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Security & Strategic Review - March 2017 (ISSN 1741-4202)

Controversial penal code reforms approved despite strong opposition

The conservative ruling Partido Nacional (PN) has managed to squeeze through congress a package of highly contentious reforms to the country’s penal code which, among other things, widen the definition of terrorism to potentially include public protests, and sharply increase legal protections for security forces (police and military). The reforms went through despite being rejected outright by the political opposition and local civil society groups. The day after the 22 February congressional vote, the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR), its Special Rapporteurship for Freedom of Expression, and the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) expressed serious concerns about the impact of the reforms. This matters, as US congressional scrutiny of the government led by President Juan Orlando Hernández has intensified in the past 18 months.

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