[WHRD Alert] GUATEMALA / Congressmen and anti-rights groups file criminal complaint against Incidejoven and other social networking sites for sharing information about safe abortions on September 28th.

Incidejoven

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Sexual and reproductive rights

THE FACTS -  On Tuesday, September 29, congressmen Julio Lainfiesta and Anibal Samayoa, members of the Parliamentary Front for Life and Family of the Guatemalan National Congress and the anti-rights organization The Family Matters Association issued a public statement announcing that they had filed a criminal complaint against the Incidejoven organization and other social media sites for disseminating information related to the right to a safe, legal abortion the previous day, September 28, the International Day for the Decriminalization of Abortion. 

Incidejoven is an organization of young women and men who promote and defend the sexual and reproductive rights of Guatemalan youth through educational, political advocacy, communications and research campaigns. 

We of IM-Defensoras repudiate this effort to criminalize human rights organizations and individuals who, on this significant date, have done nothing more than comply with their obligation to inform and raise social awareness of the need to guarantee free, safe access to a right that has been recognized by the highest human rights entities, such as the IACHR and the UN.  This basic right is also contemplated in national legislation and international accords ratified by the Guatemalan government concerning sexual and reproductive rights.  

We demand that the Guatemalan institutions of justice immediately dismiss this bogus complaint, which has no other aim than to attack the legitimate human rights that were gained with decades of endeavors by many women, feminist organizations, and human rights organizations.   

And finally, we cannot fail to recognize and express our solidarity with Incidejoven and all persons and organizations who are consolidating the historic achievements of the feminist movement and the advances made for the rights of women in Guatemala. 

 

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