United Nations Condemns Milagro Sala Imprisonment

 

On October 28, the United Nations called for Milagro Sala, an Argentinian indigenous and workers’ rights activist, to be released immediately. The UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detentions accused the Argentine government of using a series of “consecutive accusations” to deprive Sala of her freedom.

Sala, leader of the Tupac Amaru social movement, as well as a member of the Parliament of the MERCOSUR trade bloc, was arrested on January 16. Officials charged Sala with inciting disorder for her sit-in protest against the governor of Jujuy Province, Gerardo Morales. According to the Buenos Aires Herald, many activists criticized the arrest, arguing that it serves as an attempt to criminalize the act of peaceful protest and freedom of speech.

According to The Washington Post, law enforcement officers dropped the charges against Sala on January 29, yet they continued to detain Sala. In a matter of days, new charges of extortion, fraud and conspiracy were brought against her. The UN reported that these charges were brought against Sala for merely “exercising her human rights.”

In an interview with the local Radio Belgrano, Gustavo Ferrari, the Minister of Justice for Buenos Aires, ambiguously cited the logic behind the detention of Milagro Sala and noted that appropriate judicial bodies will reevaluate the arrests in light of the UN decision.

The seemingly indefinite nature of Sala’s detainment has led some to call her the first political prisoner of President Mauricio Macri’s administration, according to TeleSur. Protests in Argentina’s Plaza de Mayo took place throughout August as members of Tupac Amaru demanded an end to the detainment.

While tensions are high between protesters and the Macri government, it remains to be seen whether Argentina will bow to international pressure and free Sala.