Litigating Organizations to Discuss Case that Will be Argued at the IACtHR
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WHAT: |
The Center for Reproductive Rights and the Colectiva Feminista will discuss the details of the case Manuela v. El Salvador that will be presented at the Inter-American Court of Human Rights (IACtHR) on March 10 and 11. The case will determine El Salvador’s responsibility for imprisoning women who suffer pregnancy complications. |
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The Court’s decision will also have regional effects as the human rights conceded in the ruling will generate jurisprudence that will become part of the Inter-American Human Rights System, which is recognized by most countries in Latin America and the Caribbean. |
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WHEN: |
Virtual press conference (in Spanish) |
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Tuesday, March 9, 2021 |
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10 a.m. EST/9:00 a.m. CST |
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Link to register |
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* https://reprorights.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_o3vOoRzfT5iqR1ehbhh0xg |
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WHO: |
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– Catalina Martinez Coral, regional director for Latin America and the Caribbean at the Center for Reproductive Rights |
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– Morena Herrera, representative of Colectiva Feminista para el Desarrollo Local |
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– Member of Manuela’s family |
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About the case:
According to the lawsuit, the facts are as follows: Manuela was a Salvadoran woman of limited resources, living in a rural area and unable to read or write. One day in 2008, she felt an urgent need to use the bathroom because she began to feel severe pelvic and abdominal pain, so she headed to the outhouse a few feet from her house. She did not know that at that moment she was having an obstetric emergency: she expelled a fetus and fainted–it was a precipitous delivery because of her precarious health.
She arrived at the hospital but instead of treating her serious condition, the medical staff denounced her for the alleged crime of abortion, as they believed that Manuela was hiding an alleged «infidelity». The police shackled her to the stretcher and interrogated her without the presence of a lawyer.
Manuela was wrongly convicted to 30 years in prison for the alleged crime of aggravated homicide. She died in prison in 2010, deprived of her liberty and leaving two children orphaned, because the State failed to provide her with proper diagnosis and treatment for a lymphatic cancer that developed, and which was the reason for the health problems that caused her obstetric emergency.
The litigation process began in 2012 when the Center and the Colectiva presented the case before the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights. In October 2019, the Commission decided to present the case before the Inter-American Court of Human Rights considering that the Salvadoran State had violated several of Manuela’s human rights, including the right to life, health, to judicial protections and guarantees, to be free from discrimination and gender-based violence.
MEDIA CONTACT: Center for Reproductive Rights; center.press@reprorights.org; WhatsApp +57 300 8284013
/PRNewswire-HISPANIC PR WIRE/ — March 4, 2021/
SOURCE Center for Reproductive Rights
