reported femicides. Although several a backward step in terms of transparency military personnel were prosecuted for and freedom of information. crimes against humanity committed during Civil society organizations questioned official the civil-military regime (1973-1985), no statistics regarding crime and expressed substantive progress was made in clarifying concern that the reduction in crime rates was the fate of those forcibly disappeared under the result of public security policies that did that regime. There were obstacles to not take into account academic evidence accessing public information, particularly showing the impact of the pandemic in regarding sexual and reproductive health. lowering crime rates. BACKGROUND INHUMANE PRISON CONDITIONS The political and social agenda was Already harsh prison conditions deteriorated dominated during the year by social during the year. According to official data mobilization to collect sufficient signatures to provided by the Parliamentary Commissioner trigger a referendum to derogate 135 articles for the Penitentiary System, the prison of the Urgent Consideration Act population increased steadily, reaching (LUC),approved in 2020. National and 13,852 inmates in December. According international human rights organizations to the World Prison Brief, in 2021, Uruguay expressed concern about the impact of the had the highest rate of incarceration per Act’s broadly worded provisions, which could capita in South America. In the context of negatively impact human rights, in particular intense overcrowding and insanitary public security, the rights of prisoners and conditions, the number of people who died in freedom of expression. prison from natural causes rose by 154% in FREEDOM OF EXPRESSION 2021 compared to the previous year. Eight journalists faced legal actions for the RIGHT TO TRUTH, JUSTICE AND content of their reports, mostly initiated by REPARATION members of parliament or the government. Seventeen current or retired members of the In June, the House of Representatives military and police were convicted of torture, approved an “emphatic rejection” of a report, kidnapping and killing under the civil-military published by the German news network regime in the 1970s and 1980s. No Deutsche Welle, that alleged that freedom of substantive progress was made in the search the press was under threat in Uruguay and for victims of enforced disappearances that there were restrictions on the right of during that time as no new evidence was access to public information. found at the excavation zones and those RIGHT TO INFORMATION suspected of criminal responsibility did not provide any new information. Several public information requests received ECONOMIC, SOCIAL AND CULTURAL no or unsatisfactory responses. RIGHTS Information about sexual and reproductive rights, previously issued periodically, was not According to the Centre for Economic published in 2021. Research and the UN Economic Commission Authorities refused access to the contracts for Latin America and the Caribbean, the with the Covid-19 vaccine providers. policies adopted by the government were A bill to amend Law No.18.381 on access to insufficient to redress the impact of the public information was under consideration pandemic on poverty, employment and by parliament at the end of the year. If economic activity. In addition, decisions over approved, the amendments would put cuts in public spending, public wages and additional conditions on requests for, and so pensions led to lower real wages, and cuts in restrict access to, information and represent public spending had a significant impact on Amnesty International Report 2021/22 395