order telecommunications providers to stop servicing users who published information deemed harmful to public order or morality. El Salvador saw an increase in protests in 2023, as the situation in the country continued to deteriorate under the state of emergency imposed in March 2022. The authorities’ obstructive response to these legitimate expressions of social discontent, which included stigmatization, threats, excessive surveillance of organizers and restrictions of movement, violated people’s rights to freedom of association and peaceful assembly. In countries including Argentina, Bolivia, Cuba, El Salvador, Haiti, Paraguay, Peru, Puerto Rico and Venezuela, authorities responded to public protests with repression. In Bolivia, the Ombudsperson’s Office reported several instances of excessive use of force by police in response to a series of protests in January following the arrest of the governor of Santa Cruz. In Argentina, Canada, Cuba, Mexico, Puerto Rico and the USA, governments filed criminal charges against peaceful protesters. Laws diluting legal obligations on the use of force were passed in Chile. In the USA, 16 states introduced bills restricting the right to protest. The state of North Carolina heightened penalties for existing “riot” offences and for protests occurring near pipelines. The Americas remains a dangerous place for journalists. Media workers were threatened, harassed, killed and put under unlawful surveillance in Argentina, Colombia, Cuba, the Dominican Republic, El Salvador, Mexico, Paraguay and Venezuela. In the Dominican Republic, evidence showed that Nuria Piera, a high-profile journalist who reports on corruption and impunity, was targeted in 2020 and 2021 with NSO Group’s Pegasus spyware, which enables unrestricted access to a device. The authorities denied involvement in the surveillance. In Mexico, at least five journalists were killed in connection with their work, according to the organization Article 19. States must repeal laws and practices that hinder the rights to freedom of expression, association and peaceful assembly. They must take additional measures to effectively protect people’s rights to express their opinions and to safeguard the work of journalists. HUMAN RIGHTS DEFENDERS The Americas continued to be one of the most dangerous regions in the world for human rights defenders. Defenders working to protect land and the environment faced increased risks in countries including Bolivia, Brazil, Canada, Colombia, Ecuador, El Salvador, Honduras and Mexico. Black, Indigenous and women human rights defenders remained particularly at risk. Governments and non-state actors used a variety of tools such as harassment, stigmatization, criminalization and killings to stop human rights activists from doing their essential and legitimate work in countries including Brazil, Canada, Colombia, Cuba, Ecuador, El Salvador, Guatemala, Haiti, Honduras, Mexico, Nicaragua, Peru and Venezuela. In Brazil, an average of three defenders had been murdered every month over the past four years, according to Justiça Global. Honduras had the highest number of human rights defenders killed per capita in the world, according to data from Global Witness. In July, a member of the Guapinol community in Honduras was shot dead in broad daylight six months after two of his family members were also killed. They had been campaigning against a mining company to protect the river on which their subsistence depends. At the end of the year, the killings remained unpunished. Although most countries across the Americas lacked robust protection systems for human rights defenders, Colombia showed some signs of improvement. In Colombia, the Ministry of the Interior announced the strengthening of the collective protection programme for human rights defenders from grassroots organizations and communities, targeting those defending land and territory. 34 The State of the World’s Human Rights