Partner organisation – the Andean Information Network – facilitated a Harvard Law/IHRC report on Black November & Bolivia’s Interim Government. To read the full report click here.
Following a disputed presidential election on October 20, 2019, Bolivia has endured a surge of human rights violations. On November 12, 2019, Jeanine Áñez Chavez became Bolivia’s interim president with the mandate of restoring peace and calling new elections. Under her administration, however, state-sponsored violence, restrictions on free speech, and arbitrary detentions have all contributed to a cli- mate of fear and misinformation that has undermined the rule of law as well as the prospects of fair and open elections.
In November 2019, state forces carried out operations that killed at least 23 Bolivian civilians and injured over 230. These casualties make November 2019 the second-deadliest month, in terms of civilian deaths committed by state forces, since Bolivia became a democracy nearly 40 years ago.
On November 15, three days after the interim government took power, state forces opened fire on a nonviolent march passing through the town of Sacaba, killing at least 11 people and injuring at least 120 others. All of those killed and injured were indigenous civilians. No police or soldiers were killed or injured. In response, Interim President Áñez published Decree 4078, which purported to give immunity to the security forces, sparking widespread condemnation from the international community.
Read more here.