U.N. human rights chief sounds alarm on violations in Latin America

FILE PHOTO: U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights Michelle Bachelet gestures during a news conference at the European headquarters of the United Nations in Geneva, Switzerland, December 9, 2020. REUTERS/Denis Balibouse/File Photo

BUENOS AIRES (Reuters) - The United Nations human rights chief on Thursday sounded an alarm over what she called the rising number of threats and attacks against independent human rights institutions in Latin America by local governments and others in positions of power.

Michelle Bachelet said in a statement that over the last two years her office had received increasing complaints from independent activist groups in the region that have been harassed and threatened by governments, lawmakers and vigilante groups.