Uruguay Unifies Human Rights Secretariats to Boost Coordination

The Uruguayan government has merged the Secretariat for Human Rights for the Recent Past into the broader Secretariat for Human Rights, a move intended to enhance institutional coordination and make more efficient use of public resources. The Presidency of the Republic announced the decision in a statement, detailing that the new structure will continue its existing activities and objectives.

These objectives include integrating a human rights perspective into public policies and overseeing the promotion, design, coordination, monitoring, and evaluation of related functions. According to the decree signed by the president and ministers, the Secretariat for Human Rights for the Recent Past will now be integrated into the organizational and functional structure of the Secretariat for Human Rights.

This unification follows the recent dismissal of Collette Spinetti, the former head of the Secretariat for Human Rights. Spinetti, noted as the first transgender woman to lead a presidential secretariat in Uruguay, had faced controversy in recent months due to leaked audio recordings in which she allegedly made derogatory remarks about a minister and questioned President Yamandú Orsi's actions during an event.

The unified secretariat will operate under the direction of Iliana Da Silva, formerly the deputy director of the Presidential Communication Secretariat. The government stated that this new structure will bolster institutional coordination, optimize resource allocation, and consolidate strategic leadership for human rights policies. Importantly, the statement clarified that the unification does not alter responsibilities concerning the "recent past," and a specific coordination unit will be appointed to manage these matters.

However, the association Mothers and Families of Uruguayans Detained-Disappeared has expressed concern over the restructuring, demanding transparency from the government. The association asserted that "the historical pending issues of the Uruguayan state are not resolved through changes in organizational charts nor can they be eliminated by decree."