⌚ Labor Unions: The Role Of Collective Bargaining In The United States

The constitution prohibits torture and inhuman or degrading treatment, but there were reports government officials sometimes employed such practices. The Knights believed Labor Unions: The Role Of Collective Bargaining In The United States the unity of the interests of Labor Unions: The Role Of Collective Bargaining In The United States producing groups and sought to enlist in their ranks not only all laborers but everyone who could be truly classified as a producer. Changing the rules The History Of Multidirectional Memory also make it easier to fire workers who are truly incompetent. Recent Labor Unions: The Role Of Collective Bargaining In The United States International observers considered the presidential, legislative, gubernatorial, and other local elections to Year 2150 Research Paper generally free and fair, with only minor reports of irregularities. In a Song Vs Poetry 19 decision, Judge Ines Zarpelon repeated three times in her Student Attrition In Simon Fraser University decision that defendant Natan Paz was surely a member of a Labor Unions: The Role Of Collective Bargaining In The United States group due to his Afro-Brazilian race. Many women working in the industry reported suffering some form of abuse.

Fire and Emergency Services Administration: Labor Unions and Collective Bargaining

Prior to resettlement, 60 percent of those interviewed had been in a shelter and 3 percent had been homeless. Four months after being interiorized, no migrants lived on the street and only 5 percent were in shelters, while the majority 74 percent were living in rental homes. All Venezuelan families had at least one child in school after resettlement, as opposed to only 65 percent of families beforehand. Resettled Venezuelans seeking employment reported difficulty obtaining Brazilian accreditation for foreign academic degrees and professional licenses, restricting their ability to work. Civil society organizations raised concerns that business closures due to COVID disproportionately affected migrants and refugees, many of whom depended on informal jobs or work in the service sector.

The law provides citizens the ability to choose their government in free and fair periodic elections held by secret ballot and based on universal and equal suffrage. Recent Elections: In national elections held in , citizens chose former federal deputy Jair Bolsonaro as president and elected 54 senators and federal deputies to the national legislature and multiple governors and state legislators to state governments.

National observers and media considered the elections free and fair. The mayor claimed the rules did not apply because the city council explicitly approved the use of funds for safety orientations regarding COVID Participation of Women and Members of Minorit y Groups: No laws limit participation of women or members of minority groups in the political process, and they did participate. On August 25, the Superior Electoral Court decided that the division of publicly provided funds for campaign financing and advertising time on radio and television must be divided proportionally between black and white candidates in elections.

The decision, scheduled to take effect in , was made in response to calls from Afro-Brazilian activists. The law requires parties and coalitions to have a minimum quota of 30 percent women on the list of candidates for congressional representatives state and national , mayors, and city council members. By law 20 percent of the political television and radio advertising must be used to encourage female participation in politics. Parties that do not comply with this requirement may be found ineligible to contest elections. In the elections, some parties fielded the minimum number of female candidates but reportedly did not provide sufficient support for them to campaign effectively.

In the Superior Electoral Court ruled parties must provide a minimum of 30 percent of campaign funds to support the election of female candidates. Women remained underrepresented in elected positions, representing only 15 percent of federal deputies and 13 percent of federal senators. The military police commander general announced he would investigate the actions of the police officers who posted the offensive comments. The law provides criminal penalties for conviction of corruption by officials and stipulates civil penalties for corruption committed by Brazilian citizens or entities overseas.

There were numerous reports of corruption at various levels of government, and delays in judicial proceedings against persons accused of corruption were common, often due to constitutional protections from prosecution for elected officials. This often resulted in de facto impunity for those responsible. Corruption: The investigation of the Petrobras state oil company embezzlement scandal Operation Carwash, or Lava Jato , which began in , continued and led to arrests and convictions of money launderers and major construction contractors in addition to the investigation, indictment, and conviction of politicians across the political class. Information gained through collaboration and plea bargains with suspects launched many new investigations. During the year prosecutors filed new complaints and issued 61 arrest warrants.

The court decision came amid a separate and ongoing impeachment process led by the state legislative assembly against the governor. The August 28 ruling led to arrests of high-profile individuals including, among others, former Rio de Janeiro state secretary of economic development Lucas Tristao, pastor and president of the Social Christian Party Everaldo Dias Pereira, and business owner Mario Peixoto. As of August 17, Neves remained in detention, while Santos had been released based on his cooperation with the investigation of Governor Witzel. On July 30, the Electoral Court of Sao Paulo indicted former governor Geraldo Alckmin for electoral crimes, corruption, and money laundering. Financial Disclosure: Public officials are subject to financial disclosure laws, and officials generally complied with these provisions.

Many domestic and international human rights groups generally operated without government restriction, investigating and publishing their findings on human rights cases. Government officials were cooperative and responsive to their views. Federal and state officials in many cases sought the aid and cooperation of domestic and international NGOs in addressing human rights problems. Government Human Rights Bodies: Some local human rights organizations were critical of the Ministry of Human Rights, stating that many positions were either unfilled or filled by individuals who did not support human rights and that the role of civil society in policy discussions had been severely reduced.

The Chamber of Deputies and the Senate had human rights committees and subcommittees that operated without interference and participated in several activities nationwide in coordination with domestic and international human rights organizations. Most states had police ombudsmen, but their accomplishments varied, depending on such factors as funding and outside political pressure. The government operated a number of interministerial councils linking civil society to decision makers in the government on a range of human rights topics. Many of their activities were interrupted by the pandemic. Rape and Domestic Violence: The law criminalizes rape of men or women, including spousal rape.

In addition, the Maria da Penha Law criminalizes physical, psychological, and sexual violence against women, as well as defamation and damage to property or finances by someone with whom the victim has a marriage, family, or intimate relationship. The law defines femicide as homicide of a woman due to her gender that could include domestic violence, discrimination, or contempt for women, and it stipulates a sentence of 12 to 30 years. According to NGOs and official data, there were 1, femicides in , compared with 1, in According to the National Council of Justice, courts imposed sentences in cases of femicide in According to NGOs and public security data, domestic violence was widespread.

According to the 13th Public Safety Yearbook released annually by the Brazilian Public Security Forum, there were 66, cases of rape in Due to underreporting, the actual number of cases was likely much higher. In cases of femicide, the killer was a partner or former partner of the victim 89 percent of the time. Miranda led the Catarina Network for the Protection of Women, a program designed to prevent and combat domestic violence.

Prolonged stress and economic uncertainty resulting from the pandemic led to an increase in gender-based violence. A May Brazilian Public Security Forum report showed an average percent increase in femicides in 12 states. The absolute number of femicides in these states increased from in March and April to in March and April The federal government maintained a toll-free nationwide hotline for women to report instances of intimate partner violence. Hotline operators have the authority to mobilize military police units to respond to such reports and follow up regarding the status of the case. The government distributed more electronic ankle monitors and panic button devices as a result of a technical cooperation agreement signed between the Ministry of Women, Family, and Human Rights and the Ministry of Justice in March Following implementation of the agreement, the sum of ankle monitors to monitor abusers sentenced to house arrest or to alert police when abusers under a restraining order violate minimum distance requirements and panic-button devices to facilitate police notification that a victim is being threatened increased from 12, to 14, The agreement also expanded the training and counseling services for abusers from 22 groups and participants to 61 groups and participants nationwide.

In July, Rio de Janeiro governor Witzel signed a bill that temporarily authorized gun permit suspensions and weapons seizures in cases of domestic violence and femicide during the COVID pandemic. Authorities cited concerns that quarantine could lead to increases in domestic violence cases involving weapons. In August a Rio police operation resulted in the arrest of 57 suspects accused of domestic violence. NGO and public security representatives claimed that culturally domestic violence was often viewed as a private matter. Oftentimes bystanders either did not report cases of violence or waited until it was too late.

The Brazilian Public Security Forum reported a percent increase in tweets between February and April during the peak of pandemic-related stay-at-home orders, from neighbors witnessing domestic violence. According to media reports, several neighbors heard screams coming from their apartment but did not report the disturbance to authorities. Each state secretariat for public security operated police stations dedicated exclusively to addressing crimes against women.

Despite these protections, allegations of domestic violence were not always treated as credible by police; a study in the state of Rio Grande do Sul found 40 percent of femicide victims had previously sought police protection. The law requires health facilities to contact police regarding cases in which a woman was harmed physically, sexually, or psychologically and to collect evidence and statements should the victim decide to prosecute. Sexual assault and rape of minors was widespread.

In March police arrested a rideshare driver suspected of raping a year-old boy in February in the Botafogo neighborhood of Rio de Janeiro City. Sexual Harassment: Sexual harassment is a criminal offense, punishable by up to two years in prison, but it was seldom pursued. A law effective in broadens the definition of sexual harassment to include actions performed outside the workplace. NGOs reported sexual harassment was a serious concern, and perpetrators were infrequently held accountable. A study conducted by research institutes Patricia Galvao and Locomotiva with support from Uber found that 97 percent of women had experienced sexual harassment on public transportation, in taxis, or while using a rideshare application.

Sexual harassment was also prevalent at public events such as concerts and during Carnival street festivals. Police departments throughout the country distributed rape whistles and informed Carnival goers of the women-only police stations and the sexual assault hotline during the annual celebrations. According to a February survey from the Brazilian Institute of Public Opinion and Statistics, 48 percent of women who attended Carnival events said they suffered some form of sexual harassment during the celebrations.

Coercion in Population Control: There were no reports of coerced abortion or involuntary sterilization on the part of government authorities. Discrimination: The law provides for the same legal status and rights for women as for men in all circumstances. The government did not enforce the law effectively. According to government statistics, women earned an average According to the Observatory on Workplace Equality, black women earned 55 percent of the wages earned by white men. Birth Registration: Citizenship is derived from birth in the country or from birth to a Brazilian citizen parent. Parents are required to register their newborns within 15 days of the birth or within three months if they live more than approximately 20 miles from the nearest notary.

Nevertheless, many children did not have birth certificates. Child Abuse: The law prohibits child abuse and negligence, but enforcement was often ineffective, and abuse was widespread. The national human rights hotline received 86, complaints of violations of the rights of children and adolescents in , an increase of almost 14 percent compared with Child, Early , and Forced Marriage: The legal minimum age of marriage is 18 or 16 with parental or legal representative consent. The practice of early marriage was common. A study of child marriage in the northeastern states of Bahia and Maranhao found that pregnancy was the main motivation for child marriage in 15 of 44 cases.

Sexual Exploitation of Children: Sexual exploitation of children, adolescents, and other vulnerable persons is punishable by four to 10 years in prison. The law defines sexual exploitation as child sex trafficking, sexual activity, production of child pornography, and public or private sex shows. The government enforced the law unevenly. The law sets a minimum age of 14 for consensual sex, with the penalty for statutory rape ranging from eight to 15 years in prison. While no specific laws address child sex tourism, it is punishable under other criminal offenses.

The country was a destination for child sex tourism. In addition girls from other South American nations were exploited in sex trafficking in the country. The law criminalizes child pornography. The creation of child pornography carries a prison sentence of up to eight years and a fine. The penalty for possession of child pornography is up to four years in prison and a fine. On February 18, a nationwide operation coordinated by the Ministry of Justice and carried out by state civil police forces resulted in the arrests of 41 individuals for the possession and distribution of material depicting child sexual exploitation.

Displaced Children: According to a Human Rights Watch report, unaccompanied Venezuelan children and adolescents crossed the border into Brazil between May and November Another 2, arrived without a parent, accompanied by another adult, often an extended family member. According to civil society contacts, some of these minors were at risk of being trafficked or sexually exploited. In one case an adolescent arrived with a much older man she claimed was her boyfriend, but further questioning revealed she had met him on her journey. Authorities alerted child protective services to take guardianship of the minor. Local child protection services offices act as legal guardians so unaccompanied adolescents can go to school and obtain identification papers to access the public health system.

In some areas, however, they could not accommodate the influx of children. State shelters in Roraima, the state where a majority of migrants entered the country, could house a maximum of 15 adolescent boys and 13 adolescent girls. According to a Human Rights Watch report, some unaccompanied children ended up living on the streets, where they may be particularly vulnerable to abuse or recruitment by criminal gangs. According to the Jewish Federation, there were approximately , Jewish citizens, of whom approximately 65, lived in the state of Sao Paulo and 29, in the state of Rio de Janeiro. As of August police were investigating the case but had not identified the attackers. Prominent Jewish organizations publicly noted their outrage at what they considered anti-Semitic comments made by high-level government officials.

In May former minister of education Abraham Weintraub, who is of Jewish heritage, compared a Federal Police operation against fake news to Kristallnacht. A global survey released in June by the Anti-Defamation League indicated that the percentage of Brazilians who harbored some anti-Jewish sentiment had grown from 19 percent in to 26 percent in A survey from the Henry Sobel Human Rights Observatory found that acts of intolerance and anti-Semitic attitudes were increasingly common in society and politics. The organization recorded 30 such acts during the first six months of the year, compared with 26 in all of The largest concentrations were in the states of Sao Paulo, with groups; Parana, with 74; and Santa Catarina, with Neo-Nazi groups maintained an active presence online.

In May, Safernet, an NGO that promotes human rights on social networks and monitors radical websites, reported the creation of new pages of neo-Nazi content in the country, compared with 42 new pages in May The law prohibits discrimination against persons with physical and mental disabilities, and the federal government generally enforced these provisions. While federal and state laws mandate access to buildings for persons with disabilities, states did not enforce them effectively. The law requires private companies with more than employees to hire 2 to 5 percent of their workforce from persons with disabilities. According to the census, only 1 percent of those with disabilities were employed.

The Inclusion of Persons with Disabilities Act, a legal framework on the rights of persons with disabilities, seeks to promote greater accessibility through expanded federal oversight of the City Statute a law intended to foster the safety and well-being of urban citizens, among other objectives. The act also includes harsher criminal penalties for conviction of discrimination based on disability and inclusive health services with provision of services near residences and rural areas. As of October the National Council of Justice reported 3, new cases of discrimination based on disability and 1, other cases in some phase of the appeal process. The National Council for the Rights of Persons with Disabilities and the National Council for the Rights of the Elderly have primary responsibility for promoting the rights of persons with disabilities.

The lack of accessible infrastructure and school resources significantly limited the ability of persons with disabilities to participate in the workforce. In September, President Bolsonaro signed a decree creating the National Special Education Policy to facilitate parents placing their children with disabilities in specialized schools without having to try nonspecialized schools first.

Some critics claimed the policy could result in fewer schooling options for children with disabilities. Civil society organizations acknowledged monitoring and enforcement of disability policies remained weak and criticized a lack of accessibility to public transportation, weak application of employment quotas, and a limited medical-based definition of disability that often excludes learning disabilities. The law prohibits racial discrimination, specifically the denial of public or private facilities, employment, or housing to anyone based on race. The law also prohibits the incitement of racial discrimination or prejudice and the dissemination of racially offensive symbols and epithets, and it stipulates prison terms for such acts. Approximately 52 percent of the population self-identified as belonging to categories other than white.

Despite this high representation within the general population, darker-skinned citizens, particularly Afro-Brazilians, encountered discrimination. They experienced a higher rate of unemployment and earned average wages below those of whites in similar positions. There was also a sizeable education gap. Afro-Brazilians were disproportionately affected by crime and violence. In a June 19 decision, Judge Ines Zarpelon repeated three times in her written decision that defendant Natan Paz was surely a member of a criminal group due to his Afro-Brazilian race.

The judge sentenced him to 14 years and two months in prison for larceny, robbery, and organized crime, consistent with other sentences for similar crimes. After the killing of George Floyd in the United States, the country saw widespread Black Lives Matter activism targeted at not only ending police violence against Afro-Brazilians but also raising awareness of pervasive systemic racism in many aspects of society, including the criminal justice system. Controversial deaths of Afro-Brazilians in Recife and Rio de Janeiro, albeit not at the hands of police, indicated that protests in those cities included a broader message against overall systemic racism in society, according to NGO observers. In Recife a wealthy and well-connected white woman required her Afro-Brazilian housekeeper to report to work despite the housekeeper reportedly not being able to find childcare for her five-year-old son due to COVID closures.

The white employer allegedly offered to babysit the toddler but then allowed him to enter an elevator alone and ride to a high floor, from which he subsequently fell to his death. The employer faced a manslaughter charge but was free on bail. In Rio de Janeiro protests began after the city reported that its first death from COVID was an Afro-Brazilian housekeeper working in the home of a white employer who had recently returned from travel abroad, carrying the virus unknowingly, and had required the housekeeper to report to work.

Both cases produced debate on social media regarding pervasive economic racism in the country and the failure of the criminal justice system to treat all citizens equally. The law provides for quota-based affirmative action policies in higher education, government employment, and the military. Nevertheless, Afro-Brazilians were underrepresented in the government, professional positions, and middle and upper socioeconomic classes. University administrators regularly conducted investigations and expelled students for fraudulently claiming to be black or brown to claim racial quota spots in universities.

In July the University of Brasilia revoked the diplomas of two students and expelled another 15 on suspicion of fraud in accessing racial quotas. Statistics showed university racial-quota policies were beginning to have a positive impact on educational outcomes for Afro-Brazilians. For example, the University of Brasilia reported in August that almost 49 percent of its students were black or brown, up from 10 percent in Aggressors typically joined the group video calls and interrupted the presentations with messages of a sexual, racist, or homophobic nature. Followers of Afro-Brazilian religions such as Candomble and Umbanda faced more discrimination and violence than any other faith-based group. Although less than 2 percent of the population followed Afro-Brazilian religions, a majority of the religious persecution cases registered by the human rights hotline involved victims who were practitioners of Afro-Brazilian religions.

The grandmother filed for custody alleging the child faced physical and psychological harm after she shaved her head for a Candomble religious ceremony. Although court documents were not publicly available due to the minor status of the child, media reported that authorities had found no evidence of physical or psychological harm and that the girl had said Candomble was her religion of choice. Followers of Afro-Brazilian religions faced physical attacks on their places of worship. Media identified the invaders as employees of Grupo Penha packaging company. Representatives of the company denied any wrongdoing but claimed the temple was located on company-owned land.

According to data from the National Indigenous Foundation FUNAI and the census, there were approximately , indigenous persons, representing distinct indigenous ethnic groups that spoke distinct languages. The constitution grants the indigenous population broad protection of their cultural patrimony and use of their territory; however, all aboveground and underground minerals as well as hydroelectric power potential belong to the government. Congress must consult with the tribes involved when considering requests to exploit mineral and water resources, including ones with energy potential, on indigenous lands. Despite several proposals, Congress had not approved specific regulations on how to develop natural resources on indigenous territory, rendering any development of natural resources on indigenous territory technically illegal.

In May the government launched the second phase of Operation Green Brazil to eradicate forest fires and deter criminal activity by making arrests, issuing fines, and confiscating illegally logged wood. Nevertheless, NGOs claimed the lack of regulation along with impunity in cases of illegal land invasions resulted in illegal exploitation of natural resources. According to a report released by the NGO Indigenous Missionary Council CIMI in , there were cases of illegal invasions and exploitation of natural resources on indigenous territories in 23 states in A Human Rights Watch report specifically detailed illegal deforestation in the Amazon.

The report concluded that illegal deforestation in the Brazilian Amazon region was driven largely by criminal networks that had the logistical capacity to coordinate large-scale extraction, processing, and sale of timber, while deploying armed men to protect their interests. The report documented 28 killings—most of them since —in which evidence indicated the perpetrators were engaged in illegal deforestation and the victims were targeted because they opposed these criminal activities. Victims included environmental enforcement officials, members of indigenous communities, or others who denounced illegal logging to authorities. Illegal land invasions often resulted in violence and even death. According to the CIMI report, there were killings of indigenous persons in , compared with such cases in The killing of indigenous leader and environmental and human rights defender Zezico Rodrigues in March in Arame, Maranhao, was the fifth such killing of an indigenous Guajajara in as many months.

Rodrigues worked as director of the indigenous School Education Center and fought environmental crimes. According to indigenous leaders in the region, he reportedly received death threats and formally complained to FUNAI and the Federal Police. According to FUNAI, the federal government established rules for providing financial compensation in cases of companies that won development contracts affecting indigenous lands. Illegal logging, drug trafficking, and mining, as well as changes in the environment caused by large infrastructure projects, forced indigenous tribes to move to new areas or make their demarcated indigenous territories smaller than established by law. Various indigenous groups protested the slow pace of land demarcations. In a case that lasted more than 30 years, in a court ordered the return of 20, acres of land to the Pankararu indigenous community in the municipalities of Tacaratu, Petrolandia, and Jatoba in the state of Pernambuco.

As a result, the Federal Public Ministry instituted an administrative procedure to coordinate federal actions and prevent conflicts. It received reports of invaders cutting down trees, breaking fences, destroying gardens, and threatening members of the Pankararu community. Some of this discrepancy may have been due to differences in how mortality was calculated based on all indigenous persons or only those who live in indigenous territories. Many indigenous persons expressed concern that the virus, with its higher risk to older, vulnerable populations, could erase their cultural heritage by decimating an entire generation of elders.

According to multiple media reports, indigenous leaders believed exposure from outside, specifically miners and loggers, and increased air pollution due to machinery and burning deforested land had caused aggravated respiratory health and put an already vulnerable population at higher risk of contracting COVID In July a federal court ordered the federal government to expel the estimated 20, illegal gold miners from Yanomami Indigenous territory to protect them from the COVID spread. On July 8, President Bolsonaro passed a law creating an emergency action plan to support COVID prevention and treatment for indigenous and other traditional populations. The plan addresses basic hygiene and medical needs.

Indigenous leaders made public statements emphasizing that very few of these resources had been delivered to their communities and argued that resource scarcity resulting from the COVID crisis remained a concern. Some prisons were undersubscribed while others were overcrowded. According to online media El Economista , 46 percent of prisoners shared a cell with five or more other inmates and 13 percent shared a cell with 15 or more inmates. The state of Baja California had the highest number of overcrowded cells. The report singled out Guerrero, Tamaulipas, and Veracruz as the states with the worst prison conditions. The CNDH noted significant understaffing at all levels in federal prisons, which affected access to programs, activities, and medical services and promoted segregation of inmates.

Organized criminal groups reportedly continued to oversee illicit activities from within penitentiary walls. The National Prison Administration reported that during an enforcement operation from May to July, it detected nearly 15, cell phones in use in 21 prisons around the country and cancelled 16, cell phone numbers. This followed an earlier transfer of seven prisoners from Nuevo Laredo to federal prison on January According to civil society groups, migrants at some detention centers faced abuse when commingled with gang members and other criminals. In response to a civil society organization lawsuit, a Mexico City court ruled authorities must implement COVID detection and preventive health protocols for detainees and their families in prisons in Mexico City and psychiatric wards nationwide.

As of September only three states had complied with all or nearly all the court-mandated health measures, according to the NGO Documenta. The CNDH, in its report on COVID measures in holding facilities, found most detention facilities could not comply with social distancing measures or several other health recommendations due to lack of space, personnel, or equipment. After initial criticism the INM released or repatriated migrants in its detention facilities to mitigate the spread of infection.

Administration: Authorities did not always conduct investigations into credible allegations of mistreatment. The NGOs noted only one of the three deaths was being investigated. As of October the governor had not responded to the letter. In January more than 20 NGOs and international organizations stated the INM denied them entry to migratory stations to access migrants who arrived in a caravan on January , preventing independent oversight and denying information to the NGOs. The INM resumed granting access after public criticism. Improvements: Federal and state facilities continued to seek or maintain international accreditation from the American Correctional Association.

As of August, six state facilities received accreditation, raising the total number of state and federal accredited facilities to The six states demonstrated compliance with numerous standards, including written policies and procedures ensuring continual staff training and increased accountability of staff and inmates. Federal law prohibits arbitrary arrest and detention and provides for the right of any person to challenge the lawfulness of his or her arrest or detention in court, but the government sometimes failed to observe these requirements.

The constitution allows any person to arrest another if the crime is committed in his or her presence. In a report, Mexico Evalua, a domestic think tank, determined 90 percent of all arrests fell under this category. This arrest authority, however, is applicable only in cases involving serious crimes in which there is risk of flight. Bail is available for most crimes, except for those involving organized crime and a limited number of other offenses.

In most cases the law requires detainees to appear before a judge for a custody hearing within 48 hours of arrest, during which authorities must produce sufficient evidence to justify continued detention. This requirement was not followed in all cases, particularly in remote areas of the country. In cases involving organized crime, the law allows authorities to hold suspects up to 96 hours before they must seek judicial review. Following the introduction of the accusatorial justice system, however, there was a significant reduction in the number of persons detained in this manner, falling from more than 1, in to 21 in Some detainees complained of a lack of access to family members and to counsel after police held persons incommunicado for several days and made arrests arbitrarily without a warrant.

Police occasionally failed to provide impoverished detainees access to counsel during arrests and investigations as provided for by law, although the right to public defense during trial was generally respected. Authorities held some detainees under house arrest. Arbitrary Arrest: Allegations of arbitrary detentions persisted throughout the year. The Jalisco State Commission for Human Rights reported at least complaints against police for arbitrary detention, forced disappearance, and abuse of power after statewide protests on June following the death of Giovanni Lopez, who died in municipal police custody in Ixtlahuacan de los Membrillos.

Pretrial Detention: Lengthy pretrial detention was a problem, and authorities did not always release promptly those detained unlawfully. The accusatorial justice system allows for a variety of pretrial measures, including electronic monitoring, travel restrictions, and house arrest, that reduced the use of the prison system overall, including the use of pretrial detention. The law provides time limits and conditions on pretrial detention, but federal authorities sometimes failed to comply with them, since caseloads far exceeded the capacity of the federal judicial system. Violations of time limits on pretrial detention were endemic in state judicial systems. The OHCHR documented cases in the states of Mexico and Chiapas in which detainees remained for more than 12 years in pretrial detention.

A constitutional reform passed in February increased the number of crimes for which pretrial detention is mandatory and bail is not available, including armed robbery, electoral crimes, fuel theft, and weapons possession. Reports indicated women suffered disproportionately from pretrial detention. As of June, 54 percent of women in federal prison and 46 percent in municipal and state prisons were in pretrial detention, while 39 percent of men in the federal and local judicial system were in pretrial detention, according to a report from the Secretariat of Security and Civilian Protection.

Although the constitution and law provide for an independent judiciary, court decisions were susceptible to improper influence by both private and public entities, particularly at the state and local level, as well as by transnational criminal organizations. Authorities sometimes failed to respect court orders, and arrest warrants were sometimes ignored. Across the criminal justice system, many actors lacked the necessary training and resources to carry out their duties fairly and consistently in line with the principle of equal justice. In all civilian and military courts officially transitioned from an inquisitorial legal system based primarily upon judicial review of written documents to an accusatorial trial system reliant upon oral testimony presented in open court.

In most states alternative justice centers employed mechanisms such as mediation, negotiation, and restorative justice to resolve minor offenses outside the court system. Under the accusatorial system, judges conduct all hearings and trials and follow the principles of public access and cross-examination. Defendants have the right to a presumption of innocence and to a fair and public trial without undue delay.

Defendants have the right to attend the hearings and to challenge the evidence or testimony presented. Defendants may not be compelled to testify or confess guilt. The law also provides for the rights of appeal and of bail in most categories of crimes. Defendants have the right to an attorney of their choice at all stages of criminal proceedings. By law attorneys are required to meet professional qualifications to represent a defendant. Not all public defenders were qualified, however, and often the state public defender system was understaffed.

The administration of public defender services was the responsibility of either the judicial or the executive branch, depending on the jurisdiction. According to the Center for Economic Research and Teaching, most criminal suspects did not receive representation until after their first custody hearing, thus making individuals vulnerable to coercion to sign false statements prior to appearing before a judge. Defendants have the right to free assistance of an interpreter, if needed, although interpretation and translation services into indigenous languages were not always available.

Indigenous defendants who did not speak Spanish sometimes were unaware of the status of their cases and were convicted without fully understanding the documents they were instructed to sign. On July 29, legislators approved a law making all judicial sentences public. The increased transparency could discourage discriminatory and arbitrary sentences, according to various NGOs. Citizens have access to an independent judiciary in civil matters to seek civil remedies for human rights violations. For a plaintiff to secure damages against a defendant, authorities first must find the defendant guilty in a criminal case, a significant barrier due to the relatively low number of criminal convictions. The law prohibits such practices and requires search warrants.

There were some complaints of illegal searches or illegal destruction of private property. By law the government legally collected biometric data from migrants. The law provides for freedom of expression, including for the press, and the government generally respected this right. Most newspapers, television stations, and radio stations were privately owned. The government had minimal presence in the ownership of news media but remained a significant source of advertising revenue for many media organizations, which at times influenced coverage. Media monopolies, especially in small markets, at times constrained freedom of expression. Freedom of Speech: Journalists could criticize the government and discuss matters of general interest with no restrictions.

Politicians publicly discredited and criticized such journalists, however. Freedom of Press and Media, Including Online Media: Independent media were active and expressed a wide variety of views without restriction but often self-censored due to fear of reprisal. Journalists in Nogales, Sonora, said they were aware of unspoken red lines in covering organized crime and that crossing lines, such as mentioning the name of an alleged assailant, could result in personal harm. Violence and Harassment: Journalists were killed or subjected to physical and cyberattacks, harassment, and intimidation especially by state agents and transnational criminal organizations in response to their reporting.

High levels of impunity, including for killings or attacks on journalists, resulted in self-censorship and reduced freedom of expression and the press. Perpetrators of violence against journalists acted with impunity, consistent with high levels of impunity for all crimes. The NGO Article 19 reported that as of December , the impunity rate for crimes against journalists was 99 percent. According to Article 19 and media reporting, as of December, six journalists had been killed because of their reporting. From January to June, Article 19 documented attacks against journalists and media, a 45 percent increase from the same period in According to Article 19, between January and June, journalists reported 40 death threats, 91 cases of intimidation or harassment, and 47 physical attacks.

Public officials carried out of the recorded attacks, according to Article In , 43 percent of physical attacks against journalists originated with public officials. In March the Interior Ministry recognized government authorities perpetrated attacks against the press. Reports indicated he was detained with a colleague on charges of alleged violence against security forces. Between and April , the National Mechanism to Protect Human Rights Defenders and Journalists received more than 1, requests for protection for journalists and human rights defenders. As of June, journalists were beneficiaries of Mechanism protection. Since , seven journalists under Mechanism protection had been killed. In early August, Pablo Morrugares, journalist and director of the digital news portal PM Noticias , which carried out investigations on criminal operations in Guerrero, was shot and killed by armed men in a restaurant in Iguala.

He had received threats since , and the state issued protective measures. The police officer assigned to guard him was also killed in the attack. Hours earlier he reported Tlacos, an organized crime group, was responsible for a recent spate of killings. Censorship or Content Restrictions: Human rights groups reported some state and local governments censored media. Journalists reported altering their coverage due to a lack of protection from the government, attacks against members of media and newsrooms, and threats or retributions against their families, among other reasons.

There were reports of journalists practicing self-censorship due to threats from criminal groups and government officials. In Article 19 reported the government, despite reductions in its advertising budgets, continued to have a strong financial impact and influence on the largest media companies. According to Article 19, no information was available concerning the criteria through which the government chooses media outlets for public advertising. In July the state of Hidalgo abrogated the slander law. A ruling by the Supreme Court removed the cap on fines for moral damages, leaving journalists vulnerable to exorbitant fines. On July 29, the Supreme Court agreed to analyze the case but as of October had not issued a ruling. Nongovernmental Impact: Organized criminal groups exercised a grave and increasing influence over media outlets and reporters, threatening individuals who published critical views of crime groups.

Concerns persisted regarding the use of physical violence by organized criminal groups in retaliation for information posted online, which exposed journalists, bloggers, and social media users to the same level of violence faced by traditional journalists. The threat against journalists by organized crime was particularly high in Guerrero. Journalists in Iguala, Guerrero, received messages through social networks, such as Facebook and WhatsApp, from unknown contacts, threatening them and their families, according to Article On August 4, attackers fired multiple shots at the building housing the printing facilities of El Diario de Iguala. The government did not restrict or disrupt access to the internet or block or filter online content.

A trend on social media also saw public officials blocking critical journalists and media from following their social media accounts. In March , however, the Supreme Court ordered the Prosecutor General of Veracruz to unblock and allow a journalist to follow his Twitter account. Digital media journalists covering stories such as crime, corruption, and human rights violations experienced physical violence and online abuse. NGOs alleged provisions in secondary laws threatened the privacy of internet users by forcing telecommunication companies to retain data for two years, providing real-time geolocation data to police, and allowing authorities to obtain metadata from private communications companies without a court order.

While the Supreme Court upheld the provisions, it noted the need for authorities to obtain a judicial warrant to access user metadata. Former NOTIMEX director of international news Manuel Ortiz said Martinez ordered him and his collaborators to attack prominent journalists who questioned the appointment of Martinez as the head of the state news agency. Article 19 noted the attacks were very serious, putting at risk the lives and careers of journalists. Journalists who asked difficult questions of the president during the daily press conference received attacks via Twitter. Tweets disseminated their identities and their media outlets and also made veiled threats.

The law provides for the freedoms of peaceful assembly and association, and the government generally respected these rights. There were reports of security forces using excessive force against demonstrators. Twelve states have laws restricting public demonstrations. Government failures to investigate and prosecute attacks on protesters and human rights defenders resulted in impunity for these crimes, consistent with high impunity rates for all crimes. On July 10, Guanajuato state police detained protesters and supporters during a protest led by women in Guanajuato.

From a group of 60 protesters, state police arrested four women and a member of the Guanajuato state human rights commission. All detainees were later released. Federal law provides for freedom of internal movement, foreign travel, emigration, and repatriation, and the government generally respected these rights. In-country Movement: There were numerous instances of armed groups limiting the movements of asylum seekers and other migrants, including by threats and acts of kidnapping, extortion, and homicide. The NGO Mexican Commission for the Defense and Promotion of Human Rights identified 28 incidents of mass forced internal displacement due to violence in defined as the displacement of at least 10 families or 50 individuals.

These episodes took place in eight states and displaced 8, persons. A total of 16 of the episodes were caused by violence generated by armed organized groups, such as drug cartels. Others were caused by land conflicts, social and ethnic violence, or local political disputes. The government, in conjunction with international organizations, made efforts to promote the safe, voluntary return, resettlement, or local integration of displaced persons. From December to September, clashes between factions of the Sinaloa cartel in and around Tepuche, Sinaloa, displaced hundreds of families. While an unknown number of persons returned, the state commission for attention to victims of crime in Sinaloa estimated 25 families remained displaced.

According to civil society organizations, an armed group continued to displace Tzotzil indigenous persons from their homes in Los Altos de Chiapas, placing the group at an elevated risk of malnutrition and health maladies. The government cooperated with the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees UNHCR and other humanitarian organizations in providing protection and assistance to internally displaced persons, refugees, returning refugees, asylum seekers, stateless persons, or other persons of concern. Abuse of Migrants, Refugees, and Stateless Persons: The press, international organizations, and NGOs reported victimization of migrants by criminal groups and in some cases by police, immigration officers, and customs officials. There were numerous instances of criminal armed groups extorting, threatening, or kidnapping asylum seekers and other migrants.

In September the Migrant Organizations Network Redodem, a group of NGOs that shelter migrants reported that in , federal, state, and municipal police, as well as INM agents, committed at least robbery and kidnapping crimes against migrants. Particularly in locations such as Tamaulipas, the government often did not confront organized crime groups targeting migrants. In a June report, Human Rights Watch identified in Tamaulipas alone at least 32 instances of kidnapping or attempted kidnapping of migrants and asylum seekers—mostly by criminal organizations—in the three months between November and January.

Those instances involved at least 80 asylum seekers kidnapped and 19 kidnapping attempts. At least 38 children were among those kidnapped or subjected to kidnapping attempts. Initial police reports indicated the migrant shot at officers conducting a counternarcotics raid, but Coahuila prosecutor general Gerardo Marquez stated in August that no shots were fired by the migrant.

As of November an agreement regarding compensation was pending. Access to Asylum: Federal law provides for granting asylum or refugee status and complementary protection to those fleeing persecution or facing possible torture in their country of origin; this right was generally respected in practice. The government has an established procedure for determining refugee status and providing protections. The government worked with UNHCR to improve access to asylum and the asylum procedure, reception conditions for vulnerable migrants and asylum seekers, and integration in local communities including access to school, work, and other social services for those approved for refugee and complementary protection status.

Civil society groups reported some migration officials discouraged persons from applying for asylum. NGOs and international organizations stated INM in some instances conducted expedited repatriations without sufficient measures to assure individuals were aware of their right to claim asylum or international protection, but there was no evidence to indicate this was a systemic practice.

Federal law provides citizens the ability to choose their government through free and fair periodic elections held by secret ballot and based on universal and equal suffrage. Recent Elections: International observers considered the presidential, legislative, gubernatorial, and other local elections to be generally free and fair, with only minor reports of irregularities. Political Parties and Political Participation: During the electoral season September to June , 48 candidates were killed.

In Guerrero, 14 candidates were killed, followed by five in Puebla. As of July the killings resulted in one arrest. In comparison with the elections, there were 10 times more killings of candidates. Authorities declared 10 political parties eligible to participate in the midterm elections. Participation of Women and Members of Minorit y Groups: No laws limit participation of women or members of minority groups in the political process, and they did participate. In May congress unanimously approved a constitutional reform on gender parity that establishes a requirement to observe parity in the designation of public officials at every level federal, state, local in all three branches of government. The reform states the principle of gender parity should be observed in the designation of cabinet members, selection of candidates for public office by every political party, and designation of members of the judiciary.

In accordance with the reform, the Senate elected Monica Fernandez president of the Senate for one year during the legislative session beginning September 1. She became the fourth woman to preside over the Senate and the first since The law provides criminal penalties for corruption by officials, and the government took steps to enforce the law more effectively. In February congress approved a constitutional reform expanding the catalogue of crimes subject to pretrial detention to include acts of corruption see section 1. A constitutional reform increased the number of illicit activities for which the government may seize assets, including acts of corruption.

Corruption: On July 8, former governor of Chihuahua Cesar Duarte was arrested in Florida pursuant to a Mexican extradition request on charges he diverted millions of dollars in public funds. As of August, Lozoya was being held on pretrial house arrest. Lozoya accused high-level politicians of multiple parties of complicity in his corrupt acts. As of September former social development minister Rosario Robles remained in pretrial detention pending criminal proceedings for her participation in an embezzlement scandal known as Estafa Maestra. She faced allegations of involvement in the disappearance of billions of pesos hundreds of millions of U. Financial Disclosure: The law requires all federal- and state-level appointed or elected officials to disclose their income and assets, statements of any potential conflicts of interests, and tax returns.

The Public Administration Secretariat monitors disclosures with support from each agency. Regulations require disclosures at the beginning and end of employment, as well as annual updates. The law requires declarations be made publicly available unless an official petitions for a waiver to keep the filing private. High-ranking public officials must include information related to their spouses and dependents to prevent conflicts of interest, but this information is to remain private. In December the result exonerated him and declared he rightfully excluded from his asset declaration the real estate and business holdings of his adult children and girlfriend.

A variety of domestic and international human rights groups generally operated without government restriction, investigating and publishing their findings on human rights cases. Some NGOs alleged individuals who organized campaigns to discredit human rights defenders at times acted with tacit support from government officials. As of June the National Mechanism to Protect Human Rights Defenders and Journalists protected approximately human rights defenders, journalists, and 1, other individuals.

Government Human Rights Bodies: The CNDH is a semiautonomous federal agency created by the government and funded by the legislature to monitor and act on human rights violations and abuses. The CNDH may call on government authorities to impose administrative sanctions or pursue criminal charges against officials, but it is not authorized to impose penalties or legal sanctions. If the relevant authority accepts a CNDH recommendation, the CNDH is required to follow up with the authority to verify it is carrying out the recommendation.

The CNDH sends a request to the authority asking for evidence of its compliance and includes this follow-up information in its annual report. When authorities fail to accept a recommendation, the CNDH makes that known publicly. It may exercise its power to call before the Senate government authorities who refuse to accept or enforce its recommendations. Reinstate and expand protections for federal employees. The federal government should serve as a role model for employers to treat their workers fairly. Expand long overdue rights to farmworkers and domestic workers. When Congress extended labor rights and protections to workers, farmworkers and domestic workers — who are disproportionately immigrants and people of color — were left out.

Still today, millions of these workers are not fully protected under federal labor law. Extend the right to organize and bargain collectively to independent contractors. Some workers are correctly classified as independent contractors, but are not very different from employees. They bring only their labor, and perhaps a small amount of capital investment, to the organization with which they do business. These workers lack individual bargaining power and, as a result, are at grave risk of exploitation by big business.

Biden supports modifying antitrust law and guaranteeing that these independent contractors can organize and bargain collectively for their mutual protection and benefit. As Vice President, Biden helped get state and local laws increasing the minimum wage across the finish line — including in New York State — and has supported eliminating the tipped minimum wage. Invest in communities by widely applying and strictly enforcing prevailing wages. The prevailing wage, or the wage earned by the median worker in the same occupation in the same region, is an essential mechanism for securing middle class jobs. Taxpayer dollars should always be used to build the middle class, not to foster wage-cutting competition among employers in the construction or service industries.

As president, Biden will build on this success by ensuring that every federal investment in infrastructure and transportation projects or service jobs is covered by prevailing wage protections. The Obama-Biden Administration fought to extend overtime pay to over 4 million workers and protect nearly 9 million from losing it. The Trump Administration reversed this progress, implementing a new rule that leaves millions of workers behind.

As president, Biden will ensure workers are paid fairly for the long hours they work and get the overtime they have earned. Employers in construction, service industries, and other industries also misclassify millions of their employees as independent contractors to reduce their labor costs at the expense of these workers. This epidemic of misclassification is made possible by ambiguous legal tests that give too much discretion to employers, too little protection to workers, and too little direction to government agencies and courts.

The ABC test will mean many more workers will get the legal protections and benefits they rightfully should receive. As president, Biden will work with Congress to establish a federal standard modeled on the ABC test for all labor, employment, and tax laws. Eliminate non-compete clauses and no-poaching agreements that hinder the ability of employees to seek higher wages, better benefits, and working conditions by changing employers. In the American economy, companies compete. Workers should be able to compete, too. For example, large franchisors like Jiffy Lube have no-poaching policies preventing any of their franchisees from hiring workers from another franchisee.

As president, Biden will work with Congress to eliminate all non-compete agreements, except the very few that are absolutely necessary to protect a narrowly defined category of trade secrets, and outright ban all no-poaching agreements. Put an end to unnecessary occupational licensing requirements. While licensing is important in some occupations to protect consumers, in many occupations licensing does nothing but thwart economic opportunity.

If licensed workers choose to move to new states for higher-paying jobs, they often have to get certified all over again. Increase workplace safety and health. No one should get sick, injured, or die simply because they went to work. Every worker has the right to return home from work safely. But Trump has attempted to weaken several occupational and safety regulations established during the Obama-Biden Administration.

For example, he rolled back regulations requiring companies to report their workplace injuries so they are disclosed to the public. He removed the restrictions on line speeds in pork plants, making meatpacking jobs even more dangerous. As president, Biden will reinstate these critical safety protections and ensure all appointments to committees and advisory boards under OSHA intimately understand the consequences of not having functional safety standards in place. He will direct OSHA to substantially expand its enforcement efforts. Department of Agriculture, MSHA, and other relevant agencies to develop comprehensive strategies for addressing the most dangerous hazards workers encounter in the modern workplace.

Ensure workers can have their day in court by ending mandatory arbitration clauses imposed by employers on workers. Sixty million workers have been forced to sign contracts waiving their rights to sue their employer and nearly 25 million have been forced to waive their right to bring class action lawsuits or joint arbitration. These contracts require employees to use individual, private arbitrations when their employer violates federal and state laws.

Former NOTIMEX director of Discrepancy In Lord Of The Flies news Manuel Ortiz said Martinez ordered him and his collaborators to Labor Unions: The Role Of Collective Bargaining In The United States prominent journalists who questioned the appointment of Martinez as the head of the state news agency. As of October no arrests had Michael Berryman Brothers War made in the Labor Unions: The Role Of Collective Bargaining In The United States. Left-wing activists crushed wildcat strikes. Labor Unions: The Role Of Collective Bargaining In The United States law also provides for the rights of appeal and of bail in most categories of crimes. Aggressors typically joined the group video calls and interrupted the presentations with messages Labor Unions: The Role Of Collective Bargaining In The United States a sexual, racist, or homophobic nature.