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        {"code":"27565","sect":"El Salvador","sect_slug":"el-salvador","hits":"908","link":"https:\/\/elfaro.net\/en\/202409\/el_salvador\/27565","link_edit":"","name":"Awaiting Beatriz Ruling, Allies of Salvadoran State Seek to Undermine Inter-American Court","slug":"awaiting-beatriz-ruling-allies-of-salvadoran-state-seek-to-undermine-inter-american-court","info":"Prior to the historic precedent on access to abortion in  Beatriz v. El Salvador , regional anti-abortion groups are trying to delegitimize the Court and position the idea that an unfavorable ruling would open the door to eugenics against fetuses with disabilities.","mtag":"Politics","noun":{"html":"\u003Cspan class='tint-text--dark' data_href='\/user\/profile\/mnochez'\u003E Mar\u00eda Luz N\u00f3chez\u003C\/span\u003E","data":{"maria-luz-nochez":{"sort":"mnochez","slug":"maria-luz-nochez","path":"maria_luz_nochez","name":"Mar\u00eda Luz N\u00f3chez","edge":"0","init":"0"}}},"view":"908","pict":{"cms-image-000040967-jpg":{"feat":"0","sort":"40967","name":"cms-image-000040967.jpg","link":"https:\/\/elfaro.net\/images\/cms-image-000040967.jpg","path":"https:\/\/elfaro.net\/images\/cms-image-000040967.jpg","back":"","slug":"cms-image-000040967-jpg","text":"&lt;p&gt;A woman wears a green handkerchief in support of the case of &lt;em&gt;Beatriz and others v. El Salvador&lt;\/em&gt;, in San Salvador, on March 22, 2023, during a live broadcast from the Inter-American Court of Human Rights in Costa Rica. Photo Marvin Recinos\/AFP&lt;\/p&gt;","capt":"\u003Cp\u003EA woman wears a green handkerchief in support of the case of \u003Cem\u003EBeatriz and others v. El Salvador\u003C\/em\u003E, in San Salvador, on March 22, 2023, during a live broadcast from the Inter-American Court of Human Rights in Costa Rica. Photo Marvin Recinos\/AFP\u003C\/p\u003E"},"cms-image-000040966-jpg":{"feat":"1","sort":"40966","name":"cms-image-000040966.jpg","link":"https:\/\/elfaro.net\/images\/cms-image-000040966.jpg","path":"https:\/\/elfaro.net\/images\/cms-image-000040966.jpg","back":"","slug":"cms-image-000040966-jpg","text":"&lt;p&gt;View of an altar during a vigil in memory of Beatriz prior to the hearing at the Inter-American Court of Human Rights (IACHR) taking El Salvador to task for denying her an abortion despite doctors knowing she was carrying a non-viable fetus at great risk to herself, outside the IACHR in San Jos\u00e9, on Mar. 21, 2023. Photo John Duran\/AFP&lt;\/p&gt;","capt":"\u003Cp\u003EView of an altar during a vigil in memory of Beatriz prior to the hearing at the Inter-American Court of Human Rights (IACHR) taking El Salvador to task for denying her an abortion despite doctors knowing she was carrying a non-viable fetus at great risk to herself, outside the IACHR in San Jos\u00e9, on Mar. 21, 2023. Photo John Duran\/AFP\u003C\/p\u003E"},"cms-image-000040972-jpg":{"feat":"0","sort":"40972","name":"cms-image-000040972.jpg","link":"https:\/\/elfaro.net\/images\/cms-image-000040972.jpg","path":"https:\/\/elfaro.net\/images\/cms-image-000040972.jpg","back":"","slug":"cms-image-000040972-jpg","text":"&lt;p&gt;Representatives of the Salvadoran state attend the &lt;em&gt;Beatriz&lt;\/em&gt; hearing before the Inter-American Court of Human Rights in San Jos\u00e9, Costa Rica, in March 2023. Photo Mar\u00eda Luz N\u00f3chez&lt;\/p&gt;","capt":"\u003Cp\u003ERepresentatives of the Salvadoran state attend the \u003Cem\u003EBeatriz\u003C\/em\u003E hearing before the Inter-American Court of Human Rights in San Jos\u00e9, Costa Rica, in March 2023. Photo Mar\u00eda Luz N\u00f3chez\u003C\/p\u003E"},"cms-image-000040973-jpg":{"feat":"0","sort":"40973","name":"cms-image-000040973.jpg","link":"https:\/\/elfaro.net\/images\/cms-image-000040973.jpg","path":"https:\/\/elfaro.net\/images\/cms-image-000040973.jpg","back":"","slug":"cms-image-000040973-jpg","text":"&lt;p&gt;Representatives of the Salvadoran state pose with anti-abortion advocates including from the Global Center for Human Rights at the Inter-American Court in March 2023. In the back, fourth from left, is Conan Castro, then legal secretary of the Salvadoran Presidency. Photo Mar\u00eda Luz N\u00f3chez&lt;\/p&gt;","capt":"\u003Cp\u003ERepresentatives of the Salvadoran state pose with anti-abortion advocates including from the Global Center for Human Rights at the Inter-American Court in March 2023. In the back, fourth from left, is Conan Castro, then legal secretary of the Salvadoran Presidency. Photo Mar\u00eda Luz N\u00f3chez\u003C\/p\u003E"},"cms-image-000038747-jpeg":{"feat":"0","sort":"38747","name":"cms-image-000038747.jpeg","link":"https:\/\/elfaro.net\/images\/cms-image-000038747.jpeg","path":"https:\/\/elfaro.net\/images\/cms-image-000038747.jpeg","back":"","slug":"cms-image-000038747-jpeg","text":"&lt;p&gt;The Beatriz case marked an important precedent in the fight to decriminalize abortion in El Salvador. Photo courtesy of Cejil.&lt;\/p&gt;","capt":"\u003Cp\u003EThe Beatriz case marked an important precedent in the fight to decriminalize abortion in El Salvador. Photo courtesy of Cejil.\u003C\/p\u003E"}},"pict_main__sort":40966,"date":{"live":"2024\/09\/24"},"data_post_dateLive_YY":"2024","data_post_dateLive_MM":"09","data_post_dateLive_DD":"24","text":"\u003Cp\u003E\u003Ca href=\"\/es\/202409\/el_salvador\/27566\/Aliados-del-Estado-salvadore%C3%B1o-en-el-caso-Beatriz-buscan-desacreditar-a-la-Corte-IDH.htm\"\u003E\u003Cem\u003ELeer en espa\u00f1ol\u003C\/em\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cbr\/\u003E\u003Cbr\/\u003E\u003Cp\u003EA year and a half has passed since the Inter-American Court of Human Rights heard arguments in \u003Cem\u003EBeatriz v. El Salvador\u003C\/em\u003E. This \u003Ca href=\"\/en\/202304\/el_salvador\/26823\/Beatriz-Trial-in-Inter-American-Court-Defies-Total-Abortion-Ban-in-El-Salvador.htm\"\u003Elandmark abortion-access case\u003C\/a\u003E concerns not only the small Central American country but the region; it is the first in the Inter-American System of Human Rights (IASHR) in which the implications of a country\u2019s absolute abortion ban are under the judicial microscope in the Americas, home to three of the five countries with the most restrictive abortion bans in the world.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cbr\/\u003E\u003Cbr\/\u003E\u003Cp dir=\"ltr\"\u003EThe Salvadoran state has been accused of incurring in torture for violating, among others, the rights to life, judicial guarantees, equality before the law, and the right to health of Beatriz, a woman who was found in 2013 to have a high-risk pregnancy and to be carrying a fetus that lacked a brain but was denied a therapeutic abortion despite her doctors\u2019 medical opinion that she needed one. In 2022, the Inter-American Commission, the lower forum that rules on contentious cases that can then be raised to the Court, found that the treatment of Beatriz was \u201c\u003Ca href=\"https:\/\/www.oas.org\/es\/CIDH\/jsForm\/?File=\/es\/cidh\/prensa\/comunicados\/2022\/011.asp\"\u003Ecruel, inhumane, and degrading\u003C\/a\u003E.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cbr\/\u003E\u003Cbr\/\u003E\u003Cp dir=\"ltr\"\u003EThe state was already declared guilty of torture in 2021 in the preceding case \u003Cem\u003E\u003Ca href=\"https:\/\/www.corteidh.or.cr\/docs\/casos\/articulos\/seriec_441_ing.pdf\"\u003EManuela v. El Salvador\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/em\u003E, pertaining to a woman sentenced to 30 years in 2008 for aggravated homicide. She died in prison from an undiagnosed illness that had also factored into her unborn baby\u2019s death. The Court's ruling enabled actions to release the last seven women from The Seventeen \u2014 a group who had been convicted for over 30 years, falsely accused of first-degree murder.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cbr\/\u003E\u003Cbr\/\u003E\u003Cp dir=\"ltr\"\u003EBeatriz has gained such international attention that a total of 119 \u003Cem\u003Eamicus curiae\u003C\/em\u003E were sent to the Inter-American Court from legal and medical professionals and academics from around the world. Ipas LAC, one of the organizations representing Beatriz's family in its case against the state, told El Faro English that 89 of those briefs were arguments in favor of their cause. The totality of the documents is not public until the Court dictates its resolution, and only the interested parties can have access to them, though several of them have been published online anyway.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cbr\/\u003E\u003Cbr\/\u003E\u003Cp dir=\"ltr\"\u003EThe sides and their respective allies have taken drastically different public approaches as they await the ruling. While the organizations representing Beatriz\u2019s mother ask for justice, legalization of abortion access, and the recognition of the state crime of torture, on the other hand, organizations, academics, and spokespeople who have sided with the Salvadoran state\u2019s representatives are attacking the Court and the magistrates\u2019 independence and credibility.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cbr\/\u003E\u003Cbr\/\u003E\u003Cp dir=\"ltr\"\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EHeavy anticipation\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cbr\/\u003E\u003Cbr\/\u003E\u003Cp dir=\"ltr\"\u003EBoth sides expect the resolution to come soon, considering it only took nine months for the Court in 2021 to give its \u003Cem\u003EManuela\u003C\/em\u003E resolution, whereas a year and a half have passed since \u003Ca href=\"\/en\/202304\/el_salvador\/26823\/Beatriz-Trial-in-Inter-American-Court-Defies-Total-Abortion-Ban-in-El-Salvador.htm\"\u003Ethe sole hearing in \u003Cem\u003EBeatriz\u003C\/em\u003E was held in March 2023\u003C\/a\u003E. But as the Inter-American System faces increasing political pressure around the hemisphere, Morena Herrera, President of the Citizens\u2019 Gathering for the Decriminalization of Abortion, and Fernanda D\u00edaz de Le\u00f3n, Deputy Director of Advocacy at Ipas Latin America and the Caribbean \u2014both of whom represent Beatriz\u2019s family\u2014 try to provide more political margin for the Court to take its time in coming to a decision. Rather than speaking of a delayed ruling, they underscore that the Court has no set timetable to issue decisions.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cbr\/\u003E\u003Cbr\/\u003E\u003Cp dir=\"ltr\"\u003E\u201cConsidering the time that the \u003Cem\u003EManuela\u003C\/em\u003E case took, we expected that by the end of last year, 2023, we would have the ruling in Beatriz\u2019s case. This has not happened; we know that \u003Cem\u003EBeatriz\u003C\/em\u003E has generated intense discussions, not negotiation, but in general the Court is delayed,\u201d explains D\u00edaz de Le\u00f3n.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cbr\/\u003E\u003Cbr\/\u003E\u003Cp dir=\"ltr\"\u003EThe configuration of the Court is set to change in January 2025, but even if by the end of the year there is no decision, she says that is not an issue, as it is stipulated that the same six judges who were present in the hearings in March 2023 will be the ones to issue the verdict.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cbr\/\u003E\u003Cbr\/\u003E\u003Cp dir=\"ltr\"\u003EIn the meantime, the organizations representing Beatriz's family have set the possible scenarios or results that could occur once the ruling is issued, which they recognize as only the first step. \u201cUndoubtedly it will depend on the content of the verdict as well on how the State of El Salvador takes it and how compliance progresses,\u201d D\u00edaz de Le\u00f3n adds.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cbr\/\u003E\u003Cbr\/\u003E\u003Cp dir=\"ltr\"\u003E\u003Cbr\/\u003E    \u003Cfigure class=\"pict pict_land pict_move_posc 0 cs_img cs_img--curr rule--ss_c\" data-shot=\"pict\" data-hint=\"pict\"\u003E \u003Cdiv class=\"pict__pobj text-overflow\"\u003E\u003Cimg src=https:\/\/elfaro.net\/get_img?ImageWidth=4000&ImageHeight=2665&ImageId=40972 class=\"pobj\" style=\"max-width: 100%\" rel=\"resizable\" alt=\"Representatives of the Salvadoran state attend the Beatriz hearing before the Inter-American Court of Human Rights in San Jos\u00e9, Costa Rica, in March 2023. Photo Mar\u00eda Luz N\u00f3chez\" \/\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E \u003Cfigcaption class=\"pict__text cs_img_caption folk_content typo_buttons line--ss_s0c line--ss_s0c--auto block full-width text-overflow rule--ss_l relative\"\u003E \u003Cdiv class=\"__content block-inline full-width align-top tint-text--idle relative\"\u003E Representatives of the Salvadoran state attend the Beatriz hearing before the Inter-American Court of Human Rights in San Jos\u00e9, Costa Rica, in March 2023. Photo Mar\u00eda Luz N\u00f3chez \u003Cdiv class=\"photographer text_italic rule--ss_l tint-text--idle\"\u003E \u003C\/div\u003E \u003C\/div\u003E \u003C\/figcaption\u003E \u003C\/figure\u003E\u003Cbr\/\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cbr\/\u003E\u003Cbr\/\u003E\u003Cp dir=\"ltr\"\u003EConsidering the slow progress of the Salvadoran government\u2019s compliance with the \u003Cem\u003EManuela\u003C\/em\u003E verdict, Herrera emphasizes that even if this government does not fully comply with the Court's resolution, the conviction is irreversible.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cbr\/\u003E\u003Cbr\/\u003E\u003Cp dir=\"ltr\"\u003EAllies of the Salvadoran state's representation have taken a different approach.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cbr\/\u003E\u003Cbr\/\u003E\u003Cp dir=\"ltr\"\u003EOn Aug. 9, 2024, \u003Ca href=\"https:\/\/youtu.be\/goTUrKq7GgU?si=RvRYFmK778phgrN0\"\u003Ea video was posted to the YouTube channel\u003C\/a\u003E of Ciudadanos Argentina, a political group under the umbrella of Liberty Advances, the far-right coalition led by Argentine President Javier Milei. Milei has openly said that he is against any right to abortion, and threatened to repeal the December 2020 law that made the termination of pregnancies free and legal up to 14 weeks in Argentina, where before abortions were only permitted in cases of rape or when the mother's health was at risk. In the video, the organization claims in a flustered voice-over that \u201cabortion is about to be legalized across all of the American continent if we don\u2019t act urgently.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cbr\/\u003E\u003Cbr\/\u003E\u003Cp dir=\"ltr\"\u003EThe narrator proceeds to list various human rights organizations and philanthropic foundations as donors of the Court, ranging from Amnesty International to Open Society Foundation to countries of the European Union. The court, they say, must \u201cobserve and defend the human rights of the Americas.\u201d To support their concerns they quote statements from Milei, Bukele and Santiago Santurio \u2013a congressman from Liberty Advances\u2013 to whom they refer as \u201cgrand political figures of the Americas.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cbr\/\u003E\u003Cbr\/\u003E\u003Cp dir=\"ltr\"\u003EIn the video, Milei is seen accusing the listed organizations of co-opting the media landscape, universities, and multilateral bodies. He does not mention by name either the Court or the Inter-American Commission of Human Rights, but claims that these organizations wield significant influence on the political and economic decisions taken in the affiliated countries. Bukele follows, saying that he made the mistake of trusting the OAS before ascending to the presidency, but that once he took office he realized that the \u201cinternational community is hypocritical and cynical.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cbr\/\u003E\u003Cbr\/\u003E\u003Cp dir=\"ltr\"\u003EBukele made these remarks in 2021, when the Salvadoran government \u003Ca href=\"\/en\/202207\/opinion\/26292\/Corruption-Cannot-Hide-Behind-Sovereignty-Claims.htm\"\u003Ebroke off its cooperation agreement\u003C\/a\u003E with the OAS that had created the International Commission against Impunity in El Salvador (CICIES), after this commission had assisted in \u003Ca href=\"\/en\/202207\/opinion\/26292\/Corruption-Cannot-Hide-Behind-Sovereignty-Claims.htm\"\u003Ecompiling a dozen major cases of corruption\u003C\/a\u003E in his government. Bukele's criticism of the Inter-American System \u2014he once went further, \u003Ca href=\"\/en\/202206\/centroamerica\/26225\/Central-America-Talks-Back-to-Biden.htm\"\u003Ebranding the OAS the U.S. \u201cministry of colonies\u201d\u003C\/a\u003E on his Twitter account\u2014 has grown as his administration continues to be singled out in international forums for the systematic human rights violations perpetrated under the state of exception.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cbr\/\u003E\u003Cbr\/\u003E\u003Cp dir=\"ltr\"\u003EMilei and Bukele are not the only heads of state to take a rebellious tone toward the Court. In December 2023, regarding the \u003Cem\u003EBeatriz\u003C\/em\u003E case, Costa Rican President Rodrigo Chaves threatened to denounce the American Convention of Human Rights, which gives the Inter-American Court its jurisdiction, if the ruling proposes legislative changes to legalize abortion. \u201cIf the Court orders something, Costa Rica has no choice but to withdraw from the treaty,\u201d said Chaves, referring to the American Convention of Human Rights in an interview with Impact Channel, a Costa Rican network with a Christian editorial line. As for the rationale behind that decision, he dodged the matter, saying only: \u201cThis is major-league chess.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cbr\/\u003E\u003Cbr\/\u003E\u003Cp dir=\"ltr\"\u003ESuch a withdrawal \u2014preceded only by Trinidad and Tobago in 1998 and Venezuela in 2013\u2014 would not be so easy in domestic political or legal terms; it would \u003Ca href=\"https:\/\/www.crhoy.com\/nacionales\/chaves-amenazo-sin-respaldo-legal-con-sacar-a-costa-rica-de-la-corte-idh\/\"\u003Erequire the signing-off\u003C\/a\u003E of Congress and the Constitutional Chamber. But withdrawing from the American Convention after the ruling is made public would have a limited effect in practice, applying only to future decisions of the Court.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cbr\/\u003E\u003Cbr\/\u003E\u003Cp dir=\"ltr\"\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EFunding to the Inter-American System\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cbr\/\u003E\u003Cbr\/\u003E\u003Cp dir=\"ltr\"\u003EThe video\u2019s voice-over next returns to\u003Cem\u003E Beatriz v. El Salvador\u003C\/em\u003E, predicting a \u201ctragic precedent under the pretext of defending human rights.\u201d The source of the video is a \u003Ca href=\"https:\/\/globalcenterforhumanrights.org\/files\/GCHR-Balance-of-the-financing-of-the-IACHR-and-the-Inter-American-Court.pdf\"\u003Ereport published\u003C\/a\u003E by the Global Center for Human Rights, a conservative advocacy group, that points to the budget of the Commission and the Court as well as the financial contributions they receive from donors and international cooperation agencies, such as the Arcus Foundation and the Trust for the Americas. The Global Center for Human Rights, co-producer of the video, was one of the advisors of the Bukele administration during the \u003Ca href=\"\/en\/202304\/el_salvador\/26823\/Beatriz-Trial-in-Inter-American-Court-Defies-Total-Abortion-Ban-in-El-Salvador.htm\"\u003Ehearings held in San Jos\u00e9, Costa Rica\u003C\/a\u003E, in March 2023.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cbr\/\u003E\u003Cbr\/\u003E\u003Cp dir=\"ltr\"\u003EThe report claims that the Court is bound to a progressive agenda led by European countries and NGOs that work for access to sexual and reproductive rights, as well as for the defense of rights and promotion of identity-related laws for the LGBTQ+ community. The main issue, Sebastian Schuff and Maria Anne Quiroga, authors of the report, claim, is that the allocation of these funds can influence the content of Inter-American System decisions.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cbr\/\u003E\u003Cbr\/\u003E\u003Cp dir=\"ltr\"\u003E\u201cIn this way, the IASHR is not free to allocate the funds to the activity that most requires them according to its own criteria, but must direct them to the projects or activities indicated by the corresponding contributor. Devoting funds to the promotion of specific projects means, in practice, strongly influencing the IAHRS agenda and the impact it has on the Member States,\u201d they suggest in the report.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cbr\/\u003E\u003Cbr\/\u003E\u003Cp dir=\"ltr\"\u003EOne of the examples they cite is the allocation of $4.737 million U.S. dollars in 12 years (2009-2021) by the Spanish Agency for International Development Cooperation (AECID), funding which they claim has been tied to promoting a political agenda \u201cfor the production of rulings against member countries of the IAHRS.\u201d They focus on two cases that took place in 2016: The first was \u003Cem\u003EDuque v. Colombia\u003C\/em\u003E, which sought \u003Ca href=\"https:\/\/ijrcenter.org\/2016\/04\/25\/inter-american-court-colombian-same-sex-partners-entitled-to-equal-social-benefits\/\"\u003Epension recognition for same-sex couples\u003C\/a\u003E; and the second was \u003Cem\u003EFlor Freire v. Ecuador\u003C\/em\u003E, which ruled against \u003Ca href=\"https:\/\/corteidh.or.cr\/docs\/casos\/articulos\/seriec_315_ing.pdf\"\u003Ediscrimination based on sexual orientation\u003C\/a\u003E.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cbr\/\u003E\u003Cbr\/\u003E\u003Cp dir=\"ltr\"\u003EThe authors are also suspicious of three advisory opinions published as a result of an agreement between the Court and AECID, which included standards on the environment, Indigenous peoples\u2019 rights, the special obligations of protection for children, asylum, sexual violence, and non-discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cbr\/\u003E\u003Cbr\/\u003E\u003Cp dir=\"ltr\"\u003EThey find it dangerous that these are identified as human rights standards. \u201cThey are not human rights standards. [...] The intended binding nature of these standards is a clear demonstration of the abuses and overreach of the bodies of the system and their desire to achieve their objectives by using counter-majoritarian means, with minimal democratic legitimacy.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cbr\/\u003E\u003Cbr\/\u003E\u003Cp dir=\"ltr\"\u003E\u003Cbr\/\u003E    \u003Cfigure class=\"pict pict_land pict_move_posc 0 cs_img cs_img--curr rule--ss_c\" data-shot=\"pict\" data-hint=\"pict\"\u003E \u003Cdiv class=\"pict__pobj text-overflow\"\u003E\u003Cimg src=https:\/\/elfaro.net\/get_img?ImageWidth=4000&ImageHeight=2667&ImageId=40967 class=\"pobj\" style=\"max-width: 100%\" rel=\"resizable\" alt=\"A woman wears a green handkerchief in support of the case of Beatriz and others v. El Salvador , in San Salvador, on March 22, 2023, during a live broadcast from the Inter-American Court of Human Rights in Costa Rica. Photo Marvin Recinos\/AFP\" \/\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E \u003Cfigcaption class=\"pict__text cs_img_caption folk_content typo_buttons line--ss_s0c line--ss_s0c--auto block full-width text-overflow rule--ss_l relative\"\u003E \u003Cdiv class=\"__content block-inline full-width align-top tint-text--idle relative\"\u003E A woman wears a green handkerchief in support of the case of Beatriz and others v. El Salvador , in San Salvador, on March 22, 2023, during a live broadcast from the Inter-American Court of Human Rights in Costa Rica. Photo Marvin Recinos\/AFP \u003Cdiv class=\"photographer text_italic rule--ss_l tint-text--idle\"\u003E \u003C\/div\u003E \u003C\/div\u003E \u003C\/figcaption\u003E \u003C\/figure\u003E\u003Cbr\/\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cbr\/\u003E\u003Cbr\/\u003E\u003Cp dir=\"ltr\"\u003EThe allegations that the court lacks independence are not new. The new president of the Court, Nancy Hern\u00e1ndez, sought to head off the renewed criticism in a statement in January 2024: \u201cMany times I have heard, with great concern, voices pointing out that the Court receives funding with interests imposed by the donor, or that the donor is the one who manages the Court\u2019s agenda. This is absolutely false,\u201d reads a \u003Ca href=\"https:\/\/corteidh.or.cr\/mensaje_presidencia.cfm\"\u003Etranscription of her comments\u003C\/a\u003E on the Court\u2019s website.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cbr\/\u003E\u003Cbr\/\u003E\u003Cp dir=\"ltr\"\u003EHern\u00e1ndez explained that donations are complementary funding that the Court has been forced to seek, given that the OAS only covers 71.27 percent of all of the Court\u2019s expenses. The rest, she claimed, is not allotted to handling casework, but rather to in-country visits, training in off-site hearings, psychological support during hearings, and other activities aimed at protecting the rights of persons participating in proceedings before the Inter-American Court. She closed by announcing that, from that day on, the information related to the distribution of the budget will be posted on a special tab on the Court\u2019s website.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cbr\/\u003E\u003Cbr\/\u003E\u003Cp dir=\"ltr\"\u003EAn examination of the financial information of the last five years (2018-2022) posted on the website shows that the money allocated by the AECID, for example, only represents 2.63 percent of the Court's non-litigation budget during those years, and 2.11 percent of the 2023 purse.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cbr\/\u003E\u003Cbr\/\u003E\u003Cp dir=\"ltr\"\u003EEl Faro English sent Schuff and Quiroga multiple emails to request an interview about the report but received no response.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cbr\/\u003E\u003Cbr\/\u003E\u003Cp dir=\"ltr\"\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EBeyond abortion\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cbr\/\u003E\u003Cbr\/\u003E\u003Cp dir=\"ltr\"\u003ESchuff and Quiroga are the President and Director of Research, respectively, of the Global Center for Human Rights, an organization that describes its work in three steps: mobilizing key actors to influence decisions; training decision-makers and other stakeholders on \u201cthe proper use of international law and the functioning of international organizations\u201d; and advocacy to ensure that decisions taken within the international organizations \u201crespect national law and democracy, and litigating before the Inter-American Court when this is not the case.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cbr\/\u003E\u003Cbr\/\u003E\u003Cp dir=\"ltr\"\u003EThey were both present in the courtroom in March 2023 as part of the legal team advising El Salvador. They posed after the second day of the hearing with Conan Castro, who was then the legal secretary of the Salvadoran Presidency.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cbr\/\u003E\u003Cbr\/\u003E\u003Cp dir=\"ltr\"\u003E\u003Cbr\/\u003E    \u003Cfigure class=\"pict pict_land pict_move_posc 0 cs_img cs_img--curr rule--ss_c\" data-shot=\"pict\" data-hint=\"pict\"\u003E \u003Cdiv class=\"pict__pobj text-overflow\"\u003E\u003Cimg src=https:\/\/elfaro.net\/get_img?ImageWidth=4000&ImageHeight=2667&ImageId=40973 class=\"pobj\" style=\"max-width: 100%\" rel=\"resizable\" alt=\"Representatives of the Salvadoran state pose with anti-abortion advocates including from the Global Center for Human Rights at the Inter-American Court in March 2023. In the back, fourth from left, is Conan Castro, then legal secretary of the Salvadoran Presidency. Photo Mar\u00eda Luz N\u00f3chez\" \/\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E \u003Cfigcaption class=\"pict__text cs_img_caption folk_content typo_buttons line--ss_s0c line--ss_s0c--auto block full-width text-overflow rule--ss_l relative\"\u003E \u003Cdiv class=\"__content block-inline full-width align-top tint-text--idle relative\"\u003E Representatives of the Salvadoran state pose with anti-abortion advocates including from the Global Center for Human Rights at the Inter-American Court in March 2023. In the back, fourth from left, is Conan Castro, then legal secretary of the Salvadoran Presidency. Photo Mar\u00eda Luz N\u00f3chez \u003Cdiv class=\"photographer text_italic rule--ss_l tint-text--idle\"\u003E \u003C\/div\u003E \u003C\/div\u003E \u003C\/figcaption\u003E \u003C\/figure\u003E\u003Cbr\/\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cbr\/\u003E\u003Cbr\/\u003E\u003Cp dir=\"ltr\"\u003EIn December 2022, three months before the hearing took place in San Jos\u00e9, the organization launched a campaign titled \u201cNo Next Roe,\u201d aiming to prevent the impact of the ruling in the neighboring countries. The website is no longer available. The second webpage they created was casobeatriz.org, a site with videos and resources that spread misinformation on \u003Cem\u003EBeatriz\u003C\/em\u003E and cast doubt on the ISHR and the Court's funding. \u201cA multimillion-dollar industry wants to impose abortion on the whole continent, using a vulnerable woman and her disabled daughter,\u201d reads the homepage. The advocacy groups\u2019 main platform to spread these messages is the Instagram profile of the Global Center for Human Rights, where most posts are devoted to the anti-abortion cause.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cbr\/\u003E\u003Cbr\/\u003E\u003Cp dir=\"ltr\"\u003EOne Instagram post on the account, from July 2023, highlights a reception co-hosted with The Heritage Foundation, a conservative U.S. think tank, to condemn the alleged use of U.S. taxpayer funds \u201cto finance the undermining of fundamental freedoms in Latin America and the Caribbean through the Organization of American States (OAS).\u201d The Heritage Foundation is the creator of \u003Ca href=\"https:\/\/www.project2025.org\/\"\u003EProject 2025\u003C\/a\u003E, an initiative that proposes expansions of presidential power and enforcement of an ultraconservative social vision, should U.S. Republicans retake the White House this year. Bukele's decision in San Salvador to strike everything related to sexual education from the national public-school curriculum was taken from Project 2025\u2019s so-called \u003Ca href=\"https:\/\/archive.org\/details\/project-2025-mandate-for-leadership-full_202309-manifesto\/2025_MandateForLeadership_FULL\/page\/n35\/mode\/2up?q=gender\"\u003EMandate for Leadership\u003C\/a\u003E, right after he was a speaker at the \u003Ca href=\"\/en\/202403\/el_salvador\/27270\/opposition-seeks-path-forward-after-electoral-rout-in-el-salvador\"\u003EConservative Political Action Conference\u003C\/a\u003E (CPAC) in February 2024.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cbr\/\u003E\u003Cbr\/\u003E\u003Cp dir=\"ltr\"\u003EThe Heritage Foundation has long been publicly friendly with Bukele; the Salvadoran president gave a speech there in March 2019, before being sworn in as president, in a trip to \u003Ca href=\"\/es\/201903\/el_salvador\/23117\/Bukele-env%C3%ADa-una-carta-de-amor-al-gobierno-de-Trump.htm\"\u003Eseek a close relationship\u003C\/a\u003E with the Trump administration.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cbr\/\u003E\u003Cbr\/\u003E\u003Cp dir=\"ltr\"\u003EThe Global Center for Human Rights also sponsored the physical publication of a book titled, \u201cAbortion before the I.A Court H.R: About the \u2018Beatriz v. El Salvador\u2019 case,\u201d which includes articles by \u003Ca href=\"https:\/\/www.corteidh.or.cr\/docs\/asuntos\/beatriz_y_otros_21_02_2023.pdf\"\u003Ethree of the Salvadoran State's expert witnesses\u003C\/a\u003E before the Court: Paolo Carozza, Mar\u00eda Carmelina Londo\u00f1o, and Ligia de Jes\u00fas Castaldi. The book also includes some of the \u003Cem\u003Eamicus curiae\u003C\/em\u003E presented on behalf of El Salvador that focus mainly on the defense of birth of people with disabilities and arguments against abortion as eugenics. A copy of the book was submitted to the Court's library. Between 2019 and 2020, Carozza was a member of the Trump administration\u2019s Commission on Inalienable Rights.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cbr\/\u003E\u003Cbr\/\u003E\u003Cp dir=\"ltr\"\u003EEl Faro English talked with Debora Ranieri, co-director of the book and professor at the Pontifical Catholic University of Argentina. She described the book as the joint effort of legal scholars interested in providing compelling arguments so the Court has all of the necessary information before they come to a decision. The case, she claims, is not about abortion, as Beatriz was able to give birth to her baby. Instead, she says,\u00a0 \u201cThis is a case of a baby born with anencephaly, whose mother gave her a name, and five years later the mother died \u2014 not because she had the baby, that is, the pregnancy had no consequences. So it is a case built on strategic litigation by [pro-abortion access] associations that have led Beatriz\u2019s mother to generate this case.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cbr\/\u003E\u003Cbr\/\u003E\u003Cp dir=\"ltr\"\u003E\u003Cbr\/\u003E    \u003Cfigure class=\"pict pict_land pict_move_posc 0 cs_img cs_img--curr rule--ss_c\" data-shot=\"pict\" data-hint=\"pict\"\u003E \u003Cdiv class=\"pict__pobj text-overflow\"\u003E\u003Cimg src=https:\/\/elfaro.net\/get_img?ImageWidth=4000&ImageHeight=2667&ImageId=40966 class=\"pobj\" style=\"max-width: 100%\" rel=\"resizable\" alt=\"View of an altar during a vigil in memory of Beatriz prior to the hearing at the Inter-American Court of Human Rights (IACHR) taking El Salvador to task for denying her an abortion despite doctors knowing she was carrying a non-viable fetus at great risk to herself, outside the IACHR in San Jos\u00e9, on Mar. 21, 2023. Photo John Duran\/AFP\" \/\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E \u003Cfigcaption class=\"pict__text cs_img_caption folk_content typo_buttons line--ss_s0c line--ss_s0c--auto block full-width text-overflow rule--ss_l relative\"\u003E \u003Cdiv class=\"__content block-inline full-width align-top tint-text--idle relative\"\u003E View of an altar during a vigil in memory of Beatriz prior to the hearing at the Inter-American Court of Human Rights (IACHR) taking El Salvador to task for denying her an abortion despite doctors knowing she was carrying a non-viable fetus at great risk to herself, outside the IACHR in San Jos\u00e9, on Mar. 21, 2023. Photo John Duran\/AFP \u003Cdiv class=\"photographer text_italic rule--ss_l tint-text--idle\"\u003E \u003C\/div\u003E \u003C\/div\u003E \u003C\/figcaption\u003E \u003C\/figure\u003E\u003Cbr\/\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cbr\/\u003E\u003Cbr\/\u003E\u003Cp dir=\"ltr\"\u003ERanieri claims that Beatriz\u2019s life was never in danger, and that doctors took good care of her and the baby. In the book\u2019s introduction she, alongside fellow co-director Sofia Calderone, claims that Beatriz made a successful recovery, citing an \u003Ca href=\"\/es\/201412\/noticias\/16312\/\"\u003Einterview published by El Faro\u003C\/a\u003E in 2014, in which Beatriz says that she visited her daughter\u2019s grave. What they overlooked from that interview is that Beatriz acknowledges the struggle with her physical and mental health after she was forced to give birth to her baby, who died shortly after exiting the womb, and contrary to her request to have an abortion.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cbr\/\u003E\u003Cbr\/\u003E\u003Cp dir=\"ltr\"\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EDefinition of disability\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cbr\/\u003E\u003Cbr\/\u003E\u003Cp dir=\"ltr\"\u003EFor Ranieri, the fact that Beatriz said she would not have thought of asking to interrupt her pregnancy if the baby had the prospect of surviving outside the womb is evidence that the case must be studied under the lens of eugenics. \u201cWe are very concerned about the possibility of [opening the door to] eugenic abortion, which is to say the consideration that there are people who do not deserve to be born because of certain conditions,\u201d she says, and then compares the access to an abortion when the life of the baby is incompatible with crimes committed by Nazi Germany: \u201cWe have suffered in the world the eugenic mentality of Nazism, which decided that certain people didn't deserve to live because of certain racial conditions.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cbr\/\u003E\u003Cbr\/\u003E\u003Cp dir=\"ltr\"\u003EFrom the medical point of view, anencephaly is a lethal malformation, an irreversible damage incompatible with life. Guillermo Ortiz, the doctor who treated Beatriz, told El Faro English that to diagnose a disability, in medical terms, the fetus \u201cmust have a prognosis of long-term survival outside the uterus.\u201d He added, \u201cAnencephaly does not [meet those criteria]. They die inside the uterus, at birth, or in the first hours, without it being possible, even with the most advanced technology, to procure survival.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cbr\/\u003E\u003Cbr\/\u003E\u003Cp dir=\"ltr\"\u003EThis contrasts starkly with Ranieri\u2019s legal argument that \u201cdisability is understood when a human being has a diminished capacity. In this case [of anencephaly], the brain has a diminished capacity, and its survival is limited by a brain malformation. So it is a disability.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cbr\/\u003E\u003Cbr\/\u003E\u003Cp dir=\"ltr\"\u003EWhen asked about the assertion in the book that the Inter-American Court's rulings are bound to the donations they receive, Ranieri only said: \u201cI could say there were other cases where the court was not neutral.\u201d She is referring to \u003Cem\u003E\u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/www.corteidh.or.cr\/docs\/casos\/articulos\/seriec\"\u003EArtavia Murillo\u003C\/a\u003E v. Costa Rica\u003C\/em\u003E, a case regarding in vitro fertilization, in which the Court established that the right of life \u2014protected by article four of the American Convention \u201cfrom conception\u201d\u2014 is recognized from the moment of implantation, not fertilization.\u00a0\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cbr\/\u003E\u003Cbr\/\u003E\u003Cp dir=\"ltr\"\u003E\u201cIn that case [\u003Cem\u003EArtavia Murillo\u003C\/em\u003E], the Court was not neutral about respecting the reality of what the treaty [American Convention on Human Rights] says in article four,\u201d asserted Ranieri. But she declined to articulate how exactly the court\u2019s lesser funding had allegedly conditioned this ruling: \u201cNow, the reasons why it was not neutral, well, I don't dare say what conditioned them.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cbr\/\u003E\u003Cbr\/\u003E\u003Cp dir=\"ltr\"\u003EAs much as the law professor praises the work of Quiroga and the Global Center for Human Rights, she draws distance between them, alleging that their involvement was limited to the sponsorship of the printed copies. She told El Faro English, \u201cIf power is put above the law, and pretends that the law says what it does not, the rule of law is broken, entering a lane of arbitrariness.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E"}

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