Diego Jorge Lavado
As a lawyer, Dr Diego Lavado has represented victims in the third Mendoza trial for crimes against humanity. Together with other local lawyers, he has also been a strong opponent of inhuman and degrading treatment of prisoners in Mendoza's penitentiary institutions. For this reason, he and a number of other fellow lawyers have been the victims of threats and intimidation on a number of previous occasions.
For at least a decade, Argentina is established as a state and society that largely respects human rights. However, the crimes of the past and the enduring attempts to assign responsibilities still cloud the situation. While most human rights defenders can operate in freedom, HRDs seeking justice for violations committed during the dictatorship, journalists and trade unionists have received death threats and been subjected to harassment, arbitrary arrest, prosecutions, police violence and smear campaigns. In recent times, defenders have faced new risks, including police brutality, judicial harassment and oppression in indigenous communities.
