The crisis in the judicial system, the situation of indigenous peoples, the increase in violence against women and restrictions on freedom of the press are some of the points mentioned in the preliminary report of the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights that visited Bolivia last week.
At the end of their visit, the commissioners issued a document in which they said that “in Bolivia, historically, justice has been handled instrumentally, depending on the interests of the political power in turn.”
In this regard, the representative of the National Committee for the Defense of Democracy, Manuel Morales, expressed to the Voice of America three aspects that he considers for a possible judicial reform in the country.
“New career judges, prosecutors chosen based on the merits, elimination of preventive detention, with these issues we would see that there is a reform of justice in Bolivia, otherwise everything will continue as it has been until now,” said Morales.
For the ruling party, the Minister of Justice, Iván Lima, assured that work will be done based on the recommendations of the IACHR in aspects such as budgets for judicial instances and polarization scenarios.
“The visit of the IACHR is an opportunity that we cannot waste to continue maintaining a responsible and constructive dialogue (…) There have been serious violations of human rights but they will only be able to be repaired to the extent that we have due process and a fair trial he declared.
From the opposition, it was criticized that the IACHR rapporteur Joel Hernández participated in an “act of reparation” organized by the government of President Luis Arce, to recognize the members of the Supreme Electoral Tribunal who were in charge of the failed general elections of 2019 , which still keep the country polarized.
The opposition senator from the Creemos bench, Centa Rek, said that the six days that the IACHR was in the country were insufficient to learn about the reality of human rights.
“There is an overflow of citizen complaints and that also shows the depth of the crisis and the lack of response from a government that is not ensuring the guarantees and rights of citizens.”
It is anticipated that the final document, or “country report” of the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights will be known in about five or six months.
Connect with the Voice of America! Subscribe to our channel Youtube and activate notifications, or follow us on social networks: Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
