Human rights in Latin America

Human rights have played a key role in ending dictatorships in Latin America, inspiring democracy, fostering social justice and generating a more empowered and active citizenship.

This guide highlights the key policies and practices that have made these advances possible. It explores the ways that states have implemented concrete legislative and public policy actions at the national and regional level to meet their obligations to protect and defend human rights. It then goes on to highlight the impact of the activism of a vibrant civil society in using these mechanisms to promote and guarantee the realisation of human rights, and in creating oversight mechanisms to monitor states’ compliance with their human rights obligations.