Amnesty International warned of an “acute and fast-paced setback of human rights in Argentina” in 2024, the first full year of the administration of President Javier Milei.

On Tuesday 29 April, the organization released the Argentine chapter of their 2024 report on the state of human rights around the world.The section was called “12 months of administration, 12 lost rights” referring to Milei’s government during that time. 

Featured throughout the piece is  an overview of some rights they consider to have been threatened or lost during Milei’s presidency. This includes, but not limited to, freedom of expression and protest, access to public information, sexual rights, and social and economic rights. 

“The deterioration of rights is not a metaphor: in Argentina, during 2024, we saw how fundamental achievements in terms of social justice, civil liberties and individual guarantees have been reversed,” said Mariela Belski, head of Amnesty International Argentina, in a press release. “The state response to peaceful protest, public criticism and misinformation shows a turn to practices with profound authoritarian traits that threaten social coexistence.”

The report mentions attacks against freedom of expression as their first concern. “The government has decided to lead a violent and intolerant confrontation” that constitutes an authoritarian practice, including “using hate speech and misinformation as a strategy to silence and censor those who think differently,” the organization said.

In addition, they warned of the “disproportionate use of force by security forces” during several protests during 2024, as well as the “abusive” and “indiscriminated” use of tear gas and misuse of rubber bullets. Patricia Bullrich’s anti-protest protocol, launched just days after Milei took office in December 2023, “promotes the intensification of violence and social conflict, putting people’s lives and physical integrity at risk.”

Another issue for Amnesty is the government’s “cultural battle,” which includes “refusing to acknowledge the existence of gender-based violence and gender inequity through toxic, abusive and violent narratives.” Amnesty mentioned that policies that were destined to end those inequities had been defunded or eliminated.It included that in the last 10 months, the government had not purchased the drugs used for legal abortions, and has “no stock of those drugs.”

“As a result of this cultural battle, in recent times, there has been an exacerbation of discriminatory discourse that pathologizes and dehumanizes LGBTIQ+ people,” Amnesty said, “encouraging violence and hate crimes.”

For social and economic issues, they highlighted the rise of poverty in the first quarter of 2024, an indicator that went from 41.7% to 52.9% during that period, and that due to fiscal cuts “the minimum pension was not enough to cover for the living costs of a retired person.”