Argentina - March 2025

On 12 March, the weekly demonstration led by pensioners—held every Wednesday to protest the government’s severe pension cuts—was brutally repressed by police. The crackdown resulted in over a hundred arrests and dozens of injuries, including a journalist left in critical condition after being struck in the head by a tear gas canister thrown by police. Shortly afterward, a judge ordered the immediate release of all detainees, ruling that security forces had failed to provide basic information justifying the arrests, violating the protesters’ constitutional rights to freedom of expression and assembly. Civil society organizations warn the government is increasingly using excessive force to suppress protests and normalizing the criminalization of dissent—practices they say pose a serious threat to democracy. The government defended police actions and announced plans to prosecute a dozen protesters on sedition charges, as well as pursue disciplinary action against the judge who ordered their release.

Sources: BBC, WOLA, Clarin, The Guardian, Pagina 12, Mapa de la Policía