Overview

Argentina is a federal constitutional republic. On November 22, Mauricio Macri won election to the presidency in the second round of multiparty elections the media and various nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) described as generally free and fair. The October 25 first round also included legislative elections for one-half of the Chamber of Deputies and one-third of the Senate. Civilian authorities maintained effective control over the security forces. The principal human rights problems included multiple reports of official corruption, torture by federal and provincial police, and gender violence. Other human rights problems included use of excessive force by police, harsh prison conditions, arbitrary arrest and detention, prolonged pretrial detention, judicial inefficiency, actions that risked impairing freedom of the press, child abuse, anti-Semitism, discrimination against and infringements on the rights of indigenous people, sex trafficking, forced labor, and child labor. Judicial authorities prosecuted a number of officials who committed abuses during the year; some high-level officials, however, engaged in corruption or other abuses with impunity.