Argentina security forces’ response to pensioner-led protests spurs international concern – JURIST
Human Rights Watch (HRW) on Thursday urged Argentine authorities to investigate security forces’ “excessive” use of force in quelling a protest led by pensioners advocating for greater access to pensions, medical care, and other social safety nets.
HRW Americas Director Juanita Goebertus stated: “There is strong evidence that members of the security forces responded with an indiscriminate and reckless use of force … The Milei government is shielding police officers from accountability and harassing judges whose rulings uphold respect for protestors’ rights.”
HRW noted that the security forces fired teargas on protesters at unsafe angles in violation of international standards, emphasizing that Argentine judicial and administrative authorities are obliged to pursue “credible, and thorough investigations” into reports of excessive use of force by police.
Under the UN Basic Principles on the Use of Force and Firearms, law enforcement is obliged to apply non-violent means before using force, exercise restraint in its application, and only use force in proportion to necessity. Further, governments are obliged to ensure that “arbitrary or abusive” applications of force are criminalized.
President Javier Milei’s administration stated the security forces were “deployed to enforce the anti-protest protocol,” a recent resolution that empowers security forces to use force in quelling protests “even when [the demonstrators] do not cause danger.” The administration further said they would not investigate the use of force and filed complaints against a judge who ordered the release of all 114 protesters who had been arrested.
The protests emerged as part of widespread outrage over the Argentinian government declining to extend pension moratoriums to citizens unable to contribute 30 years of social security payments necessary to secure a pension. Nearly 30 percent of Argentinian workers are employed in the informal sector, which does not provide social safety contributions and would thus put them at risk of losing pension protection.
Milei’s government has also attracted scrutiny for circumventing Senate approval in appointing Supreme Court justices, a decision the UN warned could undermine the independence of Argentina’s judiciary.
