Respect for human rights has been a core issue in the democratic transitions of Latin America, in contrast to all forms of authoritarianism, persecution, oppression, state violence and subjugation of human dignity. Currently, human rights are intimately linked to the idea of democracy. The appropriation of the human rights agenda by the democratic governments can be seen in the inclusion of this perspective in their public policies, as well as in the implementation of a cross-cutting approach to human rights in the different areas of government policy making.

Democracy and human rights are linked both in a complementary and contradictory way. Social coexistence in democracy is linked to guaranteeing fundamental rights of a collective dimension, which must be safeguarded by the State. That is to say, democracy legitimates human rights politically, given that its validity arises from deliberation and social consensus. To this end, transparent and participatory political processes must be promoted, and freedom of expression and association must be guaranteed in order to create conditions of equality and social justice.

Likewise, human rights condition democracy through international instruments, such as the Inter-American Human Rights System and national constitutions, which oblige States to guarantee and act towards social equality. In this sense, the struggle for human dignity is intimately linked to the struggle for democracy and justice. In this sense, the struggle for human dignity is intimately linked to the struggle for democracy and justice. In other words, human rights continue to represent challenges to the democracies consolidation processes in our countries.

The right to personal integrity is a fundamental human right that arises from the respect for life and its healthy development. The human being, simply for being human, has the right to preserve and maintain their physical, moral and psychological integrity.

This right is part of international law since the Charter of the International Military Tribunal, Nürnberg, 1945, and it is also contained in the 1948 Universal Declaration of Human Rights (Article 5), the Geneva Conventions of 1949 relating to armed conflicts (Protocol II, Article 4), the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights of 1969 (Article 7) and the American Convention on Human Rights or “Pact of San José de Costa Rica” of 1969 (Article 5).

With this background, the right to personal integrity reaches the highest international recognition after the approval, in 1985, by the General Assembly of the United Nations, of the Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (commonly known as the United Nations Convention against Torture).

Participation is fundamental for democracy and guarantees for the exercise of rights. Without participation there is no full democracy. For its consolidation, the mechanisms that guarantee direct and equal participation, not only in the electoral processes, but also, through various effective modalities, must be expanded.

There are several international instruments that enshrine the right to participation, some of them are: the Inter-American Democratic Charter (Articles 2, 3 and 6); the American Convention on Human Rights (Article 23); the American Declaration of the Rights and Duties of Man (Article 20); the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (Article 21); the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (Article 25); the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (Article 7).

Freedom of conscience and religion is the right to preserve, change, profess and divulge their beliefs or religion, individually or collectively, both in public and in private. This right is contained in the American Convention on Human Rights (Article 12) and in the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights of the United Nations (Article 18), which states that “No one shall be subject to coercion which would impair his freedom…” of religion, being only possible limited it to protect public safety, order, health, or morals or the fundamental rights and freedoms of others.

"No one shall be subject to coercion which would impair his freedom…”.

Likewise, the United Nations International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights guarantees non-discrimination of religion (Article 2), in addition to recognizing that education should promote understanding, tolerance and friendship among religious groups.

Freedom of expression has been recognized as a human right in Article 13 of the American Convention on Human Rights and Article 19 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights. The possibility of expressing oneself, allows the personal development with the environment, to be inform, exchange ideas and information, plan and perform as a person. Freedom of expression is fundamental to determine the quality of democracy in electoral processes, good governance, citizen participation, transparency as well as in the human rights mainstreaming.

It should be mentioned that the Inter-American Court of Human Rights has developed jurisprudence with effective tools for the legitimate defense of this right, as it did in case of Herrera Ulloa (2004) or in the case of Luisina Ríos et. al. (2009) –Radio Caracas Television - RCTV–.

The right to due process of law is one of the key pillars of the protection of human rights against State power abuse system. This right, is enshrined in the American Convention (Article 8), which guarantees the intervention of an independent and impartial judge, the presumption of innocence, equality before law, the possibility of a fair trial and defense, among others. This article is a guide to the interpretation of minimum procedural guarantees and allows for the inclusion of other progressive guarantees based on human rights.

It is worth noting that the Inter-American Court has expressed itself in relation to the obligation and guarantees of measures aimed at the full realization of the exercise and enjoyment of this fundamental right as in the case Velásquez Rodríguez vs. Honduras. This right is also enshrined in the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (Article 14), the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (Article 11) and the American Declaration of the Rights and Duties of Man (Article 26).

Citizen participation is an essential pillar of democracy and a transformer one through popular will. Since the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, political rights have been recognized as human rights. Political rights guarantee the participation of citizens in public affairs, to be able to vote and be elected in electoral processes through universal free, secret and equal suffrage.

For the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights, political rights are those that recognize and protect the right and duty of citizens to participate in the political life of their country, thus strengthening democracy and political pluralism. In short, political rights protect public liberties and privacy of individuals against the power of the State. The right to vote is collective, because the institutional structure of political society rests on the effective exercise of that right.

Freedom of expression, assembly and association are essential conditions for the effective exercise of the right to vote. According to the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights, “the right to political participation allows the right to organize parties and political associations, which through free debate and ideological struggle can raise the social level and economic conditions of the community, and excludes the monopoly of power by a single group or person”. In this sense, the State is the one who must guarantee freedom of association for ideological, religious, political, economic, labor, social, cultural, sporting or any other purpose, as long as they do not violate fundamental human rights, and guarantee free debate, which also represents the popular will.

“The right to political participation allows the right to organize parties and political associations, which through free debate and ideological struggle can raise the social level and economic conditions of the community, and excludes the monopoly of power by a single group or person”.

This right is limited by law, in the interest of national security or public order, or to protect health, public morals or the rights and freedoms of others.

Human rights defenders are part of civil society that act daily in the promotion and protection of human rights. They act in different ways either as members of human rights NGOs, labor unions, academic institutes, and other forms of associations. Defenders promote human rights for all people and everywhere, they carry out actions at the international, regional, national and local levels, disseminate information about violations, support victims of human rights violations, among other activities.

One of its most important objectives is to close the gap between the commitments assumed by governments, often rhetorical, and their fulfillment. Likewise, they have a pressure role in such compliance, both nationally and internationally. The General Assembly of the United Nations on December 9, 1998, issued the Declaration on Human Rights Defenders, recognizing that legitimacy in the defense of humans is a right in itself, in addition to the importance of they role and guaranteeing they protection.