An independent rapporteur* who has just visited Peru believes that the security forces used “excessive and disproportionate” force to respond to social protests in the country.
Clément Voule, UN Special Rapporteur on the rights to freedom of peaceful assembly and of association, calls on the government to ensure that those responsible for killing and injuring protesters are brought to justice.
Protests erupted across Peru after Congress declared the president vacant Pedro Castillo in December 2022 for disrupting the constitutional order with an attempted coup. More than 60 people were killed in clashes that also injured hundreds of others, including law enforcement officers.
“The excessive and disproportionate use of force led to the death and injury of protesters and bystanders,” says the rapporteur in a statement at the end of a 10-day official visit to Peru.
“The protests – he adds – reflect a loss of confidence in the existing democratic order in Peru and in its institutions.” Indigenous and rural populations “feel particularly excluded and unrepresented.” “They are the most impacted by exclusion and poverty in Peru, and they affirm that they have not been able to benefit from the years of democracy,” she affirms.
Voule is alarmed to see how entrenched racism and discrimination in the country affected the government’s response to the protests.
“I deplore the way in which indigenous communities were stigmatized and treated who were protesting,” he says.
More than 40,000 refugees and migrants crossed the Darién in April
More than 40,000 refugees and migrants entered Panama from Colombia through the Darien jungle in April, surpassing the figure for March, which until now was the highest of the year with 38,000 crossings.
According to UNHCR datathe UN refugee agency, as of the end of April, a total of 127,687 people have crossed the dangerous jungle.
The majority (76%) of the refugees and migrants interviewed in April were Venezuelans. Of these, 35% came from Colombia and 32% came directly from Venezuela.
More than half of those surveyed (58%) reported having been victims of threats or attacks, and the vast majority were victims of theft or fraud, during their journey.
92% of the people interviewed indicated that The United States is their final destination.
Sentence for the murder of Mexican journalist Gerardo Torres
The general director of the Unescohas called for an investigation into the murder of journalist Gerardo Torres Rentería, which occurred on May 11 in Acapulco, Mexico.
Torres Rentería, a former cameraman and reporter for Telemundo, TV Azteca Guerrero, Televisa Guerrero and a correspondent for the Reuters news agency, reportedly continued to work for local media outlets. He was shot dead at his home..
So far this year they have been killed at least 19 journalists, seven of them in Latin America and the Caribbean.
A new study questions whether a sedentary lifestyle is the main cause of the obesity epidemic
A new study has revealed that the energy expenditure of adults today is lower than it was 30 years ago. And the reason is not that we are now less active, but that our resting body consumes less energy.
The study, published in Nature Metabolism and in which scientists from the International Atomic Energy Agency have participated, has examined the changes in total energy expenditure and its components in the last 30 years.
Total energy expenditure is made up of energy used during activities and energy used for basic bodily functions, such as respiration and circulation, known as basal energy expenditure.
Until now, it was assumed that the obesity epidemic has been caused by increasingly sedentary lifestyles, combined with increased food intake.
The study found that total energy expenditure has decreased in both men and women over the past 30 years. Surprisingly, this was due to a reduction in basal energy expenditure and not activity expenditure, as previously assumed.
Scientists say that this is something unexpected and for which they still do not have a definitive explanation. There are several potential factors, including dietary changes, they explain, but “more research is needed before we can understand how to reverse this decline, potentially by changing what we eat,” said John Speakman, the study’s lead author. this could be the basis of a useful strategy in the treatment of obesity, however, at present, “the best way to avoid obesity is not to overeat.”
*Independent experts are part of what is known as Special Procedures of the Human Rights Council. Special Procedures, the largest body of independent experts in the UN Human Rights system, is the general name of the Council’s independent investigative and monitoring mechanisms that address specific country situations or thematic issues in all parts of the world. . Special Procedures experts work on a voluntary basis; they are not UN staff and do not receive a salary for their work. They are independent of any government or organization and provide their services in an individual capacity.
