GE.18-18649 (E) 301118 031218
Human Rights Council
Working Group of the Universal Periodic Review Thirty-second session
21 January–1 February 2019
National report submitted in accordance with paragraph 5 of the annex to Human Rights Council resolution 16/21*
Uruguay
* The present document has been reproduced as received. Its content does not imply the expression of any opinion whatsoever on the part of the Secretariat of the United Nations.
A General Assembly Distr.: General
6 November 2018 English
Original: Spanish
I. Methodology
1. This report was prepared in accordance with Human Rights Council resolution 16/21 by the National Mechanism for Preparation of Reports and Follow-up of Recommendations of Uruguay1 (“the Mechanism”) and follows up the voluntary mid-term report submitted in 2016.
2. The Mechanism organized information activities for civil society, at which the process of drafting the national report was presented in detail and civil society was asked for their inputs.
3. Subsequently, during the preparation of the report, the State held meetings with civil society and received many comments that were duly taken into account by the drafters, in line with recommendations 123.19 and 123.26.
4. Part 3 of this report includes a chapter on progress in implementing the Voluntary Pledges and Commitments made during the second cycle of the universal periodic review.
II. Progress in implementing recommendations
A. International law and international standards (recommendations 123.1, 123.2, 123.3, 123.4, 123.5, 123.6, 123.7, 123.8)
5. Article 72 of the Uruguayan Constitution provides that “The enumeration of rights, duties, and guarantees made in this Constitution does not exclude others that are inherent to human beings or derived from a republican form of government”. In this regard, Uruguay has taken on all the international obligations in the area of human rights binding on the country as the general framework and reference for the adoption of public policies, national legislation and judicial decisions. In short, the rights enshrined in the various international instruments can be invoked before national courts and directly applied as the basis of judicial decisions.
6. During the period under review, Uruguay continued to accede to and ratify universal and inter-American instruments on the promotion and protection of human rights.
(a) Universal instruments:
• The Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons (July 2018).
• International Labour Organization (ILO) Convention 171 (December 2017).
• Optional protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child on a communications procedure (February 2015).
• Arms Trade Treaty (September 2014).
(b) Inter-American instruments:
• Inter-American Convention Against All Forms of Discrimination and Intolerance (May 2018).
• Inter-American Convention Against Racism, Racial Discrimination and Related Forms of Intolerance (December 2017).
• Inter-American Convention on Protecting the Human Rights of Older Persons (November 2016).
7. Regarding ILO Convention 169, inter-institutional consultations were held to consider its possible ratification and examine its conditions of applicability. As it is an ILO instrument, the National Tripartite Committee, composed of the Government, and employers’ and workers’ organizations, had to be consulted. When the Convention was submitted, the Committee considered its possible ratification and agreed, in a tripartite manner, not to proceed.
B. National Human Rights Institution and Ombudsman’s Office and National Preventive Mechanism against Torture (recommendations 123.10, 123.11, 123.12, 123.13, 123.14, 123.15, 123.16, 123.17, 123.18)
National Human Rights Institution and Ombudsman’s Office
8. The National Human Rights Institution and Ombudsman’s Office obtained its ‘A’
status accreditation in May 2016, demonstrating that it complies fully with the Paris Principles.2
9. Regarding strengthening the National Human Rights Institution and Ombudsman’s Office, Parliament approved the budget of the Institution for the period 2015–2019 by Senate resolution of 22 December 2015. This budget meets all the human and financial resources needs included in the project that the Board of Directors of the Institution sent to the President of the General Assembly.
10. The National Human Rights Institution and Ombudsman’s Office includes the Mechanism and therefore participates as an observer in the process of preparing national reports to treaty monitoring bodies, but nonetheless maintains its independence and autonomy to prepare and submit alternative reports.
National preventive mechanism against torture
11. The preventive mechanism against torture operates under the aegis of the National Human Rights Institution. In 2013, it began to monitor places of detention through an interdisciplinary team. The Mechanism operates independently of public authorities and is impartial.
12. The technical team of the Preventive Mechanism against Torture is composed of five technical posts and one administrative post that are budgeted for, two professionals on secondment and one post with a fixed-term contract. It receives occasional support from UNICEF for consultants. Two additional specialist positions are currently being advertised.
C. Women’s rights (recommendations 123.27, 123.28, 123.29, 123.42, 123.43, 123.45, 123.154, 123.155, 123.156, 123.160, 123.99)
Strengthening the National Women’s Institute
13. The National Women’s Institute, which works under the aegis of the Ministry of Social Development, has its own budget and human resources, but does not have autonomous executive capacity. It presides over three inter-institutional statutory bodies with responsibility for public policy on gender equality and gender-based violence: the National Gender Council, the Consultative Council for a Life Free from Gender-Based Violence and the National Council to Prevent and Combat Trafficking in and Exploitation of Persons.
Discrimination against women in the Criminal Code and the Civil Code
14. Although no progress has been made regarding comprehensive reform of the Criminal Code, it has been reformed through legislation that has introduced specific amendments in several areas: Act No. 19.538 of October 2017 criminalizes acts of discrimination; Act No. 19.5803 of December 2017 on gender-based violence against women includes a set of criminal law articles updating the subject of sex crimes and allows the judicial authority to exempt from the penalty for murder a woman who is a victim of especially serious domestic violence and has killed her partner or former partner; and Act No. 19.643 of July 2018 on preventing and combating trafficking in persons.
15. Regarding the Civil Code, Act No. 19.075 of 3 April 2013 on equal marriage rights amends the institution of marriage to eliminate any possible discrimination on grounds of sexual orientation or gender identity.
Rural women
16. Changes have been made in the central policies of the Ministry of Livestock, Agriculture and Fisheries, including gender mainstreaming in its policies. To this end, studies and research on rural development and public policies were carried out in order to generate informed guidelines on how to incorporate the gender perspective in policies on family farming. In this regard, they were amended through weighting and quotas to promote the inclusion of women, and changes were made in the Family Production Registry to include women as co-owners with the same right to submit projects.
Political and public participation
17. On 20 October 2017, Parliament approved Act 19.555, under which the equitable participation of persons of both sexes in national and departmental elected bodies and the leadership of political parties is stated to be in the public interest. Act 18.476 of 2009 is thus amended, since now one in every three places in lists for elected positions is allocated to women in all internal elections and in first and second level national, departmental and municipal elections.
18. Aspiration IV of the National Gender Equality Strategy 2030 lays down the challenge of achieving “Real and effective participation of women in decision-making in all areas ...”, and includes 11 strategic lines aimed at doing so.
D. Combating gender-based violence and domestic violence
(recommendations 123.89, 123.90, 123.91, 123.92, 123.93, 123.94, 123.95, 123.96, 123.97, 123.98, 123.99, 123.100, 123.101, 123.102, 123.103,
123.104, 123.105, 123.106, 123.107, 123.157)
19. In November 2015, the Action Plan for a Life Free of Gender-based Violence, with a Generational Perspective, 2016–2019,4 was approved under Executive Decree 306/015.
The purpose of this Plan is to implement a national public policy for the prevention, reduction and redress of gender-based violence in its various tangible manifestations. It brings with it profound advances, among which can be highlighted a comprehensive vision of gender-based violence and an interdisciplinary and intersectoral approach. It also fully defines the Inter-Institutional Response System, including, at the national level, promotion and prevention, the network of assistance services, access to justice, monitoring and redress of victims, in addition to the resocialization of aggressors, with the commitment of all the member bodies of the Consultative Council to a life free of gender-based violence against women.
20. Although the Network of Services for a Life Free of Gender-Based Violence has grown in the last three years and has therefore made progress, it is still insufficient. This system is made up of different care mechanisms and covers all women over the age of 18, including older women, who are in Uruguayan territory, including women of African descent, women with disabilities, migrant women, refugees and asylum seekers. Care services have increased from 18 to 31; to the 18 territorial cooperation mechanisms, a new territorial team has been added in Montevideo; care teams for male aggressors have risen from three to 12. The care service for women victims of trafficking for the purpose of sexual exploitation, the short-stay shelter for women whose lives are at risk from domestic violence and the temporary housing alternatives programme in conjunction with the Ministry of Housing, Regional Planning and Environment continue and have been strengthened. During this period, the following were added: one half-way house, one temporary stay centre and one entry portal to 24-hour centres; training for employment and integration in the labour market has also taken place in conjunction with the National Employment and Vocational Training Institute.
21. In 2017, in the framework of the Action Plan, amendment of articles 311 and 312 of the Criminal Code was approved under Act No. 19.538 to classify femicide as a very particular aggravating circumstance of murder, considering it to be committed “against a woman for reasons of hatred, disdain or contempt for her condition”.
22. In 2018, Act No. 19.580 on gender-based violence against women was approved.
The purpose of this Act is to guarantee to all women the right to a life free of gender-based violence, regardless of age, sexual orientation or gender identity (including trans women), socioeconomic situation, territorial affiliation, beliefs, cultural and ethnic-racial origin, or disability. For this purpose it puts in place mechanisms, measures and integrated policies for prevention, care, protection, punishment and redress.
23. It recognizes different types of violence: physical, psychological or emotional, sexual (considering sexual violence to include the involvement of children and adolescents in sexual activities with an adult or with any other person who is in an advantageous situation in relation to them, either because of their age, greater physical or mental development, relation of kinship, affection or trust, or position of authority or power, including sexual abuse, sexual exploitation and the use of pornography), based on prejudice against sexual orientation, gender identity or gender, economic, pecuniary, symbolic, obstetric or employment expression, in the field of education, politics, the media, femicide, street sexual harassment, domestic, community, institutional and racial-ethnic harassment.
24. It contains seven chapters that address the inter-institutional response system and the guidelines for public policy. It also establishes the network of care services, protection, investigation and prosecution processes, and administrative and judicial procedures. It established the Observatory on Gender-Based Violence against Women to monitor, collect, produce, register and permanently systematize data and information on violence against women.
25. Moreover, the approval of the new Code of Criminal Procedure (Act No. 19.293 of 2014) made the Attorney-General’s Office responsible for the care and protection of victims and witnesses, while with the new legal status of the Public Prosecution Service established under Act 19.334, the Victims and Witnesses Unit was set up in February 2016.5
26. Similarly, the Coordinating Office for policies on victims and witnesses of crime was set up under Decree No. 46/018 of 5 March 2018 to coordinate political actions aimed at the protection and care of victims and witnesses.6
27. The New Code of Criminal Procedure came into force on 1 November 2017 (Act 19.436). Under article 6, which amends Act 19.293, redress agreements are excluded in offences against sexual freedom. In addition, Act 19.549 adds article 382.7 to the Code of Criminal Procedure prohibiting extra-procedural mediation in crimes of sexual violence (articles 272, 273 and 274 of the Criminal Code) and sexual exploitation (Act 17815) and the offence of domestic violence (Article 321bis of the Criminal Code), and with respect to other types of offence that have been committed as a way of exercising gender-based violence.
28. The Attorney-General has created two specialized prosecution offices in Montevideo for sexual offences, domestic violence and gender-based violence. The new Organic Act on the Attorney-General’s Office (Act No. 19.483 of January 2017) allows general instructions to be issued to ensure that gender-based violence offences are given priority and properly investigated and prosecuted and that victims are well treated.
29. The Montevideo city council has a national, free, confidential and anonymous telephone service providing guidance and support to women victims of domestic violence.
30. Regarding violence against children and adolescents, in the framework of the Action Plan for a life free of gender-based violence with a generational perspective, a support plan has been drawn up with UNICEF containing four strategic areas: care and protection, promotion of rights and prevention, knowledge generation, training and institutional capacity-building.
31. The Institute for Children and Adolescents has five shelters where women victims of violence are taken in with their children, and measures to protect and strengthen them are being developed. Progress is also being made in extending projects for specialized care of victims of gender-based violence to children and adolescents throughout the country.
32. Since 2013, the Ministry of Interior has had a system for identifying the presence and location of people at high risk of domestic violence. It supervises injunctions prohibiting aggressors from approaching victims in domestic violence cases and the fulfilment of alternative measures to preventive detention, and follows up prosecutions that have resulted in imprisonment when the offender is released.
33. The Ministry of Interior also has an assistance programme for victims and offenders in gender-based violence cases specifically for police personnel, which reports to the National Directorate of Social Affairs and has a protocol for action against domestic violence (Decree 111/2015).
E. Gender equality (recommendations 123.44, 123.47, 123.59, 123.60, 123.61, 123.63, 123.65, 123.66, 123.68, 123.69, 123.70, 123.158, 123.159)
Gender equality
34. The National Gender Council is the institutional political body that sets priorities and commitments on gender equality policies and is composed of senior officials of ministries and the main public bodies, and representatives of academia, companies, the trade union movement and the women’s movement and feminists.
35. In March 2018, the Council presented the National Gender Equality Strategy 2030, a comprehensive, integrated road map to guide State action on gender equality in the medium term and consider the challenges in the various problem areas on which the State must act through implementation of measures by the executive, legislative and judicial branches.7 36. In November 2015, Act 19.353 was approved. It established the National Integrated Care System, which promotes the implementation of public policies designed to meet the needs of persons aged over 65 who lack the autonomy to carry out the activities of everyday life, children of up to 12 years of age, persons with disabilities who lack the autonomy to carry out the activities of everyday life, and those who provide care services (Decree 427/016). It also seeks to improve the lives of dependent persons through comprehensive care benefits, to view the care of persons who do not enjoy autonomy as a responsibility of the whole society, and to reconcile working life with growing families.
37. Through Protected Youth Work, the Youth Employment Act encourages the hiring of women through a differential subsidy granted to companies that employ women for periods ranging from 12 to 18 months. It promotes the elimination of any form of violence at work through information, awareness and training activities on prevention and punishment of sexual harassment at work for Youth Employment Act officials. Similarly, it works in companies to raise awareness about harassment and provide training on the law.
38. The Ministry of Employment and Social Security provides training on collective bargaining with a gender perspective and good practices of shared responsibility for negotiators from the private, public and governmental sectors. It draws on good practices from previous experiences through the Tripartite Commission for Equal Treatment and Opportunities in Employment.
39. Since 2012, the State Health Services Administration has run two courses a year on health and sexual diversity for students and graduates in health-related disciplines. These courses have sought to expand the knowledge of students, professionals and technicians on the health needs and problems accessing services of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex people (LGBTI).
40. The Quality with Gender Equity Model works as a tool for organizational change towards gender equality. It is framed as a public policy for gender equality in the workplace and was carried out by the National Women’s Institute from 2008. It was evaluated and a new 2016 version incorporates the racial-ethnic dimension of African descent at all levels of implementation.
41. The Gender Network of the National Public Education Administration promotes gender equality throughout the national education system in its teaching, organizational, human resources and financial aspects to reduce the multiple inequities that impede full
personal development. It was set up in 2009 and is coordinated by the Human Rights Directorate of the Central Board of Directors.
Minimum age of marriage
42. Act No. 19.075 (annex) increased the minimum age of marriage from 12 and 14 years to 16 years for both women and men. As this report was being concluded, a bill amending article 91 of the Civil Code by raising the minimum age of marriage to 18 years regardless of gender was under study by the Senate Constitution and Legislation Committee.8
F. Rights of children and adolescents (recommendations 123.30, 123.31, 123.32, 123.33, 123.34, 123.35, 123.37, 123.64, 123.108, 123.109, 123.110, 123.111, 123.112, 123.113, 123.114, 123.115, 123.116, 123.146, 123.147, 123.148, 123.149, 123.150)
Monitoring mechanism
43. Based on the readjustment that was consolidated in 2016, the Institute for Children and Adolescents of Uruguay has been organized into five different programmes, three by age group (early childhood, childhood and adolescence) and two by care profile (the families and parental care programme and the specialized interventions programme).
National Strategy for Children and Adolescents
44. In 2015, continuing the process started with the National Strategy for Children and Adolescents, the Early Childhood, Childhood and Adolescence Commission of the National Social Policy Council was set up. The Commission promoted and organized the process of drawing up the National Plan for Early Childhood, Childhood and Adolescence 2016–2020, in which government agencies, civil society and children and adolescents took part. It is structured around six strategic themes in the framework of the main National Strategy policy orientations, which outline objectives, goals and activities for its implementation.
Family support policies
45. We work directly with families to provide comprehensive care, in terms of both support and follow-up. The specific mechanisms that stand out are the Family Project Fund specifically for families cared for in street projects, and the Territorial Family Care Teams.
In addition, financial support is provided on the basis of a family plan.
46. Act No. 18.227 of December 2007, which amended the family allowances system, grants a monthly cash benefit to socioeconomically vulnerable families. Beneficiaries, except those with disabilities, must be registered at and regularly attend public or private formal or non-formal education establishments.
Elimination of child labour
47. The mission of the inter-institutional Committee for the Elimination of Child Labour is to contribute to the public policy of eliminating child labour and hazardous adolescent labour within the framework of the Social Protection Matrix.
48. In the framework of the project “Support for public policy aimed at eliminating child labour and hazardous adolescent work”, training was given to public officials and social stakeholders with responsibility in the field of child and adolescent labour.9
Street children
49. The socioeconomic support department of the Institute for Children and Adolescents established by Decree 370/85 implements a social policy aimed at granting economic aid to vulnerable persons and works with or in coordination with Institute teams.
50. Uruguay has been approved as a pioneer country for carrying out the recommendations of General Comment No. 21 on street children, prepared by the
Committee on the Rights of the Child. When this report was concluded, the Institute for Children and Adolescents was in the process of drafting the National Plan for the Care of Street Children and Adolescents, which is based on the intersectoral nature of the violated rights and developing responses based on shared intersectoral responsibly.
Children of African descent
51. The programme activities of the National Human Rights Education Plan published in 2017 include promoting training agencies to update teachers, educators and technical staff on matters related to African descent.10
Universal right to education
52. The Sectoral Educational Integration Directorate of the National Public Education Administration carries out the following lines of action to guarantee the right to education of all persons living in Uruguayan territory: inclusion in the education system of those of compulsory middle-school age; protection of educational paths, contributing to the sustained increase of students graduating from each educational cycle and extending years of schooling.11
Sexual abuse and exploitation
53. In 2004, Act 17.815 was approved establishing the offences of trafficking, sexual exploitation, payment or promise of payment to minors under 18 years of age in return for performing sexual acts, and the production, trade in and dissemination of child pornography.
54. In the framework of the comprehensive Act to combat trafficking in and exploitation of persons (No. 19.653 of July 2018), children and adolescents enjoy all the rights recognized in this Act and in particular the right of victims to access to justice.
Juvenile criminal justice system
55. The National Adolescent Social Inclusion Institute is the decentralized service responsible for carrying out the custodial and non-custodial socio-educational measures provided for in the Childhood and Adolescence Code. The Institute has devised a continuing training plan for all officers in the juvenile justice system.
56. The closure of centres with buildings in the worst condition began in 2015.
Conditions of detention have been improved and it is planned to build an “educational campus” that will reduce the number of buildings that do not comply with the architectural design for socio-educational measures in custody by the end of 2019.
57. In accordance with the principle that deprivation of liberty should be the last resort, a new model for non-custodial measures has been established with the support of UNICEF and the collaboration of judges, prosecutors and public defenders, the National Adolescent Social Inclusion Institute, the Institute for Children and Adolescents, and the civil society organizations under an agreement. Similarly, the Treatment Boards set up in 2015 are the bodies in charge of promoting alternatives to custodial measures before the corresponding courts.
58. “Suspension of bringing a case to trial” and “supervision of house arrest” have been introduced. Agreements have been entered into with public and private bodies extending quotas for obtaining educational and work places, giving priority to the educational process that should take place between the ages of 13 and 17. Coordination with the various services of the Ministry of Social Development and with the National Institute of Youth and the Institute for Children and Adolescents has made it possible to assist the release of adolescents, creating a bridge that allows them to continue to deal with various vulnerabilities relating to social and community integration.
59. Uruguay has a system of appeal or second instance for juvenile criminal justice proceedings.
60. In October 2014, a referendum was held on lowering the age of criminal responsibility from 18 to 16 years, but the option of lowering the age did not receive enough votes for approval, so the minimum age of criminal responsibility remains 18 years.
Registration of births
61. The registration of births is based on the Electronic Live Birth Certification issued by the Ministry of Health, which is currently almost 100 per cent in place. Regarding registration on the Civil Registry, under-registration stands at around 2 per cent because parents do not attend to register births or when medical institutions do not report births that have taken place in them. Those births that are not registered within the legal deadline (10 business days) are registered through the late registration mechanism for which there is never any charge.
G. Combating racism and discrimination (recommendations 123.21, 123.22, 123.23, 123.24, 123.25, 123.38, 123.39, 123.41, 123.46, 123.48, 123.49, 123.50, 123.51, 123.52, 123.53, 123.54, 123.55, 123.56, 123.57, 123.58, 123.62, 123.67, 123.139)
62. When this report was completed, a National Plan on Racial Equality and African Descent was in preparation with the objective of reducing differences in opportunities for persons of different races, working especially on education, health, employment and housing. It will be submitted on 3 December 2018.
Honorary Commission against Racism, Xenophobia and All Forms of Discrimination 63. The specific powers of the Honorary Commission against Racism, Xenophobia and All Forms of Discrimination12 are: to analyse the national situation in this regard, monitor its compliance and propose to the executive the establishment of specific legal provisions or the amendment of existing ones; and to receive and centralize information on racist, xenophobic and discriminatory behaviour, keep track of it and lodge the corresponding complaints.
64. This mechanism has been strengthened through the incorporation of human, technical and administrative resources.
65. Notable is the signing on 31 July 2018 of a protocol with the National Human Rights Institution establishing criteria and procedures for action to be followed in the event of complaints or petitions referring to cases of racism, xenophobia and all forms of discrimination and on how the signatory institutions are to act upon them and interact with each other.
Criminalization of the dissemination of theories on the superiority or inferiority of a race
66. Act No. 17.677 of July 2003 amended the Criminal Code by criminalizing incitement to hatred, contempt or violence towards one or more persons because of the colour of their skin, their race, religion, national or ethnic origin, sexual orientation or sexual identity. Act No. 18.026 of September 2006 criminalizes public incitement to commit genocide, conspiracy to commit genocide, crimes against humanity or war, and the justification of past events.
Women of African descent
67. The Women of African Descent Department of the National Women’s Institute has promoted the leadership of African Uruguayan women through specific processes to strengthen their organizations in ongoing dialogue with them. It is currently in the process of identifying productive enterprises of women of African descent in order to promote linkages with socioeconomic policies to support entrepreneurship and the social economy and generate networks of exchanges, and to improve their access to training and develop markets.
Affirmative action for persons of African descent
68. Act No. 19.122 requires 8 per cent of posts in public bodies to be allocated to persons of African descent who fulfil the constitutional and legal requirements, subject to advertisement. The impact of this Act has been mixed since, while the target for scholarships has been greatly exceeded, the employment quota stipulated for public sector posts has not yet been reached. According to data of the National Scholarship Office of the Ministry of Education and Culture, since 2011 the number of educational scholarships awarded to students of African descent has increased (from 1.39 per cent in 2011 to 19.02 per cent in 2016). In university education, 13 per cent of scholarship recipients describe themselves as being of African descent.
69. The reports of the National Civil Service Office show that the employment quota stipulated by the Act has not yet been reached. In 2014, when the Act was not yet in force, 1.1 per cent of those taking up a post in the public sector were of African descent.13 According to the 2015 report, fulfilment of the quota had grown by 143.5 per cent, the percentage of people of African descent entering State employment reaching 2.71 per cent.14 In 2016, 1.78 per cent of public posts were filled by persons of African descent, while in 2017 the percentage increased to 2.06 per cent.
70. In 2017, the National Employment and Vocational Training Institute began training technical officers through the workshops “First Evaluation of Racial Inequalities in Uruguay: A quantitative and qualitative approach to ethnic-racial perceptions for the implementation of Act 19.122”. As a result of the technical exchanges, it was agreed that in 2018 100 per cent of officials would receive training in ethnic-racial mainstreaming in services and this is now taking place.
Discrimination on grounds of sexual orientation and gender identity
71. There continue to be quotas for trans persons in various State programmes.
72. The training provided to police personnel to improve the response to gender-based violence includes the human rights, gender, generational and diversity perspectives. In this regard, the Ministry of Interior has, since August 2016, had a diversity guide “Why a gender and sexual diversity approach in security policies?”, a practical guide for police training.
73. On 3 September 2018, the Sexual Diversity Council presented the first National Sexual Diversity Plan 2018–2020 as a medium- and long-term road map to strengthening the process of recognizing the rights of this community.
74. The general principle of the Plan promotes full citizenship of LGBTI persons, guaranteeing equal enjoyment of rights and opportunities and their social, political, employment, economic and cultural participation and inclusion free of any form of stigma, discrimination or violence.
75. The educational centres of the Technical Vocational Education Council are implementing affirmative action for persons of African descent and trans persons, with, for example, student administration offices, scholarship quotas and other specific assistance measures.
H. Trafficking in persons (recommendations 123.117, 123.118, 123.119, 123.120, 123.121, 123.122, 123.123, 123.124, 123.125, 123.126, 123.127, 123.128, 123.129, 123.130, 123.131, 123.132, 123.133, 123.137, 123.142, 123.145)
76. Uruguay has intensified measures to combat trafficking in persons, paying particular attention to women, children and adolescents.
77. Executive Decree 304/015 established the Inter-institutional Committee to Prevent and Combat Trafficking in Persons, a mechanism that reached agreement on the National Plan to Combat Trafficking in and Exploitation of Persons in July 2018.15
78. On 12 July 2018, the Uruguayan Parliament approved Act 19.643 on preventing and combatting trafficking in and exploitation of persons. The Act: (i) lays down guidelines for public policies, empowering State institutions within their jurisdiction to intervene, and adopt and implement programmes, actions, protocols, registers and investigations for the eradication of human trafficking and exploitation; (ii) establishes comprehensive redress, including compensation, restitution and rehabilitation of victims; (iii) establishes as the lead body in this area the National Council to Prevent and Combat Trafficking in and Exploitation of Persons, composed of public institutions with direct powers and social organizations with a long history of working in this field; and (iv) establishes the National Complaints System for Trafficking in and Exploitation of Persons, which centralizes information and facilitates reporting and passage through the justice system, while seeking to generate adequate policies to combat and prevent crime.
79. The National Committee for the Eradication of Commercial and Non-Commercial Sexual Exploitation of Childhood and Adolescence is currently carrying out its second Plan of Action, “100 actions against the commercial exploitation of children and adolescents, 2016–2021”. This national plan seeks to implement all actions based on a human rights approach, which includes all territorial characteristics and the age, gender, diversity, disability and ethnic-racial perspective.
80. In the framework of the Institute for Children and Adolescents, the project
“Travesía” is being implemented for children and adolescents who are victims of trafficking and commercial sexual exploitation. The Institute aims to expand the coverage of its care during the period 2015–2020.
Training and awareness-raising
81. Different campaigns have been conducted to improve the public’s knowledge of this subject, including: the Responsible Tourism campaign; the regional campaign MERCOSUR Free from Trafficking in Persons; the Stop Collaborating campaign; the Welcome to Uruguay: Country of Good Treatment project; the By the Right Hand initiative;
and the advertising campaign No Excuses.16
82. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs Assistance to Compatriots and Community Services Office intervenes in situations of international trafficking, assisting victims in cooperation with Uruguayan consulates abroad, providing repatriation to the country of origin if the victim so requests and referring victims to the competent care services at the national level.
83. The Ministry of Interior, through the General Directorate for Combatting Organized Crime and for INTERPOL and the Gender Policies Division, have held joint training sessions on the detection and investigation of human trafficking and exploitation. A module has been included in courses for officer promotion and low-ranking police officers.
84. With the support of the International Organization for Migration, specific training is given to staff of the National Migration Directorate on the detection of possible victims of trafficking in persons at the border, within the framework of the MERCOSUR Guide to Detection at Border Posts. Staff in charge of cases have been trained from the human rights, gender, generational and diversity perspectives.
85. In compliance with Decree 398/013, which is binding on all tourism service providers, the Ministry of Tourism has made all tourism sector officials and students aware of actions to prevent sexual exploitation in travel and tourism.
86. During 2017 and 2018, awareness-raising activities were conducted under the slogan
#ElTurismoCreceyProtege. During the period 2016–2018, the Ministry of Tourism held the Executive Secretariat of the Regional Action Group of the Americas, which brings together 14 ministries, institutes and tourism secretariats in the region for
#TourismFreeOfExploitation.
I. Reform of the criminal justice system and administration of justice (recommendations 123.9, 123.134, 123.135, 123.136, 123.138, 123.141, 123.144)
Reform of the Criminal Code
87. Article 22 of Act No. 17.897 of 14 September 2005 set up a Criminal Code Reform Commission that drafted a bill that was submitted to Parliament in 2010. After four years of study, the Chamber of Deputies Constitution, Codes, General Legislation and Administration Commission drafted a substitute bill that is under study.17
Reform of the Code of Criminal Procedure
88. On 1 November 2017, the new Code of Criminal Procedure, which changed criminal proceedings from an inquisitorial to an adversarial, oral and public system, entered into force. The change empowers the Public Prosecution Service to direct investigations. It also provides guarantees, care and protection to victims of crime.
Alternatives to prison
89. Act 19.446 of October 2016 regulating release pending trial, conditional release, early release and alternatives to prison, provides that alternatives to custodial sentences shall be supervised release and intensive supervised release, both supervised by the judge for the execution and administration of sentences.
90. Regarding juvenile criminal justice, article 89 of the Childhood and Adolescence Code states: “the custodial system consists of confining the adolescent in an establishment that ensures that he/she remains on the premises, without prejudice to the rights enshrined in this Code, constitutional and legal norms and international instruments”. Article 80 makes provision for nine non-custodial measures (from warning to assisted release under supervision), in addition to supplementary measures with the support of specialists for educational purposes.18
Security of LGBTI persons and access to justice
91. In October 2018, Parliament approved the comprehensive Act on trans persons. Its purpose is to ensure the right of trans persons of all ages, of various sexual orientations, socioeconomic conditions, territorial affiliations, national origins, beliefs, cultural and ethnic-racial origins and conditions of disability to a life free of discrimination and stigmatization. To this end, integrated prevention, care, protection, promotion and redress mechanisms, measures and policies are established.
J. Persons deprived of their liberty and prison management
(recommendations 123.72, 123.73, 123.74, 123.75, 123.76, 123.77, 123.78, 123.79, 123.80, 123.81, 123.82, 123.83, 123.84, 123.85, 123.86, 123.87, 123.88, 123.140)
92. Since 2010, the action taken regarding prisons has had three different and complementary aspects: (i) ending the serious overcrowding, constructing new buildings and new places where they already existed; (ii) establishing a tier system in prisons based on a classification of prisons and of persons deprived of liberty; and (iii) expanding the concepts of rights and obligations of persons deprived of liberty, adding the concept of benefits gained or lost according to behaviour.
93. Various measures have been adopted to improve infrastructure and extend accommodation capacity. New facilities have been built for mother and child units and new modules are under construction, while others are being refurbished.
94. Although today we can say that overcrowding has generally been overcome, work continues in specific places where it still exists.
95. Regarding the work of Persons Deprived of Liberty in Detention Facilities, the Agricultural Centre in Canelones was established in 2015. There, a group of prisoners works under a system of minimum security. Their work focuses mainly on the production of vegetables that are used daily to feeding prisoners and prison staff in various prisons. To this is added milk production and animal husbandry in some units.
96. Regarding involvement in education, in March 2018, 46 per cent of prisoners were studying. Of those, 32 per cent were in formal education and 14 per cent in non-formal education.
97. The Parliamentary Prisons Commission (Act 17.684), which is appointed by Parliament and acts with complete independence, conducts 60 visits a month to prisons, and submits an annual report to the legislature with recommendations and special reports on emergency situations. It is in constant dialogue with prison and governmental authorities and makes recommendations. It may also raise concerns with the courts (complaints, remedy of amparo and habeas corpus).
98. The Office of the Parliamentary Commission has also held work days with the aim of making a contribution to how a detention centre should be for women with children in their care or who give birth during their imprisonment.
K. Memory, truth and justice (recommendations 123.71, 123.143)
99. The current situation regarding the treatment of serious and systematic violations of human rights during the period 1968–1985 from the perspective of the right to truth, justice, redress and guarantees of non-recurrence is complex.
100. Public policy on truth, justice, redress and guarantees of non-recurrence shows progress in its formulation, but problems in implementation.
101. Progress includes the establishment of the Working Group on Truth and Justice under Executive Decree 131/2015. Despite the complexity of its institutional model, this body has had the financial, material and human resources to perform its tasks directly or through agreements.
102. The Working Group has technical support teams of archivists, historians and archaeologists and this has allowed excavations in military properties ordered by the courts to continue and be completed, where appropriate. Similarly, despite some difficulties, access to the documentary collections of the law enforcement agencies has been obtained, which in the framework of an ambitious digitalization plan will allow more systematic research.
103. Under Act No. 19.550, the Attorney General’s Office is authorized to transform a national prosecution office into a Special Prosecutor’s Office for Crimes against Humanity.
In this connection, under Resolution No. 075/201819 of February 2018, the 25th Criminal Prosecution Office of Montevideo has become a Special Prosecutor’s Office for Crimes against Humanity and a prosecution team responsible for prosecutions has been put in place.
It requires a committed enquiry through a serious and specialized investigation that manages to punish those responsible and give victims redress so as to achieve justice and truth as a contribution to the reconstruction of society, and the establishment of institutional mechanisms that ensure the non-recurrence of such acts.
104. In April 2018, this Special Prosecution Office reopened the case of the sexual abuse and torture of 28 women committed between 1972 and 1983. In the context of this case, the prosecutor has summoned soldiers and doctors to give evidence as accused persons. The case was brought in 2011 by 28 women who were former political prisoners.
105. Act 19.355 of December 2015, established “a specialized team for serious human rights violations” in the Ministry of Interior internal affairs directorate. The team works directly with judicial officers and the Office of the Attorney-General to work on requested proceedings and investigations relating to forced disappearances.
106. In terms of redress, the commissions established by Act No. 18.033 and Act No.
18.596 have operated, notwithstanding the fact that the system does not guarantee complete redress in totum to victims.
107. In March 2018, the Uruguayan State associated itself with the prosecution in the Operation Condor trial taking place in Rome, Italy. This effort by Uruguay is unprecedented in terms of the support and coordination required in a case of this kind.
108. Furthermore, the Uruguayan State continues to strive to comply with the ruling of the Inter-American Court of Human Rights in the Gelman v. Uruguay case.
L. Right to vote (recommendations 123.151, 123.152, 123.153)
109. On 17 August 2018, Parliament approved Act 19.654, which provides for the establishment of a commission that will evaluate possible approval of the right to vote for Uruguayans residing abroad. This Commission, which will be chaired and coordinated by the National Human Rights Institution and Ombudsman’s Office, brings together representatives of all the political parties represented in Parliament, the Electoral Court, the Foreign Ministry, the Advisory Councils and the Advisory Council on Migration in order to enable the best legal solution to this restriction of the fundamental rights of citizens who live abroad.
M. Promotion and defence of economic, social and cultural rights
(recommendations 123.161, 123.162, 123.163, 123.164, 123.165, 123.166, 123.167, 123.168, 123.169, 123.170, 123.171, 123.172, 123.173, 123.174, 123.175, 123.176, 123.177, 123.178, 123.179, 123.180, 123.181, 123.182, 123.183, 123.184)
Indicators of progress of economic, social and cultural rights
110. Progress has been made in developing a system of economic, social and cultural rights indicators in order to evaluate and take decisions on housing, employment and social security policy. The human rights approach will be applied to existing information- generating processes in order to contribute to their rationalization and unification in a single system.
Poverty reduction
111. In 2017, the poverty rate in Uruguay fell to 7.9 per cent, while extreme poverty fell to 0.1 per cent and inequality to 0.38 per cent.
112. Part of the decline in poverty can be attributed to the increase in wage income and other household income, which in many cases exceeded price increases. People living in households of lower socioeconomic status experienced an improved level of employment, and in some cases a lower level of unemployment, which supports the hypothesis that there has been a movement in the labour market that has improved the conditions of access to income of such households.20
Access to decent housing
113. Since 2005, the Housing and Habitat Policy has been consolidated in a public State policy, with growing civil society involvement. The main thrust of the Five-Year Plan 2005–2009 was evaluation of housing policy and identification of the changes needed. A credit repayment subsidy was implemented as a central element of application of the principle of social equity.
114. The 2010–2014 plan managed a variety of programmes to increase and improve the housing stock. The objective was to respond to housing needs, prioritizing vulnerable groups without discrimination of any kind. The main thrust of the 2015–2019 plan is the policy on land for housing purposes through the National Strategy for Access to Urban Land.
115. Improving poor urban housing has gone through all the aforementioned phases, through the Neighbourhood Improvement Programme and the National Relocation Plan.
Access to health
116. Strategic national health objectives have been defined for 2020. These aim to advance towards achieving tangible and measurable results within the framework of a perspective of rights, gender and the generations of our population.21 These objectives are:
(i) to foster healthy lifestyles and environments and reduce risk factors;22 (ii) to reduce the premature and avoidable burden of morbidity and disability, and to improve access and health care throughout life; (iii) to build a safe, high quality institutional health care culture;
and (iv) to move towards a care system focused on the health needs of individuals and communities.23
Education (school dropout)
117. Public resources invested in education have grown significantly, from 3.2 per cent of GDP in 2005 to 5 per cent in 2017. The expenditure of the National Public Education Administration increased two and a half times in real terms during the period under consideration, going mainly towards improving the salaries of teachers and other staff.
118. In addition to the scholarship and support systems for existing students and other measures already implemented to prevent dropout and in primary and secondary education, the Educational Pathways Protection System was established in 2015. As part of the System, in 2016 the Educational Pathways Protection Protocol was drawn up and put into practice for middle school students. It includes a set of early warnings that allow students at risk of dropping out to be quickly identified, triggering actions to promote each student’s remaining and continuing in the formal education system.
119. Since 2015, initial and primary education has been compulsory from the age of three years. Similarly, the main objective of the Early Registration Process for students with six years of primary education is to ensure that every child and adolescent is assigned to a centre for the first year of secondary education before graduating from primary school.
120. Regarding access to education in rural areas, the Public Education Administration, through the working group Post-Primary Education, prepared the document Universal Post- Primary Education in Rural Areas, which describes the social and educational situation of Uruguayan adolescents and youth living in rural areas where there is no post-primary education nearby — within ten kilometres —, and who would have to move outside their usual environment to begin or continue their studies at this educational level.24 The Group also held national meetings on post-primary education in rural areas and regional meetings with senior figures in rural education, and proposed to the Central Board of Directors virtual and/or part-time basic secondary education for students without access middle schools.
N. Disability (recommendations 123.116, 123.185, 123.186)
121. Act 18.651 on comprehensive protection of persons with disabilities is fully in force, progress having been made in the regulation of various articles.25
Discrimination against persons with disabilities
122. The National Access to Justice and Legal Protection Plan for Persons with Disabilities 2015–2020 sets out strategic lines of work that are transversal, coordinated and go beyond the specific development of plans, programmes and actions targeting this group.
123. In 2017, the “right to equality and non-discrimination for persons with disabilities”
project (which has funding from the United Nations Partnership to Promote the Rights of Persons with Disabilities) was approved to work on three components: access to health, with emphasis on the sexual and reproductive health of persons with disabilities; response to and protection from gender-based violence against women and girls with disabilities; and the collection and systematization of accurate and timely information for developing public
policy on disability issues. The project will last 30 months; its execution is inter- institutional and interagency, and has civil society participation.
Inclusive education
124. The inclusive education office of the Ministry of Education and Culture Education Directorate has links with education stakeholders, civil society organizations and representatives of the State and academia for the promotion and design of policies and proposals to foster the inclusion and continuation in education of people with disabilities, based on socio-educational paths that respect the rights, personal characteristics, age, and capabilities of the individual.
125. The Initial and Primary Education Council promotes the network of inclusive schools and kindergartens known as the Mandela Network. This programme seeks to foster the development of schools that implement inclusive education projects throughout the country.26 When this report was concluded, the Network was composed of 72 schools in different parts of the country.
126. In late 2017, a cooperation project was approved with European Union funding in the framework of its EUROsociAL programme for the Public Education Administration to strengthen the capacities of the Uruguayan education system in order to guarantee the educational inclusion of persons with disabilities.
Social security
127. The Social Security Fund has a Support Technology Access Centre whose objective is to promote technological applications, in particular telecommunications, which contribute to the empowerment, rehabilitation and improvement of the quality of life of persons with disabilities. Through this programme, persons with disabilities who are users of the National Reference Centre on Birth Defects and Rare Diseases (CRENADECER) can access training in the use of the tool.
128. The Social Security Fund has extended to persons with disabilities the emergency assistance programme, running since 1984 to grant special assistance by agreement. In 2013 and 2016, agreements were signed with the Ministry of Social Development to provide assistance and other specialized health services to children and adults with disabilities in the Uruguay Grows with You and Cercanías programmes.
129. Since 1976, the Social Security Fund has offered supplementary medical assistance services to protected workers. These include rehabilitation services to regain the ability to work, including providing prosthetic devices, orthotics, lenses and special assistance when they are not provided by comprehensive health providers or are not covered by the National Resources Fund.
Access to employment
130. Act 1943827 gives the National Civil Service Office supervision over the posts to be filled by persons with disabilities in bodies obligated by the Act. The Office has also published a guide to facilitate the integration of persons with disabilities in the public administration. 28
131. Technical Employment and Vocational Training Centres (National Employment Directorate – National Employment and Vocational Training Institute) care for persons with various disabilities and offer them guidance and employment intermediation services, and have included in the Working Life Platform a specific section for registration of type of disability.
132. The Employment and Vocational Training Institute designs and manages the mainstreaming of the disability perspective in active employment policy. Since 2012, vocational training has been modified from the special model for persons with disabilities to inclusive training based on the principle of universal design and groups bringing together persons with and without disabilities.
