Title

An Examination of Human Rights Violations in Latin America: 2002-2006

Document Type

Research Report

Comments


An Applied Research Project (Political Science 5397) Submitted to the Department of Political Science, Texas State University-San Marcos, in Partial Fulfillment for the Requirements for the Degree of Masters of Public Administration, Fall 2007.
Faculty Approval:
Dr. Patricia Shields
Dr. Nandhini Rangarajan
Eddie Solis

Abstract


The purpose of this research is to describe the types of human rights violations occurring within the last five years among Latin American countries as documented in the U.S. State Department’s Country Reports on Human Rights Practices. This paper utilizes descriptive categories modeled on a framework developed by Jack Donnelly and Rhoda Howard. Those categories are then used to analyze the content of 100 Country Reports from 2002-2006. These categories are: (1) Violations of Survival Rights, (2) Violations of Membership Rights, (3) Violations of Protection Rights, and (4) Violations of Empowerment Rights. Content analysis revealed that violations of protection rights and membership rights were the most prevalent during this time period.