excessive force. In November, Jovenel Moïse was elected President. HUMAN RIGHTS DEFENDERS AT RISK In many countries in the Americas region, defending human rights remained extremely dangerous. Journalists, lawyers, judges, political opponents and witnesses were particularly targeted with threats, attacks, torture and enforced disappearances; some were even killed by state and non-state actors as a way to silence them. Human rights activists also faced smear campaigns and vilification. Yet there was little progress in investigating these attacks or bringing perpetrators to justice. Human rights defenders and social movements opposing large-scale development projects and transnational corporations were at particular risk of reprisals. Women human rights defenders as well as those from communities historically excluded were also targeted with violence. Human rights defenders faced increased attacks, threats and killings in Brazil. In Nicaragua, the government turned a blind eye to human rights violations and persecuted activists. The plight of prisoners of conscience in Venezuela – and the government’s willingness to suppress dissent – was highlighted when severely ill opposition leader Rosmit Mantilla was denied surgery and placed in a punishment cell instead; after intense national and international pressure, he received the urgent medical care he needed, and was later released in November. Honduras and Guatemala were the most dangerous countries in the world for those defending land, territory and the environment, with a wave of threats, trumped-up charges, smear campaigns, attacks and killings targeting environmental and land activists. In March, the murder of prominent Honduran Indigenous leader Berta Cáceres – who was shot in her home by armed men – highlighted the generalization of violence against those working to protect land, territory and the environment in the country. 26 In Guatemala the criminalization – through baseless criminal procedures and the misuse of the criminal justice system – of human rights defenders opposing projects to exploit natural resources and their identification as “the enemy within” was common. In Colombia, human rights defenders, especially community leaders and environmental activists, continued to be threatened and killed in alarming numbers. In Argentina, social leader Milagro Sala was arrested and charged with protesting peacefully in Jujuy. Despite her release being ordered, further criminal proceedings were initiated against her to keep her in detention. In October, the UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention concluded that her detention was arbitrary and recommended her immediate release. In northern Peru, Máxima Acuña – a peasant farmer caught in a legal battle with Yanacocha, one of the biggest gold and copper mines in the region, over ownership of the land where she lived – won the 2016 Goldman Prize, a highly respected environmental award. Despite a campaign of harassment and intimidation in which security personnel were alleged to have physically attacked her and her family, she stood firm and refused to end her struggle to protect local lakes and remain on her land. In Ecuador, the rights to freedom of expression and association were severely curtailed by restrictive legislation and silencing tactics. The criminalization of dissent continued, particularly against those who opposed extractive projects on Indigenous Peoples’ land. Despite claims of political openness in Cuba and the re-establishment of relations with the USA the previous year, civil society and opposition groups reported increased harassment of government critics. Human rights defenders and political activists were publicly described as “subversive” and “antiCuban mercenaries”. Some were subjected to short-term arbitrary detention before being released without charge, often several times a month. Amnesty International Report 2016/17