health or life must be used. The reference to the applicable legal framework for these cases is maintained, as proposed by the Convention on the Rights of the Child and Law No. 26.061 on the Comprehensive Protection of Boys, Girls and Adolescents, which always provides that their best interests are protected and their rights guaranteed. to be heard.

On the other hand, the new Art. 11 is added, which indicates:

CONSCIOUS OBJECTION. OBLIGATIONS OF HEALTH ESTABLISHMENTS. Those health effectors of the Private Subsector or Social Security that do not have professionals to carry out the interruption of pregnancy due to the exercise of the right to conscientious objection in accordance with the previous article, must foresee and order the referral to an effector actually perform the service and that it is of similar characteristics to the person requesting the benefit consulted. In all cases, the practice must be guaranteed in accordance with the provisions of this law. The procedures and costs associated with the referral and the transfer of the patient will be the responsibility of the effector who performs the referral. All referrals contemplated in this article must be billed according to the coverage in favor of the effector performing the practice.

This new article provides a solution for the cases of private health or social security institutions where there is no non-objector professional, indicating that they must arrange the referral to another institution that does carry out the practice, guaranteeing that it is done in accordance with the law , and taking charge of all the procedures and costs associated with the referral and transfer.

At the same time, the wording of Article 10 is maintained, which recognizes the right to conscientious objection, with some limitations, such as that whoever objects must uphold their decision in all areas, public and private, in which they exercise their profession; She must also refer the patient in good faith to be attended by another professional in a temporary and timely manner, without delay; You must adopt all the necessary measures to guarantee access to the practice and finally you must comply with the rest of your professional duties and legal obligations.

It is also prohibited for cases in which the life or health of the pregnant person is in danger and requires immediate and urgent attention, and for cases that require post-abortion health care. This article also provides that non-compliance may give rise to disciplinary, administrative, criminal and civil sanctions, as appropriate.

However, this wording does not contemplate limitations that did arise in the opinion of the Deputies of 2018, such as that the objection had to be previously expressed individually and in writing, and communicated to the highest authority of the health establishment.

Another important point of that opinion is that it obliged the health establishments to keep a record of the professional objectors, having to inform the health authority of their jurisdiction, and explicitly prohibited institutional conscientious objection and / or ideology.

What does the inclusion of articles that admit the assumption of individual conscientious objection, and assumptions of institutions where there is no non-objector professional, mean?

We know that conscientious objection is a legal institute used to obstruct or delay access to sexual and (non) reproductive health services, as we have seen in cases of contraception and legal interruption of pregnancy. Recognizing it within the law, with the legal status of “right”, does nothing other than enable non-compliance with the law itself, seriously jeopardizing its effectiveness.

Conscientious objection is a legal institute that allows certain persons to be exempted from complying with a legal obligation, in cases where the action ordered by the norms contradicts their deepest religious, ethical or moral convictions; provided that this does not cause harm to third parties.

We understand that the incorporation of individual conscientious objection for direct intervention in the practice of IVE is based on respect for this freedom of conscience or religion, as long as it is exceptionally allowed and with all the limits mentioned. But recognizing the claim of private institutions to exempt themselves from the provision of pregnancy termination services is unthinkable. We fear that this may happen in the event that all the health professionals of an institution declare themselves as objectors. Even if it is not the institution that denies the service, if all its professionals are objectors, it becomes a disguised institutional conscientious objection.

A solution of this type violates the freedom and right to health of patients, and increases costs and problems for the public health system, which will be burdened by having to resolve the situations that the private subsystem derives. We are also concerned that as a consequence of this recognition, the situation in Uruguay will be repeated, where high levels of objection are identified, and there are even jurisdictions with 100% professional objectors. This exacerbates the difficulties that affect rural areas or areas far from large cities, where access to health services is more limited and there are fewer public institutions.

The private institutions that provide health services perform essential public functions: the provision of health services to the population. The fact that these functions are carried out for profit and through a private contract does not detract from the nature of the service. Therefore, the social function that these private companies fulfill is different from that of others that are not committed to guaranteeing people’s fundamental rights. In this sense, the social and legal requirement that is made to companies or entities that provide health services is much greater. Not only should they guarantee non-discrimination in access to services, but they are also subject to greater control and surveillance by the State.

In this sense, admitting that an entire institution can be exempted from the provision of IVE services is unjustified and would disproportionately put at risk the access to health of the people associated with them.

In any case, the opinion obliges these establishments to guarantee the referral, in a place with similar characteristics to the one that the person requesting the benefit consulted, where the practice must be guaranteed in accordance with the law. Then it indicates that the procedures and costs associated with the referral and transfer will be the responsibility of the institution that referred, providing that it will always be invoiced in favor of the effector who actually performs the practice.

It will be law

Despite these controversial points, we welcome the approval of the majority opinion and await treatment in both Houses before the end of the year. We recognize that reaching this instance was the result of the struggles of the human rights movement that has been promoting this law for so many years.

The National Congress now has the duty to give the legislative discussion with responsibility that a public health problem of this magnitude deserves, in this new opportunity to enact the law and mark progress in the protection of the rights of women and individuals. pregnant women in our country.

We hope that those who legislate put aside their personal convictions and private morals when tackling this project. They are legislating on our future, on our health and on our lives. We demand that you do so responsibly, supporting this bill with your positive vote, because it is a bill that expands rights and saves lives.

This afternoon, we go for the half penalty. And before the end of 2020, for the conquest of the right to legal, safe and free abortion.